It's moving day...chapter 2 of our adventure begins today! Done with Florida for this trip and heading to the land of gumbo and jambalaya :-)
An uneventful day of travel through Alabama, Mississippi and into Louisiana. A little too dark to take pictures when we got here...will post better ones tomorrow. Can't wait to check out Louisiana!
Friday, Feb 2
♫♬♩
Me oh my oh
Jambalaya and crawfish pie and filé gumbo
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou
♬♪
Yup, that's right, we're getting in touch with our inner cajuns!!
Our new "home away from home" in Robert Louisiana. No sandy beaches here, but it's pretty just the same and close to New Orleans and Baton Rouge! Had supper tonight at a southern buffet tonight...OMG! They featured all the cajun classics: crab legs, prawns, jambalaya, gumbo, ribs, catfish, steak, frog legs, corn on the cob, fried okra, fried pickles, mac and cheese and my personal favourite...hushpuppies! All delicious...Now we are SO FULL!
Saturday, Feb 3
We visited one of New Orleans suburbs today, a place called Covington. A very picturesque town complete with an early train station and train platform that has been transformed into the cultural centre of town. High over the old train station is this ancient water tower. It sits above the cityscape, like a sentinel, overlooking the town. I love these old water towers especially when they've been dressed up like this. This particular water tower is used to promote the local bike path the 'Tammany Trace' - an old rail line that's become a 27 mile paved bike path that winds its way along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. We can't wait to come back with road bikes and explore it! Apparently there are brew pubs all along the bike path...hmmm, that could make for a fun adventure...lol
Sunday, Feb 4
Woke up to find a lovely little gift from the campground this morning...YUM!
Today's been a kinda lazy day. It's been raining off and on. I had hoped to go for long run...didn't happen. Maybe Monday. Maybe Tuesday. We'll see :-)
We took care of a light laundry load this morning - just some bedding.
Had 'King Cake' for the first time tonight...here's the history: According to the Christian faith, Jesus first showed himself to the three wise men and to the world on January 6th, also known as Twelfth Night or the Epiphany. The word "Epiphany” is from the Greek word "to show.” This is the day Mardi Gras season – hence king cake season – begins.
Each king cake has a tiny baby inside (generally plastic now, but it's possible the baby might be made of porcelain or even gold). The lucky person who receives the slice of cake with the baby has the next king cake party (or brings the next cake for the office).
Originally, king cakes were a simple ring of dough with a small amount of decoration. After the rich dough is braided and baked, the top of the cake is covered with delicious sugar toppings in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold.
Tasted like a cinnamon roll with sugar on top...yummy!
Picked up a few groceries at the local Piggly Wiggly (that name always makes me smile 🙂).
And JUGS of wine for less than $20. Hey, I know it's not high end, but come on! Crazy, right?
Monday, Feb 5
Morning at Reunion Lake - beautiful calm lake with multiple decks to take in the view. The main building houses a camp store, bar, restaurant and a gym and is adjacent to a pool, hot tub and man-made lazy river for tubing. It's a lovely day today...might have to go relax in the hot tub later!
Another beauty day here in Louisiana...time to load the bikes in the truck and go for a ride on the Tammany Trace rails-to-trails bike path!
Did I mention it's a 27 mile long, paved, totally segregated bike lane? Nice!
Tuesday, Feb 6
It's 20C out there today but there's a slight chance of thunder showers...I'm gonna take my chances and go for a run. Hopefully I won't come back soaked to the skin
Wednesday, Feb 7
Expecting a full day of thunderstorms today! It was really nice and sunny early this morning so we got out for a walk as soon as we got up. No sooner did we get back, the clouds rolled in and the humidity quickly climbed! Won't be long!
We had walked over to a lake that borders the campground and I was really drawn to this awesome little lakeside place. Nice spot!
It's a wet, dreary day here today so we hopped in the truck and did a driving tour of New Orleans. Drove by several major landmarks...then we entered the Lower 9th Ward. With that, our mood suddenly took a turn for the worse. This was ground zero, you could say, for Hurricane Katrina. Sad. Very sad. The destruction and devastation from Katrina is still very evident even after all these years. Bare foundations, partial buildings and derelict buildings all still remain. And, sadly, you can still see old household items like couches, chairs and tables lying about in vacant lots. But amid all this debris, life goes on. There were houses that have been rebuilt using walls that survived the storm. There were houses that were totally rebuilt from the ground up. There were houses reduced to rubble with only a pile of debris marking where it once stood. But these resilient residents of the Lower Ninth Ward perservered. They have reconstructed their lives, going to work, going to school and trying to live a 'normal' life.
