beluga

beluga

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

New Orleans area

We arrived in Bayou Segnette State Park (just over the Mississippi River from New Orleans proper) on Saturday afternoon.   We're in site 55, an excellent green and leafy place for Beluga to rest after all the nasty Texas traffic.


We have Baldcypress trees with very wet feet behind us and across the street.  They're standing in water filled with water hyacinths and wading birds.   No armadillo yet though, Jodee......  By day we're serenaded by birds and at night the frogs and crickets pick up the melody.   It's quite nice.


  I won't talk about the campground on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, however.   It would make me sound unkind and curmudgeonly.    Dingus Day (Monday) things calmed down and Lewis could resume his long walks unaccosted (if that is even a word....)

 Just outside of the campground loop itself is one of the many canals that drain this part of Louisiana.   The State Park has built 16 (I think) brand new rental cabins on the canal (they're floating!) since the original ones were destroyed by Katrina


The boat ramp parking lot is always filled with empty trailers, I gather the canal has good fishing.    Around the corner are commercial docks with boats in various states of health.    Some are obviously working shrimp boats that go out and come in daily.   Some have seen better days.



We didn't do anything particularly exciting for Easter, other than checking out the surrounding area a little and eating jelly beans before and after our fresh shrimp dinner......


We tried to drive along the river to see some of the ships and barges working but forgot about the high levee that keeps the surrounding area safe from the water flowing above.    We drove down to see where the nearby Algiers Ferry docks in case we decided to take it to the French Quarter instead of driving.     We've spent quite a bit of time in New Orleans over the years and are fairly familiar with the city itself but we've never been on this side of the river so we spent the day getting our new bearings.

 buildings in the central business area dwarf the old ones
in the French Quarter, on the right

a laughing Louis Armstrong looks over the
Algiers Ferry terminal

colorful double shotgun houses in Algiers
we walk to the top of the levee

I hope this guy is left over from Mardi gras!
(notice the beads in its teeth)



it's rather disconcerting to see huge ocean going ships pass by
on the river over our heads.....


we discovered a mardi gras storage yard!

New Orleans is on the list of places we're considering for our Christmas holiday with Jesse and Erin so Monday (Dyngus Day for you Buffalonians....) Dave and I went into the city to find the 3 houses I'd identified as ones we may want to rent.

We drove through three different neighborhoods, each with their own personality.

bubbles!

We even brought Lewis a special New Orleans treat!

mom, mom, does it taste like chicken?
can I have some for dinner, can I, can I?
Tuesday we spent the day in the French Quarter, more on that tomorrow.

7 comments:

  1. The bubbles are so cool! Love all the green! We have never been to New Orleans...

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  2. We were able to snag a couple nites at French Quarter RV - not cheap!, and walk to pretty much everything. Without a toad that worked well for us. Discovered 'Nah'leans' is quite a happening place! and that I really, really, really like their gumbo! Looking forward to your post on the Quarter as that was where we spent our day there, yes we missed a lot - thanks for showing us some of that.

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  3. We love Bayou Segnette State Park!
    I love black jelly beans the most!!!
    We really enjoyed looking at the colorful shotgun houses and learning the history.
    Did Lewis like his treat?

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  4. Sweeeeet site! I did not know there were armadillos in New Orleans area...love those weird creatures!

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  5. We really needed to spend more than two days in NO. There was so much to see. But when one is returning west, nothing else seems to matter at the time but getting back west! Thanks for sharing all the things we missed. I am not sure we'll be back any time soon. How did Lew like his alligator? What a treat!

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  6. We stayed a week at Bayou Segnette and enjoyed the park and their free laundry :) If you have time a visit to Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Barataria Preserve is worth your time as well as at Oak Alley Plantation. I take it that you did not have a drink at my lounge :)

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  7. We've stayed a couple of times at Bayou Segnette and enjoyed it immensely. We really liked taking the ferry into the city—super convenient that it docks at the French Quarter, especially since we were there for the French Quarter Festival. I second Mona Liza's suggestion for Oak Alley Plantation and Barataria Preserve. Oh, and breakfast at Tout de Suite Cafe in Algiers is fabulous!

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