Chapter V: Covering the 50 States (Part I)

I wanna try to cover the 50 states on this trip. And Greyhound is gonna help me with that. North America has a very good transportation network with the Greyhound buses and a great thing about Greyhound is their Discovery Pass; you have unlimited rides during 60 days with this pass. Greyhound can drive you all the way to Whitehorse in Yukon Territory and Mexico City in matter of days.

Phil and I are ready for more adventures after the visit to the jungle in NY, but first, we are going to spend a couple of weeks in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Phil’s place is in Dandridge, a quite town in the Smokies, with a lot of interesting places around, in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville. Is kind of Las Vegas, but with amusement places, museums, and crazy shops instead of casinos. And Dollywood is in here too, Dollywood is a Theme Park about Dolly Parton, who is from the Smokies and she’s very loved here. Dollywood is a Theme Park different than any other, is in the middle of the mountains, into the woods, what makes the park something special and not just one more park.

Greg and Ashley spent some days with us in Tennessee, they’re friends of Phil's from Hickory, North Carolina. We visited Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and we had a great time around. We also visited the Douglas Lake and the Cherokee Dam. Leah and Heather came too for a couple of days, we went to contra dancing in North Carolina with them. Contra dancing was fun and different. We drove the girls to West Virginia and on the way back we saw the effects of a tornado in the area some days before.

After that, Phil and I took the Greyhound bus in Knoxville, Tennessee and started going west until San Antonio, Texas. In 8 days we visited 5 states and came back to Tennessee.

Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee

In Nashville we visited the Parthenon, the replica of the original Parthenon in Grece, and we saw the big statue of Athena inside of it. The same day we went to Memphis the home of the King of Rock Elvis Presley, we only spent 3 or 4 hours, but we were able to see the big Pyramid and the statue of Ramesses from Egypt, and also Beale Street, a street with a lot of nights pubs and bars.

Dallas: the twilight zone

I don't remember how many times we stopped in Dallas, Texas but it was at least 5 times in 3 or 4 days. We visited Dallas and then we went to other places and other states; and the buses took us back to Dallas every time we wanted to go somewhere, it was something crazy. 


But Dallas is a nice city, we visited the Stadium of the Mavericks, they were in the playoffs, they just beat the Lakers the week before, four games in a row. We also visited the place where President Kennedy was shot and the bulls runing, a lot of statues of big bulls and and two cowboys riding horses after them.

San Antonio and Corpus Christi, Texas

In Corpus Christi we had some problems with the city transportation, the city bus system is a mess and we walkes a lot. The city is not bad at all, and they have a US military Ship on the bay.

San Antonio is a nice place, with a lot of mexicans, a very nice riverwalk thru the city, the Alamo building, where they fight for the independence against Mexico, and the big park SeaWorld, where we spend a great day with Chris, Pam and their kid Kirk.

Other stops:

On our way to Saint Louis, Missouri after San Antonio we made several stops and visited other states. We stopped in Fort Worth, Texas (or better say Fort Worst), where we tryed to find the Stockyard and nobody in the whole town knew where it was; Fort Smith, Arkansas; in Texarkana, Arkansas we had a delicious breakfast in IHOP (International House Of Pankakes); Oklahoma City and Springfield, Missouri. When we where on the road there was a big storm with a  lot of tornados hiting the area and we were after the big tornado that took more than a hundred lifes in Joplin, Missouri. Every year there are a lot of tornados in Tornado Alley in midwest, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, but this year is being very hard. That was scary and sad.

Saint Louis, Missouri: The Gateway to the west!

In Saint Louis we spend one night and we visited the big Zoo, very famous and free; and the Gateway Arch, the place that everybody went thru when the people from New York and the East Coast wanted to go west to Louisiana Territory. We went to the top of the arch riding a little capsule like a space capsule in Dragon Ball, the view from the top was something else, the Arch is the tallest monument in United States and the feeling when I was there was amazing. We were at the top less than 10 minutes because there was a storm and tornado warning. At the bottom of the Arch there is an interesting museum about the history of United States and Louisiana Territory.

After St. Louis we went back to Tennessee and rest for some days before the next move. And Saturday May 28th we went to SoccerTaco in Knoxville to watch the soccer game for the Champions League and we enjoyed the Barça's victory.

The two Capitals: Philadelphia and Washington DC

After a few days in the Smoky Mountains at Phil's place we jumped up to the road again. We took Greyhound Lines heading north to Philadelphia, the original capital of the United States. We arrived to Philly around 5 pm and first of all we visited the Rocky statue and the Rocky steps in the Museum of Art. 

After running the steps and taking some pictures with Rocky, we went to Pat's and Gino's to have the US famous Philly Cheese Steak. The sandwiches are really good and the neighborhood is very nice. We enjoyed the evening and we took the bus again to Williamsburg, Virginia.

In Williamsburg we spend two days visiting the two amusement parks Busch Gardens and Water World USA and then we went to DC. We spent the evening in Washington DC visiting the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and we also took a look at the White House from the fence.

Florida, life is a beach!

After the short visit in District of Columbia it's time for to go to the beach. On our way to Florida we stopped in Savannah, Georgia where we had a long layover and we decided to walk around the town. Savannah is a town where several popular movies like Forest Gumm have been filmed.

The first stop in Florida was Jacksonville, we went to the beach and spent some hours there before to take the next bus to Miami. The beach in Jacksonville is very beautiful, with very fine sand and warm water in the Atlantic ocean.

In Miami we rent a car for three days to go around Miami Beach and reach the Florida Keys. The first day we enjoyed the South Beach in Miami Beach, an amazing beach with a blue water and very good sand.

