Entry tags:

travel, vacation

Roadtrip through the US south east
This past Sunday I arrived back in Austin from a 2-week roadtrip that I spontaneously decided to take. My goal was to visit interesting places that I had never seen before. In total I drove about 4500 miles in my Jeep Wrangler (and 18 tanks of gas). I got to meet up with Mike Woss (ex-coworker), Lucent (first IRL meeting with long-time d.net buddy), Mary Bass (coworker), and Rey/Swiggy (ex-coworker).

There were a few cities that I had hoped to go through (Atlanta and Birmingham) that I ended up cutting out so that I could spend more time in other locations. I could have easily have spent more time in most of my stops if I had more vacation time.

I bought a new Digital SLR camera (Nikkon D40) specifically for the trip, so I had some fun playing around with it at the same time. Snorkeling and night-time kayaking in Key West were both pretty fun. Visiting Kennedy Space Center was also pretty neat, since I had been involved with parts of the Shuttle missions but never seen the launch facilities. The Great Smokey Mountains National Park was also a great place to explore and hike around.

• My photo gallery of my trip photos
• Approximate Google Map trail of the path I took
• YouTube video of my Everglades fanboat tour
• My personal wiki page that I was using to plan my trip and sights

(Click pictures above to embiggen)

Sun, Aug 3

• Leave Austin @ 12pm
• Drive ~8hours
• Pictures at Louisiana welcome center and nature boardwalk
• Arrive motel at Laplace, LA

Mon, Aug 4

• Depart Laplace, LA
• Arrive New Orleans
• Visit French Quarter, Bourbon Street, Canal Street
• Depart New Orleans
• Arrive motel at Pensacola, FL

Tue, Aug 5

• Depart Pensacola, FL
• Visit Big Lagoon State Park, tour boardwalk trails
  
• Brief stop in Destin beach
• Drive ~7 hours
• Arrive motel at Tampa, FL
  

Wed, Aug 6

• Lunch with Mike @ 12pm in Tampa
• Ferry to Caladesi Island State Park. Nature walk, beach, shell collecting
• Depart Tampa
• Arrive motel at Fort Meyers, FL
  

Thu, Aug 7

• Depart Fort Meyers
• Arrive Key West
• Sunset kayaking and marine life exploration tour
• Arrive Blue Marlin hotel in Key West

Fri, Aug 8

• Visit hot sauce store in Key West
• Visit Duval Street stores
• Snorkeling in Key West @3pm
• Depart Key West
• Arrive motel in Florida City

Sat, Aug 9

• Depart Florida City
• Tour Coral Castle
• Everglades fan boat ride by Miccosukee Indians
• Everglades Shark Valley boardwalk hike
• Drive along Lake Okeechobee
• Arrive motel in Cocoa Beach

Sun, Aug 10

• Depart Cocoa Beach
• Tour Kennedy Space Center, Astronaut Hall of fame
• Drive 4 hrs
• Arrive motel in Jacksonville, FL

Mon, Aug 11

• Depart Jacksonville, FL
• Drive 4 hrs
• Arrive Charleston, SC
• Tour Kiawah island
• Tour Charleston historical Market Hall
• Drive 5 hrs
• Arrive motel in Spartanburg, SC
  

Tue, Aug 12

• Depart Spartanburg
• Drive 3 hrs to Great Smokey Mountains National Park
• Meet Lucent
• Camping, Hiking in national park campsite

Wed, Aug 13

• Camping, Hiking
• Leave park, because Lucent wimped out and did not want to camp another night!
• Arrive Knoxville, TN. return Lucent home, sleep night on his couch

Thu, Aug 14

• Tour Knoxville, including Sunsphere and World Fair park.
• Depart Knoxville, TN
• Arrive motel in Chattanooga, TN
  

Fri, Aug 15

• tour Tennessee Aquarium
• tour Chattanooga Choo-choo
• tour Ruby Falls and caves
• Drive to Nashville, TN
  
• Nashville with Mary+Walker
• see the Nashville Parthenon
• Downtown Nashville
• Stay night with Mary+Walker

Sat, Aug 16

• Depart Nashville
• Arrive Memphis
• Memphis lunch with Swiggy (Rey) at local seafood place
  
• Depart Memphis
• Drive through Hot Springs, AR
• Back in Austin, via Dallas