It was time to say goodbye to Hutchinson Island and head off to our final stop of the trip – Miami.

We packed up our bags and the bus for the drive down to Miami. It rained quite a lot on the drive down and on the way we passed the Hard Rock Hotel that was still being built.

We were staying in Axel Beach Hotel which is LGBTQI + friendly and very obviously so.

Once we had sorted out our rooms it was time to say goodbye to Bob. It was really sad to see him go and he and Cindy had gone above and beyond in organising the trip.

We were planning to head to the beach but it was pouring down with rain with thunder and lightening too. So we headed to the bar instead.

Sid and Sherrien decided to go for a swim and entertained us all with their attempts to get on the inflatable unicorn.

After a while the rain stopped so we decided to go and explore Miami Beach.

As we were on the beach a huge cruise ship went past.

There were some strange looking birds on the beach.

We wandered down the beach for a while until we got to the infamous muscle beach – unfortunately there was very little muscle on show.

We walked back along Ocean Drive and popped in to a few of the shops along the way.

We walked back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

As we were in Miami we decided to make a bit of an effort and get dressed up.

We walked down Ocean Drive again and stopped at Cardozo Hotel for some Cuban cuisine. Ali and I shared a starter of calamari and a cerveiche sampler, both were delicious, along with margaritas.

We finished the meal with a Calypso coffee, which had loads of cream on it.

We had to go into the hotel to use the toilet so took the opportunity to take some more photos.

After dinner we had a little wander down Ocean Drive before heading back to the hotel.

At the hotel Sarah, Sherrien, Ali and I had a nightcap at the bar and chatted to Eduardo and Alejandro as they served our drinks.

It was then time for bed.

All of the ladies got up early to watch the sunrise and have a swim.

It was a beautiful sunrise and the wea was lovely and warm, although it was a bit choppy.

After a delicious breakfast of fruit and yoghurt we headed off to the Everglades for an air boat tour with Captain Bob.

The Everglades National Park is a 1.5-million-acre wetlands preserve. It feels like a grassy, slow-moving river, the Everglades is made up of coastal mangroves, sawgrass marshes and pine flatwoods that are home to hundreds of animal species, including the Alligators. It contains the largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere

One of the first things we saw were the Anhinga birds. The name translates to ‘snake’ or ‘devil’ bird and they are also sometimes known as water turkeys. The birds were sitting in the Cyprus trees but when they are in the water they look like a snake as they swim with only their heads out of the water.

As we moved through the water we came across some purple hyacinth. The flowers on this plant bloom and then die every day, with new flowers coming the next day.

We saw an alligator quite early on in the trip. To start with you could only see the eyes and nostrils above the water. As we stopped in the swampy area we were surrounded by swamp gnats – they don’t bite but are really annoying.

We saw a great blue heron which is a very tall wading bird that measures around 4ft in length when it’s neck is fully extended. It has a wingspan of 6ft.

Hiding in the grass we also spotted a yellow bellied slider (turtle). This is a land and water turtle and is very common in Florida.

We were also lucky enough to see one of the rarest birds on the Everglades, the snail kite. This is a bird of prey that has evolved and adapted to be able to eat snails. Their beaks are hooked so they can pull the snail out of the shell. They are an endangered species, although their numbers are increasing.

We also saw a great egret among the grass.

We saw several alligators on the tour ranging from small babies up to one’s that were around 9 ft long. These are the largest reptiles in. North America and can reach speeds of up to 30mph on both land and in the water. Around 200,000 alligators live in the Everglades.

On the trip we also saw swamp chicken and a blue tailed gackle but the photos aren’t that good.

A lot of the Cyprus trees we passed were dying and covered in Spanish Moss.

A lot of the Cyprus trees also housed the ospreys nests. Ospreys are birds of prey in the hawk family. They mate for life and always return to the same nest each year. They have a reversible outer toe which allows them to have a good, stable grip on branches.

It was strange to think that not that long ago the wetlands were used for crops and cattle as they had been drained. By the early 1970s around 62% of the area we were in had been drained for agricultural purposes and canals were dug to divert the water into the Indian River Lagoon. In 1977 a restoration project started as diverting the water also diverted all ghe nutrients etc. Part of the area we rode on even used to be a race track.

