Texas 2024:
Day 7 - Pensacola, FL

	Tuesday, April 16, 2024: After picking up breakfast from Jack in the Box, we continued our trek eastward.
	We love seeing the logo for the highway painted on the lane itself when there is a big intersection ahead.
	Goodbye, Texas.
	Hello, Louisiana. Sadly, we did not get a picture of a welcome sign for Louisiana this time.
	There was evidence of recent flooding when we pulled into the welcome center rest area. But hey, what's on that sign?
	This is the most aggressive alligator warning sign we've ever seen.
	There was a beautiful lake right behind the welcome center, with a nicely tended path alongside it.
	Tom looked diligently for the 'gators, but we didn't see any.
	The path went off into the trees and turned into a nature trail. They don't want you to feed the alligators, but it's like they're trying to give the alligators every opportunity to feed themselves.
	So, someone on the Louisiana highway team knows that there should have been a welcome sign.
	There was a huge bridge spanning Lake Charles.
	The guard rail on the bridge had crossed flintlock pistol emblems just under the top rail.
	That's the city of Lake Charles on the other side of the bridge.
	Minutes after entering the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, ...
	... we saw our first car fire of the day. Yes, you read that correctly. Our first. Meaning not the only one. Way to put on a show, Louisiana. This one appeared to be a truck pulling a trailer containing lawn mowing equipment. The trailer was fully consumed, and the fire had spread to the back of the pickup truck.
	Traffic on the west-bound lanes was backed up for miles.
	Let's focus on the setting for this vehicle fire. It was a combination river and swamp, ...
	... and was really quite beautiful.
	The name of the lake very amusing, and was our first sighting of the use of -eaux in place of an "o."
	The road over the swampland was elevated on a series of bridges that went on for many miles.
	We took the exit near the middle of the swamp to go to the Atchafalaya Welcome Center. There was a billboard for boudin balls, which are a like deep-fried meat hush puppies. Unfortunately, we managed to leave Louisiana without ever sampling these delicious-sounding taste treats.
	A large map outside the Welcome Center displayed information about the Atchafalaya Basin. It was interesting reading, especially the parts about the shifting of the course of the Mississippi River over several hundred years.
	Another sign for our national something something collection.
	We left the Welcome Center and drove on through the swamp.
	This is the Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel, a side channel of the Atchafalaya River.
	The bridge system itself was beautiful, with sections that came together over land and then spread out into eastbound and westbound sides with water in between. The entire bridge system runs for more than fifteen miles.
	Welcome to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
	We were about to cross the Mississippi River, ...
	... and get a glimpse of the Baton Rouge skyline.
	This beautiful building belongs to the Water Institute, a non-profit organization that works with communities to build sustainable water management systems.
	And then there was this trailer for the Angola Prison Rodeo in a lot nearby. There is a white-painted schoolbus next to it which is likely the prisoner transport bus. Who knew that prison rodeos were a thing?
	There really is an app for everything.
	This sign has our vote for best billboard on I-10.
	On the outskirts of Baton Rouge, we got off the highway to head to the Great River Road Museum, hoping that there would be a Louisiana version of the Great River Road sign that we were missing. We were ecstatic to see one even before we reached the museum.
	When we reached the museum, we parked ...
	... and took their beautiful walkway ...
	... over the street to an overlook ...
	... and watched the barge traffic on the Mississippi River.
	There was a lot of storm debris in the river from recent rains, floods, and tornadoes, and the current seemed to be flowing very fast as we watched as a pusher boat headed downriver.
	Since we were in Louisiana, we decided to get lunch from Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen. It counts as local since it has Louisiana in the name.
	We were still having our lunch when we passed our second vehicle fire of the day. This one appeared to be a brake fire on a semi, and it also appeared to have just started. The driver of the truck was nonchalantly getting out of the cab and another truck driver was walking toward the flaming vehicle with a fire extinguisher as we drove by.
	We cut across a small part of Lake Pontchartrain as we approached New Orleans.
	We stopped at Lakeside Shopping Center and went immediately to the LEGO Store.
	This was our first time filling the new Pick & Build boxes, and Tom packed this one completely full. We're still unsure whether we like the boxes more than the cups, but we now know that the boxes hold way more than we originally thought they would.
	In the very same mall was a Cafe du Monde, ...
