Fort Walton, Florida -

After Colquitt, Georgia we drove 3 hours south to the Gulf of Mexico coast in Florida and had a night at Fort Walton beach. At the supermarket we found two different brands of dog ice cream treats - just as well we didn't grab them by mistake whilst reaching for the human ice cream!

Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana

Today we drove through Alabama and Mississippi to arrive at New Orleans, Louisiana where we have one night. En route we drove along the Gulf coast in Mississippi and saw some of the damage Hurricane Katrina had left behind nearly 17 months ago. It was quite amazing to see the amount of damage still so evident. Restaurant signs still standing but the restaurants long gone with just rubble left. Apartment buildings and hotels like the one in the photo only just standing with windows and doors blown out and drapes still hanging out the windows. The remains of a Shell gas station and a drive through McDonalds, trees broken in half or half bent over. As we got closer to New Orleans we witnessed whole blocks of abandoned damaged housing, abandoned malls with all the recognisable signage still up. The shop windows long gone and the parking lots empty of people and cars. Quite an eerie and humbling site and educational for us all, especially the children to see the devastation caused by a hurricane that they had only seen TV images of before . It is obviously going to take far longer than 17 months for the town to recover and rebuild.