I have to admit, it was a very moving experience to drive among the ruins.
Thursday, Feb 8
Lovely day for a stroll around the campground with the pups. The sites here are a good size...lots of room for your rig and all of your patio furniture. 😊 And a fire pit, because s'mores are mandatory when camping. 😉 They have some cool double and triple sites, too, set up so that you each have your own services and your doors face each other...fun! Puppies were tired after their walk...the Goldies are always anxious to get back inside, Kelly not so much.
We see the fleur-de-lis shape no matter where we go these days! It was first used down here to recognize the french roots of the Acadian immigrants of the 18th century, the fleur-de-lis has now become Louisiana's official symbol.
you can see the classic shape literally everywhere in the greater New Orleans area!
Friday, Feb 9
Did a Swamp Nature Walk today at the Joyce Wildlife Management Area. Pictures can't do it justice...it was kind of eerie yet magical. And the birds! A wonderful racket...we saw a beautiful owl snoozing in a tree. And I finally saw a gator! Just a little guy. According to a local that we talked to, this guy has been coming back here the last couple of years. The swamps are amazing and they're everywhere in this area.
Saturday, Feb 10
Wow, woke up to a muggy, steamy day today here in the outskirts of New Orleans...at 8am it's 20°C and 98% humidity
During a walk through the Joyce Wildlife Preserve, I found everything to be very drab and dull in colour, but then I spotted these bright red blossoms...nice to see vibrant life in the midst of a dark, dreary, spooky swamp.
Sunday, Feb 11
Phew...another hot and sticky day down here in the greater New Orleans area...at 6:30am it's 19°C and 99% humidity!
If it's like this in winter, I can't imagine what it's like here in summer 😨
The A/C unit in our camper is really getting a workout!
Back home in Canada, as everyone knows, we have Tim Horton drive-thrus. Well, down here in Louisiana they have daquiri drive-thrus. I kid you not! New Orlean's whole "laissez les bons temps rouler" attitude goes way beyond what I expected. Driving back from the city one day we happened upon one. I couldn't quite understand what I was looking at. Then we saw another. And then another. And another. And finally, we decided we needed to try them because it seemed too weird to be true: drive-thru daiquiri stands. So today we drove over to the neighbourhood daquiri stand, ordered two and moments later, we were handed our to-go cups - with straws, still in their paper wrappers on the side - and all we could think was, "How is this real?" Well, Louisiana does have pretty relaxed liquor laws, in fact, it wasn't all that long ago, they finally caught up to the rest of the world and enacted a drinking and driving law. They did also introduce a law banning open liquor containers, BUT it doesn't apply to "any bottle, can, or other receptacle" that contains any amount of frozen alcoholic beverage with a lid in place and no straw through the lid!
Cheers!
Monday, Feb 12
Chillier day today - don't think we ever got above 9C and cloudy skies. Decided it was a good day to take advantage of the campground gym - Pretty view of the lake...not a bad view when you work out. 😊 Even the dogs wanted to be indoors next to the heater...lazy pooches.
Here in southern Louisiana, there are swamps and bayous everywhere! And I'm not even kidding! Every direction, for miles and miles! Swamps and bayous! It's crazy! So when it comes to building roads, it must cost a fortune! Because most roads, especially here to the north west of the city need to be elevated like a bridge, over swamps. You can be on one of these bridges for 10, 20, or even 30 miles before you touch down on solid ground. So we were driving around exploring back roads that hug some of the bayous and when we found ourselves looking up at some bridges, and I thought it would make a cool photo!
Tuesday, Feb 13
Happy Mardi Gras!
So what do you do when you're in Louisiana on Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday? You go to a parade, of course! We attended our first ever Mardi Gras parade today! After thinking (very briefly!) about driving into New Orleans this morning, we decided to head over to the town of Covington to check out their festivities! We didn't really care to deal with the madness in the city. We were content to stick with a smaller town's carnival. It was a good time. These people take Mardi Gras seriously - the parades take place several days of the week starting in January! But it all comes to an end at midnight tonight - the police shut the party down. Got a good haul of "throws" and had lots of fun.
