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Home » Our Route Across the Country – Part 10

Our Route Across the Country – Part 10

May 17, 2016 by Kristin

We’ve crisscrossed the country from the Northeast to the Northwest to the Southwest to the Southeast on our year long road trip. And all in 9 months! There’s still lots more to see and do, and with spring arriving we decided we wanted to get back out West. So, during Part 10 of our cross country adventure we did a little bit of backtracking heading from Florida through the South and back to Texas.

If you’ve missed any earlier segments catch up with links to our routes and travel highlights here:

  • Part 1 looped us from Ohio to Maine and back to Ohio.
  • Part 2 carried us across the country from Ohio to Montana and to our adventures in and around Glacier National Park.
  • Part 3 circled the Olympic Peninsula in and around Olympic National Park.
  • Part 4 took us to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon and Redwood National and State Parks in California
    • We also included our extended stay on the Oregon Coast over the holidays in Part 4, as we filled holiday orders for Destination Tree
  • Part 5 traversed us through California including Napa Valley, Yosemite, King’s Canyon and Sequoia National Parks
  • Part 6 brought us through the Southwest as we explored Joshua Tree National Park, Sedona, The Apache Trail outside of Phoenix, Tombstone and Bisbee.
  • Part 7 introduced us to the enormous size and beauty of Texas…from Big Bend National Park to San Antonio, Austin and the Gulf Coast.
  • Part 8 swung us through Sweet Home Aaaalabaaaama…
  • Part 9 reconnected us with family and friends in Florida including Fort Lauderdale, Everglades National Park, Sanibel Island and St. Augustine.

Next up…Louisiana and San Antonio (again!)!

Part X
April 14 – May 3, 2016

Getting out of Florida and through the South proved a bit challenging again weather-wise, as we had experienced in Part 8 of our road trip. The south continued to get pounded with severe thunderstorms resulting in flooding, high winds and even tornadoes in some areas. So, we had to bypass the Tallahassee area where we had planned to visit extended family and explore the coast, and instead did some night driving to strategically dodge storms and strong winds. We paused for a few days in Alabama to wait out more storms, and then continued to Louisiana.

There seemed to be a pocket of clear weather (or at least less severe weather) which gave us a window of opportunity to visit New Orleans and two very famous plantations.

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Matt was super excited to tour Myrtles Plantation, just north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Built in the late 1700s, it’s known as one of America’s Most Haunted Houses. Surprised that Matt wanted to go there? Me either. Expect a paranormal blog on this place 😉
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One of the most iconic plantations in the South, Oak Alley Plantation lives up to it’s renowned beauty with it’s aisle of oaks leading up to the plantation. The interior of “The Big House” is beautiful, but it’s the sobering exhibit depicting the realities of slavery that are truly eye opening.
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We missed Louisiana on our route through the South the first time due to weather, so stopping in New Orleans was a treat on the way back through. The recognizable architecture of The French Quarter was fun to revisit…as well as traditional creole food and beignets!

After Louisiana we continued our westward path through Texas, barely missing the storms in Houston, and driving south of the worst part of the flooding they experienced. We made it to San Antonio just in time to meet up with dear friends who flew out from Ohio to meet up with us on the road. We had already made a brief stop in San Antonio earlier on our trip, but we were more than happy to revisit this fun town and add even more fun activities to our San Antonio adventure list.

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Ocho was a fun little find that has the cutest glass conservatory and outdoor patio overlooking the San Antonio River and serves up a pretty awesome Mojito!
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The Tower of the America’s! So tall, I can’t even fit it in the picture! I also kept calling it The Space Needle, but regardless, the best way to experience it is to skip the tours and head to the bar at the top for a cold drink and stunning 360 degree views.
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See?! I told you it was a sweet view.
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Beers as big as your head? Check.
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Cute doggie to hold your Alamo playing cards during a friendly game of euchre? Check.
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Everyone knows about and goes to The Alamo, but there are 5 other missions stringing south of the heart of downtown that are beautifully preserved and full of history. And the best way to see them? Grab a B-Cycle rental and pedal your way to each, then pedal all the way back to town along the San Antonio River. Workout complete.
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Cute little riverboats tour up and down the San Antonio River Walk. Yes, it’s touristy, but it’s a must-do. Great overview of the history and architecture along the River Walk. It was amazing how many interesting things we walked by and didn’t even notice until it was pointed out on the tour!
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The Japanese Tea Garden was a lovely little place to visit in San Antonio. Beautifully maintained, and fun to wander and then just sit and enjoy.
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Supper Club on the Road was a huge success. So grateful to Julie and Scott for flying out to visit us on the road, and so thankful for such a wonderful weekend together!

We had LOTS of orders to catch up on after visiting with our friends, and we also waited out the weather and high winds (again!) before heading out further West to New Mexico.

Our driving route as we backtracked through the South is below…stay tuned for our route and adventures through New Mexico! Thanks for following along!

Tips: Zoom in and out on the map, and move the map around to get a better look at the route. Or click “View Larger Map” below to get an even better view.

Filed Under: All Blog Posts, Blogs by Kristin, On the Road, Our Route Tagged With: adventure, cross country, destination tree, road trip, travel, wanderlust

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Comments

  1. Julie says

    May 22, 2016 at 1:10 am

    Scott and I feel almost famous making the blog! Thanks for letting us be a piece of your adventure!

    • Kristin says

      May 22, 2016 at 7:41 pm

      Are you kidding?! Thank you for your amazing friendship and support. We were SO excited to see you on the road! So many awesome memories (and some pretty sweet cowboy boots!)

  2. Paul Rogers says

    May 18, 2016 at 3:33 pm

    Thank you for sharing your adventure! What an awesome time!

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