Katrina still leaves her mark.
(Excuse the screen over my window);
I was surprised at the number of houses on these waterways.
Shrimping pots? Crawdad pots? Swamp Monster traps?
As we took our exit off the freeway to head to our RV Park, I kept asking Mark, "Are you sure you know where you are going?"
"Seriously?"
"This can't be right!"
Just as I grabbed my phone to confirm GPS directions . . .
Surprisingly, this was an upscale RV Park, in the center of an industrial area. Nothing I'd ever experienced before.
This is taken from our lawn behind the RV. There is a little canal that separates the park from a string of houseboats and this is the little bridge that connects their dock to land. The larger body of water on the other side of the docks is the waterway that takes you out to Lake Ponchartrain.
This is taken from our lawn behind the RV. There is a little canal that separates the park from a string of houseboats and this is the little bridge that connects their dock to land. The larger body of water on the other side of the docks is the waterway that takes you out to Lake Ponchartrain.
We have been temporarily scarred from our summer in Minnesota, as every time a small boat would buzz by at night, we would start swatting at imaginary mosquitoes.
One night I tucked my electric razor under my pillow and did a fake-out tease on Mark as he was nodding off, by buzzing it right next to his ear.
HE DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE; HE THOUGHT IT WAS A BOAT!
Meet Whiskers, the neighborhood alligator. If he is nearby, he'll come when you call his name...
Bit If he sees you don't have a box of cookies to feed him, he turns and leaves.
The first day we headed into the French Quarter we decided to do a drive-through to help us decide where we would start our walking tour the next day. It is exactly how I envisioned it to be.
Common sight atop courtyard fences between homes in the area.
Apparently things get really crazy - no thanks!
Gas lamps still burn . . .
On Bourbon street, you can still tie your horse up to a hitching post.
Cotye LOVES horses. He seemed really confused when he saw
his buddies hooked up to buggies.
We started our day at Cafe Du Monde, which began as a street stand in this same location back in the 1860's. They are famous for their beignets and cafe' au lait, which is exactly what we ordered. Happy mouth. Very happy mouth!
More sights . . . These guys stand absolutely still for tips. I wonder if I could get away with this back home, except I'll move my couch out to the street and lay on it while keeping perfectly still. Tips please???
We didn't go inside the cemetery as they wanted $40! But I wanted to show you how tall some of the tombstones were. Makes you wonder what they thought they were taking with them. My guess; probably many crates of bourbon. The bourbon is really popular in these parts.
Speaking of bourbon . . . we hit the infamous Pat O'Brien's as we were told it was a must. They make their own bourbon for their popular "Hurricane" drink, so we HAD to try it, of course.
And since I may not get the chance again, I ordered the Alligator Bites.
Tastes like chicken . . . well, at least in texture. It was unique!
Proving I still got some mad bar skills, I tied my
cherry stem in a knot with my tongue.
On one of the days we decided to check out the area hit hardest by Katrina. This is called the Lower 9th Ward. There were a lot of boarded up homes and empty lots.
But there were signs of people rebuilding. I believe this is one of the units from Brad Pitt's organization. There were several of these in this area.
We also spent a day driving around looking at Plantations. This one was closed because they were filming a new version of "Roots"...so watch for it!
This is where they filmed Vampire Diaries. Creepy.
Creepy tree next to creepy plantation!
Sweet, sweet cane fields!
While we were in Louisiana, Mark wanted to take a drive through the bayou. Not sure exactly why, but this scared the Fritos right out of me. Didn't help that as soon as we got into the area, THIS song came on the radio!
I think I held my breath in fear the whole time. Once I got out of the car to snap a photo but heard a twig crack in the swamp behind me so ran screaming back into the car. That picture just wasn't meant to be. But here are some taken from the safety of the inside of our car.
The local Post Office
Dinner for someone or something? Voodoo ritual sacrifice?
If I were that duck, I'd head elsewhere! FAST!
Leaving Louisiana was sad. We had so many restaurants left on our to-do-list! But Texas was a'waiting and I was really excited to get there.
Next post will take you into San Antonio and Austin.
YEEHAW!
