Visited Places
We traveled on a DELTA flight Paris-Atlanta and Atlanta-Pensacola. Fortunately there has flights every hour
to Pensacola
because it took us almost 2
hours to complete police checks
in Atlanta.
Our flight arrived in
Atlanta at 14:30
and we needed to fly from
4:10 p.m.
finally, we took the 5:37 p.m. flight.
In Pensacola, we slept at the Hampton Inn Airport, a chain that depends on the Hilton Group.
it offers breakfast in the room rate. This is a good compromise between quality and price.
 Military Aviation Museum |
 Blue Angels Escadrille |
|
old Pensacola |
old Pensacola |
The museum is operated by aviators and is free. Some days you see a demonstration of
Blues Angels.
This was possible on Wednesday
but not Thursday, the day
of our visit.
We then visited the old
Pensacola. We liked
these two
visits, but we did not like
Pensacola Beach.
Pensacola Beach
We have not slept in Pensacola Beach as we had planned and continued along the road of
Gulf of Mexico. We appreciated
the road along the Bay of
Pensacola (Pensacola Scenic
Bluffs HWY).
We stayed at the Hampton
Inn Suites
in Miramar Beach.
All right.
The hotel advised us
to dine at the restaurant
Pompano Joe's
and it was still very
good.
The next day we stopped
at Grayton
Beach.
 Grayton Beach |
 Grayton Beach |
|
Blue Mountain Beach |
Blue Mountain Beach
|
We really liked the movie Truman Show and we have certainly not missed the visit
of the small town of Seaside, where was filmed this comedy.
 Seaside downtown |
 Seaside Beach |
|
the lighthouse |
We liked
this place. It's a place
where we
|
We had scheduled a stop in Apalachicola at the Hotel Gibson Inn. We were there on a Friday.
It was the Seafood festival. All hotels forced us to book for 2 nights.
So we went to Tallahassee, the capital of Florida. We slept at the hotel of Governors
recommended by our guide,
National Geographic, but we
do not recommend for the following
reasons:
- We have discussed
for a decent room
at a high price
($ 145).
- At the beginning we were
offered a room without a view
to $ 169.
- Another important point
there is no elevator
or restaurant.
At the hotel, we'd recommend
the fish restaurant Harry,
New Orleans
style.
We hated it.
We did the walk in
Tallahassee advised by
our National Geographic guide.
 The new capitol |
 the old capitol |
|
Chain of Parks garden |
St James church |
|
Presbyterian Church of 1838 was restored in 1980 |
Knott House |
After visiting the city of Tallahassee, we went to Wakulla Springs State Park Lodge.
We had room
47. It is
basic but comfortable. The
Lodge is justly
renowned for its
restaurant because we
have done our best dinner
since we arrived.
By late morning we have
done the boat trip
to see the wildlife
of the park.
|
|
|
boat tour on the Wakulla River |
boat tour on the Wakulla River |
|
boat tour on the Wakulla River with an alligator |
boat tour on the Wakulla River with a blue heron |
|
boat tour on the Wakulla River with a white ibis |
boat tour on the Wakulla River with an anhinga |
|
boat tour on the Wakulla River with a turtle |
boat tour on the Wakulla River with a manatee |
|
boat tour on the Wakulla River with a manatee |
We enjoyed our stay at
Wakulla Springs.
In the afternoon, we found a whole colony
|
From Wakulla Springs, we went to Cedar Key, a fishermen village.
 Cedar Key, the harbour |
 houses on stilts |
|
our Island Place hotel |
We have
an apartment at Island
Place.
the two places. We did not regret because we had the sea view while the Island Hotel is located on a dead sea views. In the evening we ate dinner at Island Hotel. It was very good. |
We left early morning Cedar Key to the Best Western Crystal River hotel in order to perform
the boat tour to watch the
manatees. Unfortunately,
the tour was canceled
due to bad
time and we traveled
to Tarpon
Springs, a greek town made famous by
sponge fishing.
 beautiful park in Tarpon Springs |
 the St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral |
The weather was not beautiful and we had a long road to get to Bradenton across the Tampa bay.
It's wonderful to go through
all the bridges over
the bay. At
Bradenton, we stay at the
Hampton Inn
in a room with Jacuzzi and
we got the Senior
rate. We stayed
two nights because we
have
rendezvous with our friend
Gigi who lives in
Bradenton. We then took
the road to Sanibel island
visiting Siesta Key
and Venice.
 Siesta Key beach |
 Siesta Key beach |
|
Siesta Key beach |
Siesta Key beach |
Siesta Key and Venice are popular with tourists. The visit of these two places did not change
our preference for our little
paradise Sanibel Island.
At Sanibel,
we are pleased to find our
G5 apartment
in Sanibel Arms. We must
meet
our friends
Luce and Denis from Quebec,
like us they love
the island of Sanibel.
 our buildind at Sanibel Arms |
 our G5 appartment at the 2nd floor |
|
our terrace |
the G5 appartment (photo from Denis Garand) |
|
G5 appartment (photo from Denis Garand) |
we found our paradise at Sanibel
Arms.
The charming Nancy Wright did us a kiss when we arrived. Sanibel Arms Condominiums 805 East Gulf Drive, Sanibel Island, FL 33957 | Phone: (239) 472-2259 1-800-806-RENT | Fax: (239) 472-2420
|
We spent 3 weeks in our apartment with always the same schedule:
the morning we walked
15 to 21Km
at a good speed for
our age and in the afternoon,
we occupied
with
visits of Bayley Tract,
Ding Darling, Naples (1
day with Luce
and Denis) or
relax on our terrace
reading a good book.
BAYLEY TRACT
 landscape of Bayley Tract |
this poster
did not exist last
year
|
|
Seen an alligator in the same place for 2 days |
this alligator emerged from the water |
|
1 alligator in the water |
We have not seen many birds this year.According to a guide on the site, the anhingas were not yet arrived because the water level was too high. By we have often seen the alligators whereas according to the guide, there are only 6 or 7 alligators on the site. This year, a campaign of extermination was made to preserve the alligator eggs. |
J.N. DING DARLING NATIONAL WILD LIFE REFUGE
 1 green anoles |
 only 1 anhinga met in 2009 |
|
night heron |
the night heron moves like a robot |
|
1 gree heron |
A blue heron with his neck in S |
|
White pelicans migratory species |
pink spoonbills |
|
Great Egret with Snowy Egret click the images to see the video. images taken with the camera Panasonic DMC-TZ7
|
 Stork uses his paw to fish
|
click on the images to see the video
This year noseeums were aggressive and should not forget to spray with a product
containing 25% DEET.
You find this product at
Jerry's, our favorite supermarket
on the island.
OUR RIDE TO NAPPLES
 the entry of Naples Pier |
 Naples Beach |
|
Naples Pier |
fisherman's paradise |
|
Naples Pier |
The tourists
were more numerous
than the year in Naples
|
OUR FAVORITES AT SANIBEL ISLAND
The supermarket Jerry's.
the restaurant Steakhouse rightly recommended by the tourist office.
the Sunday morning market with its French baker.
