Weeks 15 & 16: Traveling Along the Gulf Coast With My Fiancé

One of my favorite pictures of us in our favorite place.

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The entire time I’ve known Kestrel, there’s been Sam somewhere in her orbit, their relationship ebbing and flowing and changing as time goes on. Over the years, I’ve seen the highs and lows between them, and every time I’ve seen them work towards compromise and growth rather than blame and retreat.

That’s what love is. What connection is. These people embody human connection in every single meaning of the phrase.

The best way I can describe how I feel about them getting engaged is satisfied. Relationships take effort, and these two have been relentless in their pursuit of each other. It’s wonderful to see them reach this milestone in their journey, and I am excited to help them celebrate the connection they’ve built and allowed to flourish.

- My good friend Taylor, in response to Sam’s proposal.

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The Story of Us

The first time I met Sam was in our seventh grade German class. After watching his goofy butt act up in class, I had no choice but to crush on him. Those crushes would pop up every now and then for years, although I was way too shy to actually do anything about it. By the time our Junior year of High School hit, he and I became really close friends.

Thinking back on our time in classes together, I can’t stop myself from smiling at the shenanigans we’d pull on occasion. One science project on endangered animals comes to mind - we thought it would be funny to add a picture of deep-friend axolotl to each slide.

You know, to hammer in the severity of the issue.

Fast forward a year or so, and it turns out that he likes me, too. We danced around it for a while, but we eventually decided to try out this whole dating thing. in the beginning there were, unsurprisingly, many bumps in the road. One of those bumps arose from the fact that I had never dated anyone before Sam; I had no idea how to suddenly go from best friends to boyfriend and girlfriend. Sometimes I think back to those first few weeks and I wonder how he put up with me. Just to paint a picture, the first time he kissed me in public, I promptly ran away afterwards without a second glance. Luckily Sam has a lot of patience.

Near the end of Senior Year, I ran to his first period class and dropped off five cuties on his desk. Written on their orange skins was P-R-O-M-?. Instead of waiting to see his reaction, I ran to my own class without another word. Classic Kes.

He says he liked it though.

That Senior Prom would be the first dance I ever went to with a date in tow. I’ll never forget watching Sam jump around and dance with me and all his friends without a care in the world. In those moments, I was beginning to understand what this whole love thing was about.

It genuinely feels like this happened just last year.

We look so different now, it's hard to believe this is us.

Flash forward a few more months.

We graduated together.

We spent most of the summer camping and hiking and hanging out.

Then we left for college.

My baby siblings are so cute I might die.

We had decided on going to different schools way before we started dating. Only six months in, and we were about to live with hundreds of miles between us. We thought it was best to go forward with a clean break, that way neither of us held the other back. It was the obvious choice for us.

Yeah, that lasted about six hours.

A lot happened during those four years of college. Way too much, if you ask me. But I’m so proud of myself and our relationship. The sheer amount of growth that occurred in those years is crazy, and, if I could go back, I would do it all again. But, please, don’t make me do it again if I don’t have to.

I often find myself surprised that we’ve made it so far. There were so many obstacles we had to surpass, so many opportunities for one to turn away from the other. But then I remember the secret that’s kept us fighting for each other, even after all these years.

We’re the best of friends.

Sure, I could go on and on about communication, compromise, and every other buzzword you’d find in the tabloids. But, in my personal experience, none of that would matter if I didn’t simply enjoy being around my partner. After all, what’s the point of being in a relationship when you don’t even like your other half?

Whoever can remember where we took this gets all the bonus points.

I’m just so happy. We were a month shy of being together for six years when Sam proposed in the Dry Tortugas. The entire day after, I couldn’t stop touching the ring on my finger. I needed to make sure it wasn’t all just a dream. Each time I did, the ring was right there, showing me how very real it all was.

I’ve had some time to sit back and digest what exactly this all means for me and for us.

There are a lot of unknowns, but one thing I know for certain is that I am incredibly excited. There are so many things in life that I want to do, and I couldn’t be happier that I get to do them with Sam by my side.

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Chasing "Warmth"

Around The Gulf Coast

Once we left the Keys, we began our journey back towards the West.

We crossed the Mississippi and entered the East back in October. Most of our time so far has been spent in the South, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the people and the land on this side of the country. Oh, and the food. I’ll never be able to forget the comforting taste of good Southern food.

Although our adventures in the South were well spent, Sam and I agree that we’re more than ready to get back to the deserts of the Southwest. Dispersed camping is hard to come by in the East, and we’ve slept in a few too many Cracker Barrel parking lots.

So, with the sentiment of crossing the Mississippi in the back of our minds, we left the tip of Florida behind.

Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers once in a while.

As we made our way up Florida’s west coast, we made sure to enjoy the trip as best we could. This, of course, meant jumping into at least one more natural spring. We chose Rainbow Springs, and I was surprised at how much there was to do. From swimming in crystal clear waters to hiking around an abandoned zoo from the early 1900’s, I felt as if I were transported into an alternate universe.

Nope, you’re still in Florida.

I never knew that Florida was home to so many crystal clear springs just like this one.

Sadly, we didn't get to see any manatees hanging around in the water, although I'd be a little afraid of swimming with such large creatures.

I'm tempted to use this photo for the album cover of a fake band.

Sam and I have decided that we need to make a road trip dedicated to each and every Floridian Spring. Maybe, just maybe, we'll stumble across the Fountain of Youth.

It's a little hard to tell, but the dilapidated fences you see were used to display animals nearly a century ago.

It's crazy to think this waterfall was made in the 1930s.

