This trip was something special, because for the first time I brought my whole family along to the States, Mom and Dad and my girlfriend Yvonne. In the years before, I had mostly flown over on my own. The main destination was Florida, with a side trip to New Orleans. We flew with US Airways, and even the connecting flight from Philadelphia down to Orlando turned into a bit of comedy, because the co-pilot was such a proud American that he gave us the full history of every single town we passed over.
From Orlando to Jacksonville
Since we would be staying in Orlando for almost ten days at the end, we first headed straight across northern Florida. In Daytona you simply have to see the beach, packed so hard that you can drive your car right onto it, once you hand over your five dollars. In St. Augustine we booked a tour of the town by horse-drawn carriage. The driver made a real effort to speak slowly, because Yvonne, Mom and Dad don't have particularly good English, so I still ended up translating the important parts. Flagler College, a former luxury hotel, fascinates me every single time. Since it happened to be Halloween, kids in costumes were going from shop to shop everywhere.
That evening we reached Jacksonville, where our relatives live. Dinner was already sitting there ready, they were just waiting for our call to come by. Now that's what I call service. Only every ten minutes, kids came knocking with their trick or treat, some of them even two or three times.
The Side Trip to New Orleans
From Jacksonville we had a long drive ahead of us to Ft. Walton Beach, seven hours in rain coming down in buckets. On the way toward New Orleans we made a stop at the Bellingrath Gardens in Alabama, a botanical garden that was already lit up with thousands of Christmas lights in early November. A feast for the eyes, though Dad thought it was tacky. If you drive into New Orleans from the east, you cross Lake Pontchartrain on a bridge miles long, and just as we were crossing it, the sun went down and the lit-up city lay in front of us, a picture straight off a poster.
Our bed and breakfast was in the Garden District. In New Orleans we took the streetcar into town, and that's where we got pure America. Because one person had accidentally not paid, the driver bellowed at my Dad at the top of his lungs, until other passengers stepped in and told him to show a little consideration for tourists. We took a city tour and a ride on the paddle steamer Natchez across the Mississippi, where a few musicians played jazz and Dixie. None of us really found the French Quarter all that lovely, though. Dirty, crazy and loud, those are the three words I always use to describe it.
Panama City Beach and the Gulf Coast
By way of Mobile in Alabama, where Dad and I toured a battleship, we carried on to Panama City Beach. In November the place falls into a kind of hibernation, we pulled up to four restaurants, all of them closed, and only tucked away somewhere did we finally find an Applebee's. Driving in the dark on the highway, we got a little uneasy, because at night out in the American countryside it really is pitch black.
Tampa, Ft. Myers and the Keys
My personal highlight was Busch Gardens in Tampa, because for me that's where you find the best roller coasters in Florida. From Punta Gorda and Ft. Myers, where we had a villa, we set out on day trips and shopping runs, and my favorite breakfast was the German Nutella I had brought along, spread on soft American white bread. From here we also drove once across Alligator Alley and past Miami all the way down to the southernmost point of the continental U.S., to Key West.
The Big Loop Through Orlando
To finish, we came to the long Orlando stretch. With a four-day pass, Yvonne and I explored Walt Disney World, from Epcot with the then brand-new Test Track to the Magic Kingdom and on to the MGM Studios. Another highlight was Islands of Adventure, which I had been hugely looking forward to ever since researching it for my website. The park is not for the faint of heart, though, so Yvonne, Mom and Dad preferred the classic Universal Studios instead. The Kennedy Space Center and Sea World were on the program too, and at Sea World I really like how much the park does for protecting the environment and caring for sick animals.
An Odyssey Getting Home
In the end, the journey home turned into an odyssey. Our flight from Orlando to Philadelphia got delayed because of technical problems, and all of a sudden, within ten minutes, we were rebooked onto a plane run by the budget subsidiary MetroJet heading to Washington. The flight back home then ran with United, but that's a whole other story. Despite all the detours, bringing the whole family along this time had been exactly the right call.
Our Family Photos from 1999
