Traveling Through The Deep South And Avoiding a Tropical Storm

In late months of October, my mom and I decided we wanted to go somewhere. We thought about visiting Florida as a relaxing get away. However, we didn’t expect to drive through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas as well. As nature would have it however, a certain tropical storm had other ideas for our simple weekend trip, pushing us through the deep south.

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How Did we End up in The Deep South?

Our trip started when my mom, came into my room, and said she wanted to go somewhere. We knew my dad had some vacation time left, so we decided we would steal him away for a surprise trip somewhere for cheap. So, my mom scoured the internet, and decided to book a flight to Florida. Four hours later, we were finally able to get the tickets and organize our mini vacation that would go from Friday, to Monday. Now, as I said before, we were going to surprise my dad with this little trip. However, the credit card company had other ideas, and decided that what mom and I were doing was fraud, and that they needed to tell dad a flight had been purchased. Our secret was kept for all of about 5 hours before this happened. In the end though, dad’s help with the further finagling that would be need to be done, was invaluable.

About a week before we were set to leave, my grandparents had an unexpected medical emergency that hindered their attendance on our trip. Which meant fighting with the airlines about the tickets once more. If that would have been the end of the obstacles, that would have been fine. Little did we know, a tropical storm had decided to rear it’s ugly head, and forecasters predicted that it might head straight for our destination: Fort Lauderdale, Florida. There was no guarantee though. All we knew for sure was that our arrival and departure relied on that airport and that it might be affected. Now, I know by this point many people would have simply cancelled their trip and been done with it, but not us.

Our Trip in Motion

The drive to Vegas was a trek of anticipation coupled with anxieties. The flight to Florida was no different, however the good humored flight attendants and pilots helped ease the tension. Then, after hours of flying, we made it to Fort Lauderdale around 10:00 at night.

Driving around we were learning that this area is a lot different than what we were used too. Especially the humidity. Thankfully the rental car had a powerful a/c to combat this new atmosphere. One thing the car couldn’t help with however, were the roads. This bustling city had a road network resembling a plate of spaghetti. And it didn’t help that after we found our hotel and went to look for food, it started raining. It was patchy though, and thankfully McDonald’s wasn’t too far away. That night, we tucked into bed, wondering what the next day would bring, and if we had really made the right decision of coming.

The Morning in Florida

The next morning we awoke to news of an impending tropical storm headed right for us. Our plans of driving to the Florida Keys were shattered, and then there was the problem of potentially not being able to get home on Monday. There was only a specific amount of time we could take off for work. So what would we do if we were stuck at the airport for days on end? We consulted maps and pondered our different options. Then we realized, even if we did wait for days at the Florida airport, we would then miss our connecting flight in Houston. Just then, my mom came up with the solution. Why not drive to Houston? We enjoy road trips, we’d be going through a bunch of states we’d never been to before, so why not? We planned a route, switched the car rental to a one way, and began driving.

Before we left Fort Lauderdale however, my dad made it a point to get me to the Atlantic ocean so I could see it and dip my feet into it for the first time. My goodness, the wind! There was no doubt that a tropical storm was on the way. So after being sandblasted for a few minutes, we made a beeline for the west coast of Florida.

Around 1:00, we made it to the beautiful Marco Island. It’s quaint homes and picturesque landscapes were a charming reminder of their art deco heritage. Now, it took a bit of searching, but we eventually found Tiger Tail Beach. This is an area of the island that allowed fellow shell collectors to collect to their hearts content. Running to the beach I immediately began picking up piece after piece as I walked along the shore. I would not recommend swimming here however, due to the sheer number of jelly fish floating in the waves. Once we had walked the length of the beach, we made our way to Tampa where we parked the car for the night, and crashed after a comforting home style dinner at Bob Evans.

Heading Into The Deep South

Beginning our trip into the deep south, we knew we had a lot of driving to do. We checked out early, and began heading north towards Georgia. During this time, the back seat was my world. I proudly organized every nook and cranny while my parents drove the endless straight road in the deep south. I think I lost count of how many times my mom, with an air of exasperation, cried, “Are we there yet??” Sadly no. However, our vision soon got better. We noticed a little road side attraction that advertised fresh fruits and baby alligators. Naturally, we stopped. This was the perfect place to get our traditional magnet and postcard souvenirs. Then we were able to see the adorable little alligators sitting as happy as could be in their little tank. Moving along, our journey brought us to Georgia where we were able to tick off another state, only to fall right back to the long state of Florida.

For a good quarter of the day my dad had my mom drive. But if you’ve read about my Idaho trip you’ll know this wasn’t a good idea. My dad, to be understated, is a terrible passenger. I do believe he nearly caused an accident trying to “help” mom. He could only take it for so long before they had to switch once more. With dad at the wheel, we continued through stop and go traffic in Alabama, and the clear smooth roads of Mississippi. Honestly, southerners know how to care for roads. Not to mention their monstrous bridges. Leave it to humans to build a massive bridge over a lake instead of just driving around it. Once we crossed said bridge, we entered New Orleans and were greeted with the lasting devastation caused by hurricane Katrina. When you hear about these things on the news, you don’t really understand the true toll this disaster had on the people. The surrounding trees were working their way back up to their former glory however, house after house seemed like a memory lost to the anger of an unforgiving disaster. We pushed through the city until our night ended at a “stylish” hotel in an interesting part of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The Last Day of Our Adventure

Our final day of vacation involved a brisk, three hour drive to the imposing city of Houston, Texas where we were set to catch the second half of our flight home. With a few hours to kill, we hit up the local mall and of course spent an hour at Barnes & Noble. I’m so happy I was able to fit all of my finds in my backpack.

As we sat at the airport, we found out that our flight from Fort Lauderdale had merely been delayed 20 minutes, and would be arriving in time for the connecting flight. We were a bit exasperated to learn that after all of our efforts, our plan to make it home on Monday would have still worked had we done nothing. But as we watched the news and saw Fort Lauderdale flooding and being blown about, we realized we had made the right choice. I mean, who would’ve wanted to sit in a hotel room in Florida doing nothing for three days? I’m so glad we got out when we did, and that we were able to explore the deep south, surrounding the Gulf of Mexico!

Ash colored clouds rolled over the shimmering gold city as we glided through the black pearl night. Now, before the end of every trip, I try to pick something the journey taught me. Well, without a doubt, this trip in the deep south taught me flexibility. If we had been stuck to our original plans, we could have been stuck in Florida, or even gotten seriously hurt. In short, I learned to go with the flow, and always act with safety valued over plans.

That’s It!

Has weather ever changed your vacation plans? What did you do to save your vacation? Leave a comment below with your experiences! Thank you so much for reading the latest edition to the Welcome To My Shoes blog. I post every other Tuesday so be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Facebook for blog updates and inspiration. See you in a couple weeks!