After the conference we rented a car and decided to drive through from New Orleans in Louisiana, through Mississippi, to Mobile in Alabama. The trip from New Orleans to Mobile is listed as one of the top 5 coastal road trips in the States, and Mobile is also the nearest town in to Bluebelle in the Hart of Dixie!

Along the way we had to get out the car for a paddle in the Gulf of Mexico at Long Beach, since we were thinking this would be our one and only chance


We stopped at Darwell's Cafe for some traditional Mississippi fare after Mike came across it on on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives



The next day we were trying to decide what to do. We decided that since we were so close to the Florida State Line we might as well pop over and have a picnic in one of the parks. On our way I spotted a sign for Pensacola and remembered there was a beach there! Mike looked it up and soon we were on our way to the beach instead.









Dinner was at the Brick Pit, with amazing fall off the bone BBQ food that had been cooking for 36 hours. It was so good we came back the next day too!