Enjoying a beautiful sunset at the white powdery beach of St. Petersburg we said goodbye to Florida. Cruising through Alabama and Mississippi we came to New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Bayou Segnette National Park was the perfect campground since we just could hop on the ferry and get right into New Orleans – for free.

We just had been lucky and the city offered two festivals on this weekend. After enjoying a bit of the seafood festival with great food and live music we headed over to the Lafayette Park to experience some of the Blues and Barbecue Festival.

On Saturday we crabbed our camping chairs and listened to blues the whole day. To get out of the sun once in a while we strolled through the beautiful streets of the French Quarters.

The French Quarter was packed with artists and musicians and you could hear jazz and blues everywhere. I liked the click clocking of the donkeys pulling the colorful carriages through the quarter. Inspired of the music and atmosphere we enjoyed a trip with a real paddle wheeler down the Mississippi.

We just loved New Orleans with this charm and great music. Very sad, even after 7 years the hurricane Katrina had left a lot of empty and destroyed houses.

We drove down the Keys following the US 1. The cluster of islands sitting just next to each other connected with bridges was really cool to see.

Instead of camping at the Keys we decided to do a day trip only. And it was a good decision since the expensive campgrounds where pretty packed. Sure we could have gone to a nice state park but mangroves have this nice smell of rotten eggs. You also call it hydrogen sulphide.

At the John Pennekamp State Park we made a reservation for the next day. Michael and I want to go diving while Rita and Dieter do a trip with the glass bottom boat.

Driving from one key to another – Key Largo, Islamorada, Marathon and the Lower Keys – all the way down to Key West we had a great view over those beautiful islands. At Key West we enjoyed a fresh fish at the legendary Bo’s Fish Wagon.

Afterwards we strolled along the cued old town. Sure it was touristy but still nice houses and a great flair. A must have is the Key Lime pie and it was… Well, you gotta try it yourself.

It was a great day and we had been very close to Cuba. Just 90 miles away from Cuba is the southernmost point of the US.

The next day we went diving at the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Slowly we drove out of the mangroves into the Golf of Mexico. A bit surprised about our shallow dives – 9 m max – we enjoyed the water temperature of 29 degree Celsius and the good visibility.

The elbow reef had an old slave shipwreck with plenty of marine life – corals, sea fans and coral fish. We found some new fish for us and have to admit that we liked it more than the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

We all had a great last day in the Keys since Dieter and Rita enjoyed their glass-bottom boat tour. Now it’s time to drive towards New Orleans.