It was a brilliant tour, we all loved it.

Back at the beach huts we made up some lunch and headed to the beach. Bob made his margaritas- which were delicious. We swam and sunbathed for a bit.

We had a look around the smallsrina at our resort (Ocean Resort). We were hoping to spot some mantee but unfortunately they weren’t around.

We headed back to ours to freshen up.

We had some baked brie with red wine before heading out to ‘Pickled’ for dinner. Ali and I weren’t that hungry so we shared some starters.

It was an early night for everyone.

I woke up and a few minutes later Sid came out of her room on the way to the beach to watch the sunrise. I decided to join her and we wandered down together. It was very quite and peaceful and the sunrise was beautiful.

After breakfast we headed back down to the private beach with our chairs and tent shades.

The men decided to surprise us and dress up.

The sea was quite rough with a really strong current but we dipped in and out throughout the day.

During the day we also did a bit of nature spotting.

We saw a type of sandpiper called a Willet along the wave line. These are quite large shorebirds that eat small crabs, other crustaceans, small mollusks, sometimes small fish and also eat some plant material, including grass, fresh shoots, and seeds. When they run along the beach they remind me of road runner.

We also saw an Atlantic ghost crab which is a common crab in this area. The crabs can live up to 3 years and can move at speeds of up to 10mph. The crab we saw was obviously on the defensive but once left alone he scuttled off.

There were quite a few pelicans around. We saw them diving into the water to catch the fish too.

As well as sunbathing we had a few drinks on the beach and took some photos.

Late afternoon we wandered back to the house and sat down by the river, Indian River. As we were down there we saw a couple of dolphins swim by.

Before heading out for dinner we had some baby guinesses, expertly made by Sid.

For dinner we went to ‘Little Jims’.

As the Mahi Mahi fish had been so delicious the night before I went for the Mahi tacos with a coconut mohito.

The place was really nice, the food was very tasty and the staff were really friendly.

After dinner everyone came back to ours for a few drinks. We sat out by the river, and despite putting insect repellent on, I got eaten alive.

We went to bed around 1am after I ‘politely’ asked everyone to leave as my bedroom is the lounge.

After a good night’s sleep we left the hotel and popped over the road for breakfast – there was loads of choice of pancakes, bacon, egg, mushrooms, sausage, toast, fruit and beverages. We filled up and then set out on our way to Florida which was around another four hour drive.

In the afternoon we started on the beers and had a bit of a sing song on the bus.

Once we got to Florida we spent a little bit of time exploring our accomodation, which is like a beach hut right by the water. Outside our hut is the intercostal waterway. Thos is a 3,000-mile inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following the Gulf Coast to Brownsville, Texas

We are in Fort Pierce, Florida on Hutchinson Island. Fort Pierce is named after the Fort Pierce Army Post that was built in 1838.

Some weird facts about Florida; it is illegal for a doctor to ask a patient if they own a gun, it is illegal to break more than 3 dishes a day and unmarried women are prohibited from parachuting on a Sunday.

After we had sorted put our rooms – I’m on the sofa in the lounge – we headed down to the beach. We went for a swim in the sea which was warm but quite rough.

After a while it started to rain but it was only a passing shower.

We went back home when we started to get a little cold, had showers and headed out to Sharky’s for dinner.

We watched the sunset before we headed out.

The food here was amazing. We shared some Mahi bites fir starters and I had buffalo shrimps and sweet potatoes fries with blue cheese sauce and mixed vegetables for main.

The Mahi mahi fish is known as the common dolphin fish and it was really meaty and tasty.

The moon was shining bright and you could see Jupiter to the right of it as well.

When we got back home we sat on the deck and chatted for a bit. There were a lot fish jumping in the water.

It was a lovely end to the evening.

This morning we were up, showered, had a small breakfast and coffee, bus packed and on the road by 7am!

I took a quick photo of the sunrise before we left.