The second day we went to Haulover Beach, what is one of the few nude beaches in USA. I tried to get a whole body tan and then we started going south to the keys. 

We arrived to Key West, the last of the Florida Keys late night, we visited a couple of beaches in the night time and the old town of Key West, where there is the Southernmost point in the continental USA, just a few miles form Cuba.. The Southernmost point of all United States is in Hawai'i Big Island, where I already went last year. We slept in Smathers beach, the most beautiful beach in the key, and the next morning we went north again stopping in some of the others keys and enjoying the view with daylight. The key Islamorada has very nice beaches, we stopped in Anne's Beach and we swam for a while and caught a crab and some seashells.

We went back to Miami Beach to return the car before to leave Florida and the last night the last game of the NBA playoffs was played in the Miami Heat Stadium, Mavericks won against Miami Heat, and the city of Miami was very disappointed the next morning. 

We will be back to Florida soon, the best beaches are in Tampa and Pensacola and I don't want to miss it. We enjoyed Miami Beach and the keys a lot, in June there are not too many tourists yet but you need a lot of patience anyway, because the people in Miami don't know walk in the streets, the pedestrians cross on red light all time and they cross jaywalking, without using the crosswalks. Phil got very stressed driving because of them, one time we saw a man in a wheelchair crossing diagonal in a 4 ways traffic-light and turning 360` and going back. That was the only complain about Miami Beach, it wasn't too bad, we had a very good time in Florida.

New England

One week after to reach the southernmost point in the Key West, Florida I am in the northernmost state of the east coast, almost in Quebec, in Maine, eating a delicious 4 pounds lobster at Lobster Shack in Ogunquit.

We took the bus from North Carolina to Wilmington, Delaware and after a lot of big delays and transfers to other buses we arrived too late for to rent a car in Wilmington and we took a train to Philadelphia, where we rented a car at the airport for 3 days and started heading north to the New England States. 

We stopped in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and finally Maine. We didn't go thru downtown Boston because the Boston Ruins won the Stanley Cup of Ice Hockey against Vancouver and they where celebrating and the city was very crowded. In New Hampshire we visited a couple of beautiful beaches with freezing water. And in Maine ate Lobster in Ongunquit and visited the lighthouse in York Village.










Atlantic City

After the visit to New England we went back south to return the car in Philadelphia, but first we went to Atlantic City and we walked the world famous boardwalk at the beach with all the casinos and big hotels.

In Philadelphia we visited the Liberty Bell and the US Mint, the factory of coins in USA. And we went to see the Rocky statue again, before to return the car and go back to the Greyhound Bus.

After the great trip to the noth eastern states, we headed south again to spend the 4^th of july celebration in Pensacola, Florida. And we also visited the southern states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Alabama

In Alabama we went to Aligator Alley, in Summerdale, up to 200 alligators in a rescue farm, with the big monster Captain Crunch and the 1 year old baby gators. We saw the gators at the feeding time and I had the chance to hold a 3 years old gator with my hands.

Mississippi

We stopped at the beach in Gulfport, Mississippi, a beautiful beach with withe sands ruined by the BP oil spill in 2010. The water was dark and underneath the white sand you find black and stinky sand.

Louisiana

We picked up Phil's nephew Christopher in Navarre, Florida after Mississippi and we went to New Orleans and Avery Island in Louisiana. New Orleans is something different in USA, but was a little disappointing, I expected something more exciting. We visited the Mississippi River, Bourbon Street and the French Market in the French Quarter, and then we went to take a look to the Superdome, the home of the Super Bowl 2010 Champions New Orlans Saints.

After New Orleans we went to Avery Island, where the famous Tabasco sauce was created. We did the tour and got some souvenirs from the farm shop. And we tried some new flavors of sauce. The visit was very hot and interesting!

Pensacola, National Sea Shore and Navarre: Paradise beaches!!

Back to Florida, as I said after Miami and Key West. The beach in Pensacola area is a paradise, in Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach is a little bit crowded, but the National Sea Shore in between is a 7 miles sea shore with protected beaches, no buildings and a lot of life.

At night time, thousands of crabs come out and we enjoy going after them. In the morning, millions of fish in the water eating millions of smaller fish, and hundreds of birds fishing. Then the dolphins come to eat too and flying fish jump out of the water. Amazing!!! I tried to play with the dolphins but they where busy fishing and I only was about 4 to 5 meters from them.

I caught white crabs, a big blue crab, a catfish, a flying fish, jellyfish and some seashells all with my own two hands. We also saw a shark at the fishing pier in Navarre Beach.

                                                                            

           

            

We slept in the van at the beach with the hatchback open and heard the ocean all night long, and woke up with a wonderful view of the sea in front of us.

In Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach there is a lot of expensive houses, some of them with round shapes to avoid being destroyed by the big hurricanes that happens often in this area. You can see that a lot of these places have been rebuilt many times because of the hurricanes.

In Pensacola we also had chance to visit a Naval Air Museum, where the famous Blue Angels jets are. We saw the blue angels flying on Saturday over Pensacola beach and I could ride them in the museum.

In Pensacola Beach we also visited Fort Pickens, where the Native Apache Indian Geronimo was prisoner for years with other Apaches during America's wild frontier expansion.

Finally we saw the 4th of July celebration fireworks in Pensacola Beach, after having some chicken wings at Hooters at the pier, during Phil's birthday.








We had a very good time in one of the best beaches in America. And now we came back to the Smokies to prepare for the next adventure, with a new member joining the group!(can you guess?) And head to the last 18 states! Coming soon!