We overnighted here between Tampa and New Orleans. The plan was to skip the bitter winter unfolding over Munich but the spell followed us to the Southeast United States. When we arrived on Pensacola Beach, barely a soul was in Pensacola except for some Hooter’s girls closing up the restaurant and a stoned-out Subway sandwich shop attendant. There would be no skinny dipping or combing the beach for sea-turtle nests this evening.

I always find it amusing how a lot of Germans stand in photographs–toes forward, knees shoulder width apart and body exactly perpendicular to the lens. Alex is doing his best to keep me still. I’m pretty certain this is me trying to hide an eminent pee-pee dance.

A storm brought the shore fresh sea shells and stirred up a brew of seaweed oscillating with the tide. If it wasn’t for the bitingly cold wind, the bikini was begging to come out. Otherwise, it was a signature, perfect day on a near-deserted beach. Alex commented that Florida has no clue about heating systems or insulation. We had a chuckle as we sat midday in a restaurant with our jackets on and scarves wrapped around our necks.

Even the seagulls knew better to stand on a sandbar to keep their feetsies warm in the water.

One latest article I found states that there is good news–there is no “visible” oil on beach. But another site disputes this with a video of recovered tar balls and tar patties previously buried under the sand. I’m not a drama queen when it comes to environmental disasters. Systems do bounce back depending on what facts you are looking at and the surface is never where you should measure successful recovery. I fear for the benthic population and the organisms living in the water column.

It really puts the saying, “Take only photographs, leave only footprints” into perspective.

In the meantime, Alex and I are on a roadtrip in the South. Current location: Houston. First impression: bleh. So why bother: We are visiting a ex-gee friend of Alex’s. Next stop: Austin, whoot! We’ll celebrate my birthday surrounded by music lovers this weekend. I’m tickled with anticipatory glee.

So far we’ve been to Pensacola and New Orleans. Pensacola was as cold as a witches’ tit but the beaches were nearly deserted and exceeded all beach loving expectations. Bright sun, white sand and blue-green gulf water – an aah moment.

New Orleans, although a bit dirty compared to Munich, has a charm that cannot be matched in Munich. You can see people really struggle here and yet they still give you a smile and will warmly talk we you ask how you are doing. We ended up putting our loose change in our pockets because we were asked so many times for a quarter for a food, booze or charity. It’s hard not to run into someone trying to sell you something. When we asked a random fruit stand woman where the nearest city-run tourist office was, she immediately wanted to sell us a swamp and ghost tour combo for $44 a person.

Not to fret. I do recommend going to Jean Lafitte Museum for a free city tour and check out the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park for free music from very talented park ranger musician.

Do avoid visiting the plantations. They are privately owned and designed to make money off of Gone-With-The-Wind buffs. They aren’t friendly to people who opt not to take their $18 tour per plantation and don’t expect to learn about all sides of life on a plantation. A new tree planted under an old oak framing the Laura Plantation obstructs the view of the house from the street.

I’m awfully lazy right and wrapped in sadness over the images in Haiti, so I’m not uploading any photos. I do have photos of our roadtrip on my facebook.

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I stayed in Germany 18 months before I returned home. During that time I didn’t miss a thing. But since being back from our Florida visit, I’ve noticed a few things I slightly long for. I guess because (except for the boiled peanuts) we didn’t have time to see, do, or buy these things in December and January. As you’ll see, there were a few things I simply couldn’t pack with me on our return flight to Munich. Amusingly, most center around food and are written in no particular order.

1. Boiled Peanuts
2. Florida Strawberry Festival
3. kayaking over open water with my red Dagger
4. Albritton’s strawberry-orange juice
5. cajun grouper sandwich on St. Pete Beach
6. good ol’ native Florida southern accent
7. Banana Now n’ Laters
8. sunsets on Venice Beach with the live bluegrass band playing in the background
9. Sunday night drum circle on Siesta Key
10. Brach’s candy corn and caramel squares
11. Skipper’s Smokehouse
12. warm summer evenings and flipflops