Who can resist eating lunch at such a beautiful hidden gem?

Later that day, we decided to hit up a local brewery. Do you like the new hat I got from Rainbow Springs?

Unfortunately, the further north we were, the colder it got. During these past few weeks, there have been a lot of cold fronts making their way across the south and northeast. Just days before, we were basking in the heat of the sun. Now, we couldn’t seem to get warm enough.

Fort Pickens, sitting atop Pensacola's white sand beaches, was constructed around the same time as Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas.

Here we were walking down the same tunnels where soldiers used to store volatile gunpowder.

And this is one of the big guns that protected the base.

PSA: I wouldn't recommend doing this to a working gun of any size.

Don't do this either.

I love the windows in these forts, they always make the most interesting frames for my photos.

We actually stayed near Pensacola for a few nights. During one of those days, I wrote for most of the day while working on last week's post. Thankfully, Sam decided to write alongside me, which made the eight hours slightly less painful.

If you're curious about what he's writing, make sure to keep an eye out for next week's post ;)

We also made a friend at that campsite. Sam is allergic to cats, so he's never had the chance to bond with them before. This little kitty took that as a personal challenge and eventually pounced her way into his heart. We named her Feral.

This constant fight with keeping warm affected more than our moods. As we planned our westward route, we struggled with finding a reason to travel deeper into Alabama and Mississippi. Our lack of knowledge of the area certainly didn’t help, either. Eventually, we decided to drive along the Gulf Coast and leave the interior of those two states for another trip.

We found a small coffee shop in Mobile, AL with the most delicious beignets and coffee. With the cold weather outside, we took this opportunity to play a few games together as we ate.

We also made a new friend! Ally was working at the coffee shop and was such a pleasure to chat with. Fun fact, she made her sweater herself! We love meeting new friends on the road, I should remember to take selfies with them more often.

Along the way, Sam begged to stop at a World War II museum in Louisiana.

Now, I love the lesser known histories of the world, but for some reason I’ve never really been drawn to wars. Despite my trepidation, I thought it would be nice to visit a museum on such an inclement day.

The exhibits really were phenomenal. The museum did a fantastic job relaying the experiences of individuals that lived through the war.

We spent nearly five hours at that museum. There were multiple buildings with multiple exhibits, each one extremely immersive. There were interviews with veterans, detailed dioramas of the vehicles and terrain soldiers fought in, as well as personal dog tags that allowed you to learn the immerse yourself even further into the lives of those who fought in the war.

There was a lot to learn.

Here are a few of the bits of information that caught my eye throughout the exhibits.

My favorite moment from our visit was in the Pearl Harbor exhibit. A video played in the middle of the room, documenting the historic day through interviews with those who were there. The veterans recounted the surprise and horror they felt when the Japanese bombed the harbor. Among these veterans was a man who was also there on December 7th, 1941; he was one of the Japanese pilots. This man returned to the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii seeking forgiveness. He felt a great amount of guilt for what he did, and sought reparations for his actions by visiting this site as often as he could.

I guess you could say I have a soft spot for these kind of stories.

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Our next stop was a city I’ve been dreaming of going to for years: New Orleans.

I’ve always been so drawn to the unique culture of the city. Of all the cities in the States that I grew up learning about, I’ve always thought of New Orleans as unique. My parents visited a couple years ago and they fell in love, especially my mom. She went out of her way to tour graveyards, go to a museum of death, and learn about voodoo. Our experience was . . . slightly different.

We got into the city around ten in the morning. We nearly had the streets to ourselves, save for a group of construction workers here and there. We walked around the French Quarter for hours, stopping into any shop that caught our eyes.

Nearly every other store we walked through either sold hot sauce, body parts of real alligators, or both.

Bourbon street had so many fun neon signs to look at, it was hard to keep from tripping.

Our favorite store was a magical little shop, pictured above. There were altars devoted to different deities with offerings that included coins, beads, and even one girl’s student ID. Masks depicting gnarled faces from different cultures lined the walls. Statues and sculptures made of stone rose from the ground, daring you to tip them over.

Don't let the sun deceive you. The cold air refused to leave no matter how high the sun rose in the sky.

The sign says " When New Orleans was the Capital of the Spanish Province of Louisiana from 1762 - 1803, this street bore the name 'Calle d Borbon'"

We had no idea that Mardi Gras season was just beginning. Once I realized that, I understood why there were. So. Many. People.

One of my favorite parts of our walk around the French Quarter was seeing all the artists congregate on the streets. Most displayed their artworks while working on another piece of the side. There were even pop-up fortune tellers and tarot card readers situated in the middle of the walkway.

Sam and I had the unique experience of watching New Orleans wake up. The longer we walked around, the more people began to crawl out from the shadows. By noon, the streets were nearly crowded. Very few people walked around without a drink in hand. Some were even drinking out of gigantic fishbowls. Ah, the magic of Bourbon Street.

Once you pass up the tenth slushy place, it's impossible to not buy one. Whoops. At least it helped us blend into the crowd.

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This is it.

This is the moment we’ve been waiting for.

The Mississippi River.

She’s right there, just under this massive bridge . . .

The moment we crossed, I felt as if home was on the horizon.

Of course, my feeling of home is more broad than most people’s. We won’t technically be home for another seven or eight months. But, in the brief amount of time that we’re in the Southwest, that’s what it’ll feel like. Coming home.

Can you tell I’m excited?

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Housekeeping

Hi friend,

If you’re new to my page, welcome!

If not, then it’s really nice to see you again :)

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Without further ado, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.

Best,

Kes the Photobean