We had around a three and a half trip to Graceland in Memphis and had booked a tour for 10:45am.

It was quite busy when we arrived at Graceland but they split you into smaller groups so it feels OK, although there is quite a bit of waiting around at the beginning.

The tour starts at Elvis’ Graceland House. Tourists are only allowed in the downstairs part as the upstairs has been left as it was when Elvis died.

Elvis bought Graceland in March 1957 and paid $103,500 for the house and 13.8 acres of land. He was just 22 years old. He had a stone wall built around the perimeter of the property and installed the music themed wrought-iron gates.

Elvis lived at Graceland with his parents Gladys and Vernon as well as his paternal grandmother Minnie-May.

The furniture and decor in the rooms are amazing. In the dining room the crockery on the table is a gift Elvis and Priscilla received for their wedding.

These are the ground floor rooms and are the lounge which includes a baby grand piano, the dining room, Elvis’ mum’s bedroom, the kitchen and then the stairs going up as well as the ones leading to the lower floor, which are all mirrored.

On the lower ground floor is the jungle room, which is an extension built onto the original house as well as the pool room and media room.

We then walked across the outside paddocks to the recording (Vernon) studio and also a small area where Elvis practised shooting with his friends.

We then walked through a space where there was lots of information about Elvis and his family. Elvis and his parents originally lived in Tupelo and in relative poverty. They moved to Memphis in 1948 so Gladys and Vernon could find work.

The next area showed various trophy and items from Elvis’ life and lots of photographs of him. One of the items was a tv that had been gifted to Elvis by a film company and there was also a photo of his favourite horse- Rising Sun. Elvis made 31 films during his life.

We then wandered outside again to the Meditation Garden where Elvis is buried alongside his mother, his father and his grandmother.

Elvis Presley was originally buried next to his mother at Memphis Forest Hill Cemetery, but his body was moved back to Graceland after an attempt was made to steal his coffin and hold the remains the ransom. His mother’s body was also then moved to Graceland.

It was actually quite emotional standing by the grave of such a superstar.

As we walked out of the garden I spotted a butterfly and took a photo.

As we drove back towards the entrance we passed the wall that everyone signs.

Our next stop was to have a look at all the cars – all owned by Elvis and this was only part of his collection. Obviously there was the focus pink cadillac as well as the 1970 Mercedes-Benz 600 Saloon Limousine which was one of the.mpst expensive cars Elvis owned.

There was then another area which provided a lot of the information about Elvis’ life in the army as Private Presley.

It was during his time in the army that Elvis met Priscilla, who was just 14 when they first met. They eventually married in May 1967 in Vegas when Priscilla turned 21.

In February 1967 Lisa Marie Presley.

The last stop of the tour was to the aeroplanes, one which was named after Lisa Marie. The plane was certainly very luxurious.

It was an amazing tour and quite surreal at times.

After a quick lunch stop at Burger King it was back on the road for the long journey to Lake City.

The total mileage for the day was 867 miles and we passed through 5 states: Tennessee. Mississipi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

In America every 5 miles of the highway have to have a 1 mile landing strip. This is 1 mile of straight road so a planes could land. This means that a plane can land anywhere in the country and was introduced by Eisenhower.

On the journey you could see the full moon, the Hunters moon.

Ali, Sarah and I shared a bottle of red wine on the journey – it was hard to take a photo as the roads were very bumpy!

We arrived at the Holiday Inn in Lake City around 130am. I had a whole room to myself and slept really well.

Today we had a lazy morning before getting ready to go shopping. We left Bob and Cindy to bit of peace and quite and headed into town.

Our first stop was Hard Rock Cafe where I bought a hoodie.

We then wandered down Broadway in the search for cowboy boots, and passing lots of interesting stores on the way.

We stopped off at the Lucky Bastard Saloon for a photo opportunity. We also had some jello shots as they were buy one get one free.

We carried on walking through town to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

We were planning to have a look around but the queue was massive so we just took some photos and left.

On the tour the day before our guide had pointed a boot shop that was good  quality but not too expensive so we made our way back there down some of the side streets.