Before arriving in Louisiana earlier this month, I hadn't realized that every town surrounding New Orleans also has their own parade. This one in Covington was low key with a medium size crowd. Just our style! Marching bands and catching 'throws' from cool floats.
Then we grabbed a "snowball" on the way home - it looks like a snow cone, but the ice is much finer and the flavouring is more generous. They must have had at least 50 flavours. Hit the spot on a warm sunny day.
Wednesday, Feb 14
Beeeeautiful day at Reunion Lake...got up to 26C today. The pool is ALMOST warm enough...looks very inviting. Another day or 2 of warm weather should do it. Of course, we would be the only ones crazy enough to get in the pool. Everyone else around here thinks it's just a pleasant (but not warm) day. 😃 There's a Sonic right at the entrance of the campground, so we took a stroll out for a nice little milkshake to cool off. Yummy. 😋 Hope y'all are having a fabulous Valentine's Day and that you're feeling plenty of love
I was planning on going for a run at some point today, but it was just too darn warm here in Louisiana!
Maybe tomorrow!
Thursday, Feb 15
Marathon training is progressing nicely...I completed a 26km run this morning! It's so awesome to be snowbirds...being able to go for a run in shorts and a tank top :-D
It's a good thing I got out early for my morning run, this has been our hottest day so far, 28C!!
Whenever we're camping south of the border, I like to proudly hang our Molson Canadian patio lights from our awning!
Friday, Feb 16
Beautiful hot, hot day today, 32C!
We often seek out brewery tours when we're traveling. they're fun, informative, and you sometimes gets freebies! Being so hot today, we thought we'd take advantage of the air conditioning at the Abita Brewery to do a tour. It's a small operation, but they ship within the US as well as well as to 10 other countries. We were really impressed with how clean it was (even though it was a brew day) and how sustainable they were, sourcing locally whenever they can, using solar and steam power, reusing yeast, sourcing from equally responsible suppliers, etc.
Then we finished off with these sampler beers. It was great! They were quite large samplers but we didn't complain 😄
We've already purchased (and thoroughly enjoyed) their "Party Pack", so we got to sample beers that we hadn't tried before - Turbo Dog, Mardi Gras, a Christmas brew and The Boot, a Louisiana exclusive brew. All were delicious! 😋 Even picked up some "sodas" they also make - salted caramel, king cake and root beer. I'm sure they'll be equally delicious. It's Friday, so had to stop for a drive-thru daiquiri on the way home. 😉 I got the House Special - just a small - and I'm not sure if I can get out of my chair.
Saturday, Feb 17
It would appear that cats grow quite large here in Hammond, Louisiana...lol
When we were out on the interstate yesterday, two things happened in short order: a semi went by us and tossed a rock at our windshield. A big rock! A big chip and bullseye cracks appeared. About the size of loonie! Maybe even bigger! It was 4:15pm...and of course all the autoglass places close at 5pm! So we hustled over to the nearest shop. They took us right away! And fixed it in no time! The second thing was I noticed a burning smell...like burning brakes. So as the windshield was being repaired, I did a quick circle check of the truck and I thought the rear driver side wheel was a lot hotter than normal. A seized wheel bearing will do that :-( It was about 4:55pm when we left the glass shop so we slowly drove home in hoping to find a garage in the morning. Took the truck back into Hammond this morning hoping to find a garage. Found a place that was open, and they took me right away. They checked the truck all over, wheel bearing, brakes, rear end differential, universal joints. Everything was good. Nothing was wrong, nothing that would generate any amount of heat. Surprisingly, they didn't charge me a cent. I couldn't believe it!
So you might be wondering if I was going to get back to the giant paw prints. Okay, as I was leaving the garage I noticed them. Someone spent a LOT of time painting these! You can't miss them! So curiousity got the best of me, and I followed them. As it turns out, it's their way to promote the local university sports team. I followed them for a couple of miles. Eventually ending up at the Southeastern Louisiana University sports field. The home of the Lions! AHA!
Thought we'd take a walk around the campground this afternoon before the rain starts...looks like something's brewing. Came across these odd looking burrows that we hadn't seen before.
