The Keys

We drove across a whole lot of little islands on a road that was mostly made up of bridges. In some places the road was so narrow we could see the sea right beside us on both sides. One side was the Gulf of Mexico and the other one was the Atlantic Ocean. One bridge was 7 miles long!

At the end of the road was the southern most point in the whole of the United States in a place called Key West. In Key West we went to the toy factory and I bought a blue and yellow plane. We went on a train around the island and it was a bit of a rip off because we couldn't get off to see everything. There were lots of $5 shops. A lot of people rode around on bicycles with no helmets. Some people gave rides on the back of their bikes in a little cart.

On the way back up the Keys we went to Key Largo and I got to go shooting with a pistol.

On the way to Orlando we went the Kennedy Space Centre. I learnt that the last space shuttle to go into space was Atlantis. I saw the landing module from Apollo 11 when the first men went to the moon. We went in the shuttle lift off stimulator. It was fun as.

Florida

In New Orleans we looked at some really cool houses. They looked really expensive and I saw lizards in the gardens. Our hotel was great because they gave us free cookies every time we went in and they had a good pool.

Mum and I bought some beignets. They are cake things that you can only buy in New Orleans. They had a lot of icing sugar on them. In New Orleans there are lots of people who try to scam you. Dad got scammed by a guy who wouldn't let him go past and kept polishing his shoes. There was only a tiny bit of polish on there and he wanted $10. We gave him $1.
I ate alligator sausage.
We drove to a place a place called Oaks Alley. It was a great big plantation house where slaves used to do all the work. I don't think that's fair.

We flew from New Orleans to Miami and then from Miami to Tampa. It only took 40 minutes. In Tampa we stayed at a great La Quinta where there was a massive pool.

Today we drove through the Everglades. It's a big swamp and there are lots and lots of alligators. I got to hold one. It felt like holding a snake.

Road Trip

We went to Little Rock on our way to Memphis. We went to this really good Japanese restaurant where  a guy who was really funny made our dinner in front of us. When he put the oil on it made a big fire!

Then we left to Memphis where we went to Graceland. Graceland is where Elvis Presley lived. We saw Elvis' mansion, his cars and his private jets. Once, when he realised that his daughter Lisa hadn't seen snow before, he flew with her to Colorado to see the snow. She played there for an hour and then they flew home. There is a room in the mansion where you aren't allowed to go because Elvis wanted it to be kept private. My favourite room was the downstairs lounge room. It had mirrors everywhere, even on the ceiling and it had three TVs. We saw all his gold records and his costumes and I saw his grave. It was pretty sad to know he had been playing the piano in his pool room the morning that he died.

Xavier and I both bought blue , suede shoes in Memphis just like in Elvis's song.

Now we are in Jackson (the place, not Jackson Boyden!).

Texas

Over the past few days we've been in Texas. We have been to Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.

Today we are going shooting which is pretty funny because at home I'm not even allowed to play with toy guns! My sister Sophie knows where the gun place is because she's been living here for 3 months.
Yesterday I really enjoyed San Antonio. We went on a river walk and it was really fun.
And I have seen lots of squirrels. They run up the trees and along the power lines. I was the first person to spot a guy with a gun who isn't a policeman. He was just a regular man in a car park.
So far I've bought two baseball caps. One for the Dallas Cowboys and one for the Texas Longhorns.