I did end up buying a pair of cowboy boots which I then had to wear for the rest of the day.

Not far from the boot shop are the famous Angel Wings, so we made our way over to them. There was a bit of a queue to have your photo taken but Ali, Sherrien and I decided to wait, the rest of the group went to the pub.

On our way back to Broadway we passed a shop with another photo opportunity.

Back on Broadway we stopped off at a Tapas restaurant for a late lunch. It was quite expensive and the service was rubbish so we asked them to remove the service charge from the bill.

From here we decided to explore Printers Alley. On the way we passed the Ryman Auditorium. This is a huge live venue and is the original site of the Grand Ole Opry. It is known as the mother Church of Country music and the birthplace of bluegrass.

The Auditorium was originally called the Union Gospel Tabernacle and was commisdioned to be built by Thomas Ryman, a steamboat captain.

There were other statues around the Auditorium as well.

From here we headed down Printer’s Alley. In its earlier days there were a series of posts where men bound for the courthouse hitched their horses. By the turn of the twentieth century it had become the center of Nashville’s printing industry; in its heyday, circa 1915, thirteen publishers and ten printers were located in the area serviced by the alley. Nashville’s two largest newspapers, The Tennessean and the Nashville Banner, had their offices here at one time. Now it is mainly smaller bars and restaurants, many of which have kept a lot of the original features.

We peeked in a few of the bars and decided to stop for a beer in one of them. Like everywhere in Nashville there was live music.

And then it was time to head home to catch the last of the sun on the rooftop of our house.

Bob and Cindy made a delicious dinner of steak, baked potatoes and salad. It tasted so good.

And then we had a little party with some great DJ’ing by Jim.

Before heading to bed I took a quick photo of the moon.

Sid was up early and took a photo of the sunrise.

After a breakfast of blueberry pancakes a few of us headed out to Nashville Farmer’s Market. The market dates back to the 1800s and covers 16 acres. It is a mixture of food and artisan stalls as well as a garden centre.

I bought a chocolate chess pie for us all to try. This is a southern traditional pie made with butter, sugar, and eggs; a dash of cornmeal for texture, and a splash of vinegar. It tasted really nice but it would have been difficult to eat a whole one.

As we walked into the food hall we spotted a squirrel.

We walked around a few of the stalls and I ended up buying some handmade soap.

We also saw a stall where a guy made guitars out of almost anything, and could play them too.

After all that walking around we felt we needed to treat ourselves so decided to do some wine tasting.

We all felt a little bit hungry so we had some Chinese noodles before taking a rest break and then walking into town.

The walk was around 25 minutes, mainly through areas that were under construction, but we did pass some interesting buildings including the university.

Our meeting point for our city tour was the union station hotel.

The building is made from limestone and marble and was originally built as the Union Station travel center in 1894 and it was renovated in 1986 to become a hotel.

The interior is very luxurious and decorative. The stained glass is a certain type of stained glass called prismatic glass as it bends the light in a certain way.

The angels at the top of the arches are called the Angels of Commerce and represent agriculture, literature and alcohol!

This was the first stop of our food and drink tour and we started it off in style with a glass of champagne.

We then walked through the area known as the Gulch – so named because this was where the train tracks used to go and its a mixture of gulley and ditch.

Our next stop was Biscuit Love which was founded by a husband and wife team who originally just provided food from a food truck in 2012. Here we ate the house speciality -a bonut. This was really tasty.

From here we made our way to Peg Leg Porker. The guy who owned this place had cancer and lost his leg and then decided to do what he loved – which was barbecuing. We had a pulled pork slider with mac and cheese and a local beer.

On the way to our next stop we passed Carter guitars. June Carter married Johnny Cash.

We walked on to our next stop which was Party Fowl where we were the night before and where they serve hot chicken. The story behind the hot chicken is that a man called Prince cheated on his wife and to get revenge she made him some chicken and made it really spicy. Unfortunately Prince really loved it and spent four years working out what his wife had used as she had left him by this time. He then opened up a restaurant serving hot chicken. Mark and Steve just about managed. The frozen margarita helped wash the heat away.