As near as we can tell, they're crayfish (or crawfish) burrows! Say what? These are in the middle of a field! A marshy field, but a field nonetheless! Apparently, these tunnels may extend down into the earth 3 ft or more, sometimes being a single burrow going straight down, but more often being a main tunnel with a couple of side tunnels, each with a room at the end. They are normally full of water so that the crawfish will be submerged and safe from most predators. I haven't seen any creatures yet, but Sheila did. From within their burrow, they use their legs and mouths to dig up mud and form it into a little ball called a pellet. Each pellet is taken to the surface and they layer them like bricks. This is called the "chimney".
These burrows and chimneys are quite common near water sources (like the lake at the campground), especially following a period of wet weather. Cool, right? Your wildlife lesson for today!
Sunday, Feb 18
Not much going on today. I went out for a long run this morning but the rest of the day saw us just relaxing at the trailer. Caught some of the Daytona 500. It was awesome to see Austin Dillon pick up the win driving the legendary black #3!
Monday, Feb 19
We went on a fun tour today... the stereotypical Louisiana swamp tour! And it was a good time. Tour guide Brandon of Cajun Pride Swamp Tours took us through the wetlands of a privately owned sanctuary. It was fun, and educational at the same time. Brandon was so knowledgeable about the area and the town that used to sit here before being wiped by the New Orleans hurricane of 1915 (winds of more than 200km/hr) and he also shared his knowledge about the various creatures that live in the swamp. He even brought some from his personal menagerie so that we could get up close and personal with them - a crayfish, turtles, a snake and my personal favourite, 'Handbag' the baby gator! He was absolutely adorable. If he got "fussy", you could just hold him close and he'd calm down, just like a human baby. Brandon had great stories and great recommendations of things to see and do in New Orleans. Highly recommend this tour if you're in this area.
He's just little but he can still bite so Brandon always slips an empty black tape cardboard roll around his mouth before passing him around.
Tuesday, Feb 20
We hopped in the truck and drove into Baton Rouge, LA. today. Didn't do much and didn't really have any expectations. We ended up parked in the downtown area next to the Mississippi River and walked around a bit. Explored the city core. Incredible park plaza located downtown with lots of fountains, murals, tourist information and a Coast Guard memorial. Found an awesome multi-use trail, sitting at the top of a levee that hugs the river for miles!
Another hot day...thermometer in the truck hit 31C today!
It was really neat to actually look across the famous Mississippi river. I've seen and read countless references in books and movies but never actually saw it in person until now.
And we weren't the only ones staring across the water. There were kids and adults alike relaxing at the river's edge watching the activity on the Mississippi. I noticed this guy stopping for a break from cycling and resting on a bench at the top of the levee looking down at the river. He spent some time just watching the tugboats busy at work. I love capturing random slices of life like this...people just doing normal everyday things.
T
Then tonight we had a fun night out with some other snowbirds and some of the full-timers from the campground here. What a great group of people...we've made some great friends here and we'll miss them when we move on next week for the next chapter of our winter adventure. I had the Catfish DeRoux: Fried catfish smothered with crawfish etouffee sitting on a bed of rice pilaf with a side of hushpuppies. Sheila got a fill of crawfish - fried crawfish tails, crawfish boil soup and crawfish etouffee and hushpuppies...YUM!
Wednesday, Feb 21
What to do, what to do!
We have the place to ourselves! Swim? Hot tub? Lazy river? How about all of the above!
It's 29C today...let's start with the pool! The crazy canucks (or canooks, as one of the other campers called us) were the only ones in the pool. Too cold for them southerners....pffffft. Refreshing I say!
After a lovely swim, came a little dip in the hot tub...but it was too hot for that!
Off to the lazy river for a lovely float in a tube...what a lovely way to spend a couple of hours. Just another rough day at the office 😁
Needed an ice cream after all of that activity! Lovin' these southern 'winters'!
Thursday, Feb 22
Took a trip to New Orleans today. NOLA is a gritty city with an interesting history, but it's like so many cities, it's dirty and noisy. Their City Park is a beautiful oasis in the midst of all the chaos.The park was established in 1854 and covers 1300 acres - 50% larger than Central Park. It has the largest collection of mature oak trees in the world - some over 600 years old!! Sadly, about 2000 trees were lost or damaged when Katrina hit and approximately 95% of of the park was underwater. They've done a wonderful job of bringing it back to its former glory. We could have spent the whole day here!
Now onto burial grounds. We explored some of the cemeteries of New Orleans...these tombs are absolutely incredible.
