Howard, I believe the citrus picking wraps up in May, but you may find something down I-75. There are many "tourist trap" fruit stands--some are pretty good and others aren't worth stopping for. Try the link below for u-pick info. In Louisiana, I used to see sugar cane growing in the southern parishes--anywhere the soil is "mucky". Towns such as Raceland, Lockport and I believe around Houma had much sugar cane. Hurricanes Katrina & Rita wiped out much of the crop though and they may still be in a rebuilding effort. Looking at your plan to get all the way down to the Keys, you must have several weeks off of work. Driving across Florida and then driving down Florida--that'll take a day or two with minimal stops. If I were making that trip, I would look at the crawfish farms and the shrimping industry in Louisiana. Ponchatoula is known as the strawberry capital of the world and we used to pick there too but the season's already passed. This area is north of New Orleans off of I-12. I n the FL panhandle, we have peanut and cotton production. I found this website that has some good info-a virtual field trip between Texas & Florida: http://www.geog.nau.edu/courses/alew/ggr346/ft/south/index-coast.html The photos are somewhat dated but still worth a read. BTW, in Mississippi, we called the no-see-ums "gnats" and they would always show up in the spring before it got hot. On the beaches its usually too windy for them to bother you, but when they bite, you'll know it. We haven't seen them in the FL panhandle although we have seen what the locals here call gnats--but they look more like small fruit flies--they buzz around you but don't bite. Hope this helps a little.
|