On the way to our final stop we went past one of the murals where a lot of the bachlorette parties have their photo taken.

We also walked past a really nice car.

Our final stop was a bar / restaurant called Sambuca. Here we tasted a fruit cobbler and a champagne cocktail.

As we were sipping out cocktails our guide told us about Fisk University which was set up in Nashville for black people in 1866 once slavery was abolished. In order to finance thr University the founder established the Fisk Jubilee Choir which toured around the world. They ate believed to have bought the song ‘Swing low sweet charriot’ to England. They met Queen Victoria who was heard to say “they must be from the music city”, hence Nasville is known as the City of Music.

As we were already in town we decided to walk down to Broadway to try out some of the bars. On the way down we passed the ‘Batman’ building as well as the First Baptist Church.

Broadway is full of lights and is party central.

We decided to go to Tootsies Orchid Lounge which is the oldest and most famous honky tonk bar in Nashville. It was owned by Hattie Louise ‘Tootsie’ Bess from 1960 to 1978, hence its name.

From the rooftop bar at Tootsies you had some great views over Broadway- we watched the sunset and the moon come out.

As the night progressed it became busier and the streets were full of party buses.

After a while we left Tootsies to meet Mark and Steve at another bar- Jason Ardens. We watched a couple of bands through the open windows as we walked along – everywhere had live music.

There was a band playing at Jason Ardens so Ali. Sherrien and I decided to stay and dance. At this point a lot of the group went home.

Jim had met up with a couple of his friends and was in another bar – Whisky Bent Saloon, so we walked over there to meet up with him.

We had a beer and a dance and then Jim’s friend told us that the Coyote Ugly Bar was close by. On our way over there we passed the horse and carriage which looked really pretty.

The bar was really busy but had a great atmosphere. You could get up and dance on the bar- Ali and I did. There is a video of this but probably not for public consumption.

And after all that it was time to go home. On leaving the bar much of Broadway had been closed off to traffic so it took us ages to get an Uber.

We were all awake and up fairly early. Sadly we had to say goodbye to Mandy and Maria as they were heading home.

Once we had all had breakfast we packed up the bus and started the journey to Nashville.

As we were actually pretty prompt in leaving we decided to make a stop in Knoxville which was the first capital city in Tennesse.

We had a little wander around looking at some of the buildings. One of the buildings we saw was Blount Mansion which was one of the first wooden frame houses built in the area in 1792.

The view out over the Tennessee River was nice too.

On the way back to the bus we stopped at the rowing man sculpture to take a photo.

I noticed a pharmacy opposite so decided to have a look. It was really cool with a cafe and a real pharmacy.

On the way out of Knoxville we saw the famous sunsphere. This was built for the 1982 World’s Fair. Over 11 million people visited the fair between May and October of that year.

It was around a 3 hour drive from Knoxville to Nashville so we had time to chat, sleep and drink.

On arrival we were a little bit too early to get into the accommodation so we just waited outside on the street. We made friends with a stray dog.

Once inside we had a look around and watched the sunset from the rooftop area.

It was then time to head out for some food. We are a little bit out of town so ordered a couple of Ubers to take us to Party Fowl.

I ordered the fried hot chicken at a mild level and that was just about at the limit of spice I could handle! It came with collared greens which tasted a bit like sauerkraut.

After dinner we walked to Station Inn which was also in the Gulch area. The Station Inn is a music listening room and has live music almost every night.

As we arrived the band had just started to play. They were amazing and were playing pure bluegrass music.

Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to get up and dance as the venue was too small for that, so we sat and drank our beers.

After a little while we headed home and had a nightcap in the kitchen.

It was a lovely sunny start to the day.

After a delicious breakfast of fruit and yoghurt we chatted for a while and decided to do a hike to one of the tallest points in the Smoky Mountains.

Bob drove us up to Clingmans Dome which is 6,643ft high and is the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The views on the way up were amazing. It was a little bit chilly when we arrived and it was also a little bit hazy.

We headed off down Andrews Bald trail through the pine forest. It smelt so lovely, just like Christmas.

