July 2017

Beautiful area on the 'Forgotten Coast' section of Florida in the upper panhandle on the Gulf side.

Drove from Western most portion of Gulf Seashore in MS. It has brown water you are not supposed to swim in!

Then into the FL side! Amazing difference (powder white beaches, very blue ocean, warm Gulf of MX waters, and so pristine you can even snorkel in it).. Very uncrowded, as it's an island run by National Parks, so it's left pristine, no condos everywhere, only a few campgrounds, and protected sea turtle nests that were going to hatch anyday. Wish we could have seen that.

- Beautiful sunrise. Woke up early, no one else on beach!

Crystal clear and warm water. Snorkel off beach!

We wanted to spend some time along the gulf coast as it is a pristine beach area. (Except the Exxon Gulf disaster a few years ago...)
The Gulf Island National Seashore is in Mississippi & Florida.

MS area is mostly marshland, along w/the Mississippi River along the beaches. On the news and a camp worker told us to wait until FL to swim in ocean. As MS beaches, some people have died from flesh eating bacteria!. Ok we're good on that! So we checked out the campground & bayou. The next day it rained the whole day so we went to town & did laundry & grocery shopping. Got to do those things too sometimes. On to FL next.



A tent with an Air conditioner attached. Now we have seen everything!

Visit to Barataria Preserve in Marrero. They have swamps, bayous, 200 bird species, & most interesting.. Alligators,
Very close to New Orleans. We saw an alligator next to visitors trail. ! ! Very hot, humid, & lots of mosquitos...

Alligator next to boardwalk

;

Lake Ponchartrain bridge:

The Causeway Spans 24 miles and is the longest bridge over water in the world.
Better make sure you don't run out of gas on the bridge. !

Also pics from Mississippi River ferry from New Orleans to Algiers, LA only $2 each for locals mostly..