	... and we stopped in to have some delicious beignets. It was beignets with easy parking, no wait, and plenty of clean seating. This just became our very favorite Cafe du Monde ever.
	We got back on I-10 and drove past the Caesars Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints. The Smoothie King Center is behind it.
	There are some beautiful buildings in New Orleans.
	Look at the incredible detail work on this one.
	We crossed over a boulevard and could see several of the city's iconic trolley cars rolling down the tracks in the center of the street.
	There's the New Orleans skyline in the distance.
	We drove through the Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge as we left the city behind.
	Around 3:00 PM, we entered the Stennis Space Center Buffer Zone and actually managed to get a photo of the sign as we entered this time.
	That's the Pearl River, ...
	... which is the border between Louisiana and Mississippi.
	We stopped at the Infinity Science Center, which is the official visitor's center for Stennis Space Center. They have part of a Saturn V rocket on the grounds next to the building, so it is kind of hard to miss as you drive by.
	The center is open Thursday through Sunday, and unfortunately for us, it was Tuesday.
	However, that meant that there were no crowds, ...
	... and we were able to see some of the outdoor exhibits without anyone blocking our view.
	Stennis Space Center is NASA's rocket engine testing facility, so it wasn't a surprise that many of the exhibits were rocket engines. This is an H-1 engine that powered the Saturn S-1B rocket, the first stage of the mighty Saturn V used in the Apollo program.
	This warning sign asked that you not feed the alligators. No food. No drinks. No nothing. That should cover it.
	About an hour later, we were on the Pascagoula River Bridge in eastern Mississippi, ...
	... looking out over the Escatawpa River Marsh Coastal Preserve.
	A few minutes after that, we were in Alabama, ...
	... and pulled into the Alabama Welcome Center rest area.
	There was a lot of artwork here, including a turtle filled with discarded trash, ...
	... and, oh, no, a statue that is part of a series named the Oyster Trail.
	It's grouper, babe. It's grouper.
	This octopus sculpture was beautiful.
	The Welcome Center was huge, and it seemed like we were the only people there.
	Another octopus was embedded in the floor design along with many other water creatures.
	The restrooms were beautiful and clean, and we especially loved the overhead cloud lights and the shiny silver hand dryers mounted at different heights on the wall.
	When we left the Welcome Center, Debbie looked up a map of sculpture locations for the Oyster Trail, and they were all in downtown Mobile.
	This beautiful building is the Mobile Convention Center. We drove along the waterfront, and then a few blocks into the city.
	We found our second Oyster Trail statue on Dauphin Street, ...
	... and a third one a few minutes later.
	Debbie loves old neon signs, especially when the original establishment no longer exists.
	This marquee for the Grand Central Bar must have looked beautiful all lit up at night.
	What a cute downtown.
	We'll have to come back here someday and spend more time here, and maybe have a drink while sitting on swings like these folks.
	As we drove back toward the highway, we passed Mardi Gras Park, ...
	... which had these great statues arranged around the park perimeter. There were statues of Mardi Gras royalty, including the queen ...
	... and king, ...
	... a trumpeter, ...
	... and several jesters like this one in pink, ...
	... and this one in purple and gold.
	This statue was of Chief Slacabamarinico, who was the alter ego of Joe Cain, the person largely credited with starting the modern Mardi Gras tradition back in 1868.
	More royalty, including the Queen of Carnival, ...
	... and King Felix III.
	The park is built around the ruins of Fort Conde, which was built by the French in 1723.
	Necklaces from previous Mardi Gras celebrations dangled from the trees near the park.
	Check out the font on this building! We are font nerds and we loved this one.
	Another cool font!
	We passed the USS Alabama, now a museum ship in Mobile Bay.
	Just before 6:00 PM, we crossed into Florida, the last state on our I-10 journey.
	When we arrived in Pensacola, there were plenty of reminders that the Navy's Blue Angels were stationed here.
	We stopped at the Official Florida Welcome Center, hoping to find a dolphin statue, but instead we saw this awesome turtle statue with an advertisement for Navarre Beach.
	There were five or six stray cats lounging around, and in typical cat fashion, they made solid eye contact to let you know that they were the ones in charge here.
	Debbie got this great picture of one of their cool manhole covers.
	We stopped for the night at another Studio 6 hotel, and unwound after our long day. Day 8 >