After a couple of miles of up and down hiking we made it to Andrews Bald. From here you had a 360 degree view across the mountains. The photos really don’t do it justice as the views were stupendous.

We stopped at the top for our lunch in the beautiful sunshine.

The way back seemed longer for some reason but was still a lovely hike.

Once we were back at the top the mist had cleared a bit so I took some more photos of the views.

On the way back down we pulled into a lay-by for a beer stop.

I tried to take some photos out of the window on the way down but they didn’t come our that well.

After arriving back at the lodge, Ali, Sherrien, Sarah and myself decided to get an Uber into town so we could have a look around. The town is all decorated for Halloween.

We stopped off at the Ole Smoky Moonshine bar to do some moonshine tasting. We were given 9 different moonshine to taste and I liked them all apart from the nutty ones.

We ended up buying 6 bottles between us! Moonshine is a high proof alcohol that used to be produced illegally, and in some places it still is. It used to be distilled at night to avoid detection which is how it got its name of moonshine.

America’s first legal moonshine distillery was launched in 2005. The origins of moonshine can be traced back across the Atlantic to Scotland and Ireland where making and drinking whiskey were time-honored traditions. When Scottish and Irish immigrants made their way to Appalachia, they used local corn to distill whiskey for their community to enjoy. Around 2009, changes in Tennessee state law paved the way for the creation of legal moonshine.

We felt we needed a beer to wash down the moonshine so we headed to the Ole Red bar.

We had a bit of an issue getting back to the lodge as there were no Ubers available and some of the taxi firms were going to take over an hour to pick us up. Eventually we found a taxi that could come and pick us up within 10 minutes but it was expensive.

Jim cooked us all a curry which was delicious and we headed to bed shortly afterwards.

I actually had a lie in this morning as I didn’t wake up until 7am. Unfortunately the sun rises behind the trees so we don’t get such a good view at this place, although it’s still a lovely outlook.

After we figured out how to work the coffee machine – it took about 5 attempts for me – we had a light breakfast of bagels and jam.

Bob had to work today.  The ladies decided to do a walk. We dropped Mark, Jim and Steve off in Gatlinburg town – which is quite large and always busy – and Marie drove us in the bus to the start of the Rainbow Falls Trail.

Almost as soon as we started walking we saw some chipmunks. They are very fast and really hard to photograph but Ali managed to get a picture of one of them.

The hike up to the waterfalls was through the forests and a gradual incline.

We passed a small waterfall on the way and stopped for a photo.

There were obviously other people walking the trail and we got chatting to a couple of American women, so we asked them to take a group photo.

We had to cross a couple of rivers too but luckily they had stepping stones to get across.

Just before we got to Rainbow Falls there was a smaller waterfall.

After just a few more minutes we came to Rainbow Falls. The waterfall is 80ft high and on sunny afternoon you can sometimes see a rainbow produced by the mist from the falls.

Sid and I decided to climb up to close to the top of the waterfall.

We stopped here for a few snacks and shared a bottle of wine.

As we were eating a couple of red squirrels made an appearance.

It was then back down the same way we came up.

As we got back to the bus we were all a little disappointed that we hadn’t seen any bears but decided it wasn’t meant to be. The traffic going out of the car park down to the main road was really slow – and then all of a sudden we saw a black bear by the side of the road.

We were all so excited and amazed we had actually seen a bear. And then, a couple of hundred metres down the road we saw another one.

And after a few seconds she went up on her hind legs and 3 little bear cubs ran across the road to join her before they all disappeared back into the forest.

The rest of the drive home, via the supermarket, was not so eventful.

Once we got home, unpacked and started cooking, we were sitting in the lounge when Mandy suddenly spotted a bear on the driveway. We all rushed outside to see it walk away up the drive.

This was the biggest of the bears we had seen and was probably around 280lbs. Black bears are the smallest of the bear species in North America and can live to 20 years in the wild. The black bears don’t actually hibernate in the same way as other bears. Their heart rate does drop but they remain slightly alert and active.

So after all that excitement we continued to make dinner.

The menfolk arrived home – a little bit merry – and after dinner the party continued.