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| From Tickfaw to Bayou Segnette |
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| From Tickfaw to Bayou Segnette |
The drive from Tickfaw to Bayou Segnette was different than any other we've been on. Most of the trip was through swampland and much of it on a raised bridge-like road – some parts more than 20 miles in length. The nearer we drew to New Orleans, the more water, and at one time, we were on a very narrow strip of land between lakes Ponchartrain and Maurepas. There were picturesque houses and fishing shacks along the drive – mostly on the Lake Maurepas side of the road. The swamp along the road was equally picturesque and I took tons of photos – some of which actually turned out well!
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| From Tickfaw to Bayou Segnette |
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| From Tickfaw to Bayou Segnette |
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| From Tickfaw to Bayou Segnette |
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| From Tickfaw to Bayou Segnette |
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| From Tickfaw to Bayou Segnette |
It was, as always, exciting for me to
see in person places I’d only read about or seen on TV and I
recognized many names from the coverage of hurricane Katrina. As we
drove around Metarie New Orleans and headed south toward our
campground, there was a railroad track between the north and south
bound roadways, and we went across the Mississippi on a bridge 6-lane road
plus two train tracks.
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| Shrimp and Crayfish for sale |
Not far from the campground was an area with
small stall-like shops (looked like a flea market to us), all of which were selling fresh shrimp
and crawfish. One of the places had tamales, which we tried, but
after the delicious ones we got at the farmer’s market in Colorado
Springs, they were a disappointment.
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| Dike along the bayou |
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| Egr |
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| Young roseatte spoonbille |
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| Pumps and drainage pipes campground |
The campground was a nice surprise –
new restrooms and showers, free laundry
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| Gates in the dike |
facilities, and nice folks. There was a dike along the bayou with a huge, heavy gate - made me glad we weren't there around hurricane season. There was little shrubbery between sites, but they were fairly well
spaced and few other sites occupied. I’m sure the low occupancy was
due to the time of year and the inclement weather. Other than doing
some rearranging of the RV and truck, and good detailing of the
truck, our plans for the area were few – New Orleans for beignets
and mufflettas, Houmina for Two Brothers crawfish boudin, and visit the
Jean Lafitte Preserve. We made two out of three.
New Orleans was first for us both and
we took a bus into the city from Gretna to avoid parking headaches,
then a trolley to the old part of the city. That alone was an
experience for me, since I’d never been on trolley and hadn’t
been on a city bus since I was about 10.
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| French Market |
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| French Market |
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| French Market |
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| Pretty church |
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| French Market |
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| French Market |
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| Voodoo, anyone? |
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| Trolley stop |
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| Trolley |
Once we arrived in the French Market,
we found Cafe Du Monde and had the requisite coffee and beignets,
which were both good. I actually enjoyed the coffee more than the
beignets (I thought they were just a bit underdone) but if you go to
NOLA, not stopping that iconic spot is near heresy. We wan, dered
around the streets, taking in the sights: Voodoo shops and churches,
street performers and colorful buildings, bumpy brick streets,
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| Rich at Cafe Du Monde |
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| Navy jazz band |
wrought iron gates protecting tiny, beautiful private gardens. After
walking off our beignets, we went to Napoleon House Bar and Cafe to
try another iconic treat – the muffuletta. Napoleon's is housed in
a historic landmark dating from 1797 and family owned since 1914.
Nichols Girod, mayor of New Orleans from 1812-1815, was the
building's first occupant. He offered his residence to Napoleon in
1821 during his exile and while Napoleon never made it, the name
stuck. It's a wonderful
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| Napoleon House Bar & Grill |
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| Napoleon House Bar & Grill Patio |
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| Napoleon House Bar & Grill |
place and thoroughly New Orleans – shabby
yet elegant somehow. We sat on the patio where we listened to
classical music punctuated by the gentle splash of the fountain. Our
waiter was perfect – at first he seemed a bit haughty, but it took
no time before he was friendly and welcoming. Rich had the best Ruben
we've ever eaten – Creole mustard was substituted for the thousand
island dressing and we felt it was far superior – and I had a
quarter of a muffuletta, which was outstanding. The house-made olive
salad was wonderful and we couldn't have been happier with our meal.
Shortly after lunch we made our way to
a fountain area in Dumaine Plaza where the Navy jazz band presented a
concert. We enjoyed their music until the wind and overcast skies
drove us away and we headed back to our trolley stop and back to
camp.
We had planned on going to the Jean
Lafitte Preserve the next day, but it turned out to be a rainy day,
so we did laundry instead. We'll plan on visiting Jean Lafitte
another time.
Evening brought us the heartbreaking
news that Ted, Rich's older son, had passed away quite unexpectedly,
and our attention was entirely on getting to New York and being with
family. Early the morning we moved the RV over to Blackwater River,
which was somewhat on our way and where we had reservations for the
week, and the next morning headed to New York with Dickens. Suffice
it to say, that was a very difficult time and it has taken me quite
some time to be interested in writing up notes on our trip. Once I
was back in the frame of mind to do so, my laptop began to give me
disk failure messages, so I spent time researching computers and
making certain I had all the software info and backups I would need
to get a new machine up and running. It was my first time doing so
and I was rather intimidated, but I've made it, finally. Next stop:
St. Andrews State Park in Panama City Beach, FL and Thanksgiving with
my son and his family.
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