The second state that we went through on our 1980 American road trip was Alabama, but we didn't stop there. We drove through Alabama to Mississippi for an overnight stop and on to the fourth State we would go through, Louisiana, on the I10.
Alabama.
On our way from Florida to New Orleans, we travelled across Alabama into Mississippi using the I10. The only thing I remember about our short trip through Alabama was the number of police cars on the road. They seemed to be cruising the Interstate road, looking for people speeding. When you leave Florida and enter Alabama on the I10, the speed limit drops immediately, and the unaware driver can easily be caught speeding. As young children, it was pretty nerve-racking as we believed we would all be shot by the armed police or locked up and miss the rest of our holiday.
I specifically remember the road being high up on concrete pillars as it crossed the swamps along the southern region of the Yellowhammer State, Alabama's nickname, through the Heart of Dixie, as the State is also known and into Mississippi.
Mississippi.
I only remember stopping for one night in Mississippi for an overnight stop in Biloxi before we continued to New Orleans. I only remember stopping there but not any hotel or details. I did, however, go back to Biloxi several times with friends later in life as it became a gambling resort.
Louisiana.
Our first stop, and the only stop that I remember in Louisiana, was in New Orleans.
New Orleans.
Bourbon Street is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. It extends thirteen blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue and is famous for its many bars and strip clubs. Our hotel was on Royal Street, which runs parallel to Bourbon Street, making it a great place to explore. I think Holiday Inn then owned the hotel we stayed in, but Wyndham Hotels now run it. It is a great location, and I have stayed there on all but two of my visits to New Orleans, including my trip with my Uncle Dave in 2012. As young children, there wasn't a lot to keep my sister Karen and me entertained on Bourbon Street, but I do remember walking up the street and looking at all the young ladies standing in the doorways of nightclubs and strip clubs.
Big Daddy strip club.There was, and I think still is, a strip bar called "Big Daddy's", with a plastic pair of legs on a swing that sticks out of a window onto Bourbon Street. It had a big neon sign hanging on the wall outside advertising "topless and bottomless table top dancing". It used to be a big tourist spot, and I do remember my dad and I getting our photograph standing underneath it, but alas, the photo has been lost, and on this trip, at least, it was the closest I got to see what went on inside. I do remember my sister Karen and I asking our dad about the bar and telling him that as he was our big daddy, it must be his bar. I remember that the question was met with laughs by both our mum and dad.
I also remember walking around to Pat O´Brien´s bar on St Peters Street with my mum, dad and sister. Like all bars in New Orleans, they have a strict over-21 policy, and they wouldn't let my mum and dad go in with us kids. Both mum and dad went in separately to look around. One of them went in whilst the other waited their turn with me and my sister outside. From there, we explored more of the French Quarter, walking down to Jackson Square and into the French Market district before walking back along the Mississippi River to Canal Street and back to our hotel on Royal Street.
New Orleans is a fantastic place that I have visited on many occasions. I actually used to drive up from Orlando for a weekend when I lived in Orlando, but it doesn't stick long in the minds of a 13-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl. Likewise, I have no other memories of anywhere else we may have visited in Louisiana before leaving and continuing our road trip.