Day 31 - Pensacola Beach, Florida

Day 31 (26 July). The sun seemed to shine brighter when we crossed out of Louisiana and into Mississippi. There was a cracking thunderstorm with plenty of driving rain in New Orleans last night. We traveled through the hot and humid countryside and when we entered Alabama we stopped in Mobile. The state's capital is the home to the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park which is dedicated to honor all Alabama veterans who have participated in all conflicts of the US Armed Services. We were able to tour their aircraft hanger (including a flight simulator ride) and walk throughout both the Submarine USS DRUM (SS-228) and the Battleship USS ALABAMA (BB-60). Both served with distinction in WW2 and other conflicts. USS DRUM sank 15 enemy ships and USS ALABAMA shot down 22 enemy airplanes and earned 9 battle stars. We had a great few hours looking all over the vessels and in the end, the consensus was that the submarine was the best.

We then drove into Florida and headed through green fields and traveled over long bridges to Pensacola Beach. Our hotel is on the Gulf of Mexico beachfront and was our first stop. The famous white sand was gleaming, however the beach wasn't busy - the oil spill is having an effect and it's also in the water. After an awful dip in a very wispy green seaweed filled Gulf we looked at our legs and there were small oily smears on them. They might not be clumps of oil, but it is definitely there. Like good Aussie kids, they didn't care and just kept playing and digging sandcastles. After a quick beachside shower we used the hotel pool to get the rest of the crud of us. The Pensacola Beach is good and the area quite relaxing. There is nothing like a sea-breeze, but the water is average - the oil is a problem, but so is the seaweed if it stays the same level and consistency through summer. Still a nice spot to holiday.

Next stop - Tallahassee, Florida