Some may find it creepy, but the cemeteries are incredible and are often a part of a city tour. They are often called "Cities of the Dead" because the crypts and tombs look like houses lined up with paths in between that look like streets. The oldest cemeteries are located in the French Quarter, dating back to the 1700's. Because the water table is so high in New Orleans, 90% of people are buried above ground.
Most of these pictures are from the Cypress Grove Cemetery on Canal Street in the mid town area of New Orleans and dates back to Civil War times. I spoke to one of the caretakers and he said that legend has it that Confederate soldiers' remains are buried in vaults within the walls surrounding the cemetery.
We also visited the Katrina Memorial, located amongst the cemeteries in mid-town, a beautiful memorial that's the final resting place of the unclaimed victims of Katrina.
Just outside the French Quarter is a sculpture called Scrap House by Sally Heller. It's a very interesting sculpture that symbolizes the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. It's located across the street from the Convention Center where many people took refuge when their homes were destroyed by the flood waters.
The French Quarter and the Garden District of New Orleans were the only areas not flooded.
And finally, no trip to Louisiana would be complete without a po-boy. 😊 Sheila had a traditional oyster po-boy...I had an alligator sausage po-boy. Both were delicious
Friday, Feb 23
We came across this little stone bridge in City Park of New Orleans and I absolutely loved the look and I thought it would make a great photo. This all original bridge, named Langles Bridge was built in 1902 and is dedicated to Miss Angele M. Langles. The property here where City Park sits was once her estate.
Angele and her mother lost their lives when the French steamer La Bourgogne sank on July 4, 1898, after colliding with the British ship Cromarty Shire off Cape Sable Island, NS.
Langles Bridge has become one of the city's most commonly photographed subjects.
Saturday, Feb 24
Really nothing planned for today so we drove back into the city to do some more exploring.
After reading about the canal system we decided to take a closer look.
We learned about how the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina were made even more disastrous by many canal failures, happening in different parts of the city almost simultaneously! More than 50 different canal breaches!
We visited the site of the worst of the canal failures - the 17th Street Canal. Walked along the canal walls and got some photos.
This canal's humble beginnings can be traced back to the 1850s when it was dug by hand for a distance of 8kms through swampy land from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain to allow floodwaters to drain into the lake.
After Hurricane Betsy of 1965, improved flood protection for the city was mandated and led to an increase of the size and height of the canal. Hurricane Georges of 1998 caused such an increase in the water level of Lake Pontchartrain that an unprecedented amount of water was forced up the 17th Street Canal. A report noted that in several places the water came within inches of overflowing the canal wall. Improvements began in 1999 and by the beginning of 2005, city engineers considered the canal to be in good shape.
Fast forward to August 2005...despite the water being below the danger zone, the canal was breached by a tremendous storm surge during Katrina. The break quickly opened to a gap measuring 450 foot long, allowing billions of gallons of water to rush into the adjacent Lakewood neighbourhood and, almost immediately, flattened homes and carried more than 30 people away to their deaths. The death toll in this neighbourhood alone would eventually number in the hundreds...and were mostly seniors.
In the weeks and months that following Katrina, extensive analysis was carried out to determine why the canal walls failed. Sadly, the team of engineers determined it was a design flaw in the pilings rather than the strength of the storm surge, that led to the failure
Here's a shot of current day 17th Street Canal
Sunday, Feb 25
What to do on a rainy day?
Sounds like a good day for coffee...Bailey's...HGTV's 'Fixer Upper'...and snacks from 'Trader Joes'!
Monday, Feb 26
Not much going on today - did a long run this morning, other than that not too much going on.
We decided to join the gang for some Monday night Bingo. We had a blast!
Tuesday, Feb 27
Went for another drive over to Baton Rouge, to check out the CostCo.
This is awesome on so many levels...beer, wine, rum, whisky, irish Bailey's...yes, at the CostCo! Proverbial 'kid in a candy store' right here! The store was mostly the same as Saint John EXCEPT the liquor! And it was all so cheap! Impressive selection. NB Liquor would NEVER allow this at home.
Got together with the gang again tonight for some 'Cards Against Humanity'. What an oddly bizarre, yet hilarious game!
Wednesday, Feb 28
The humidity in Louisiana is no joke...we think it's humid now. I can't imagine what it would be like in July/August. So it's a great day for the pool! Sheila was the only one in the pool...too cold for everyone else...including me 😁
Click below for page 3...
No comments:
Post a Comment