Carl’s Journey

Diary of my road trip to Gay Day Disney: May 29 to May 31

 I am now in Palm Harbour, Florida.  We arrived here late last night after driving 10 hours on the road.  New Orleans was great as usual, even though it rained on and off on Sunday.  I managed to take some great photos around the French Quarter area and the Mississippi River Walk area.  Gary and I started Sunday with a walk to the French Quarter and had a nice low carb breakfast at the Clover Grill.  The Clover Grill is a small diner on Bourbon St.  in the heart of the gay area.  It is a great place to enjoy typical diner food but if you are in a rush or expecting quick service, this place is not for you.  Gary and I then stroll through the French Market and visit some of the vendors.  Most of the outdoor vendors were down due to the early morning rain.

The Casino was not kind to us at all, we did stick to our budget of $80 per person for gambling though.

It is now evening time at Palm Harbour, an ethnically challenged community northwest of Tampa.  We are visiting Gary’s sister at her mansion on the lake.  She drove us to Tampa this morning to the SOHO district  (gay area) to purchase the Friday night Beach Ball’s Party at Typhoon Lagoon in Orlando.  We then spent 3 hours driving around the area looking at the nice houses on the beach.  I will be doing some laps in the nice pool at the house to burn off the late lunch I had today.

Gary and I will leave early tomorrow for our two night stay in South Beach and to visit my aunt in Margate, Florida

Diary of my road trip to Gay Day Disney – Day 1

Well, I am on another road trip that will lead me to Gay Day Disney in one more week.  Gary G and I left Houston this morning around 11:00 AM.  The big Lincoln was filled to the max with luggage, diet sodas, cameras, ice chests etc…  It took us over 7 hours to reach New Orleans due to the heavy rain today along I 10.  We arrived safely and check into the Double Tree on Canal, next to Harrah’s Casino.

Gary and I each had a salad for dinner as part of our new health conscious lifestyle.  We have lost around 10 pounds each due to a reduced carb and no sugar diet and a 3 miles walk every other day.  Each one of us have a goal of losing around 40 pounds.  This time it is for good and no more gaining and losing.  However, the horrible stale salads at the Wendy’s on Canal Street left me hungry for the creamy, buttery and spicy cuisine of The Big Easy.  I come to New Orleans often enough to have eaten at most restaurant so it is ok for me to visit a fast food chain.  If you are a first timer, leave all diets behind.

After dinner, we walked into the casino and lost a combine total of $80 in fifteen minutes.  We will be staying in New Orleans until Monday morning when we will head out to Florida.   First on the list will be Palm Harbour.  We will visit Gary’s sister there.  On Wednesday and Thursday, we will stay in South Beach and I will be spending time with my aunt and uncle who raised me for 4 years when I was 10 to 14.  I grew up in at that time a small town named, Margate.  Margate is about 40 minutes northwest of Miami.  It is now part of the Coral Galbe, Margate, Coconut Creek areas near Fort Lauderdale.  There is a casino only two minutes away from the house I grew up in.  Back in 1976, I was the first Vietnamese to go to school in the district there.

The pictures included here are of the rain on Interstate 10 and the view from our hotel window.

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