So here's the final state of the states for this trip. Still quite a few missing in America's mid-section.
Looking at the sheet with the missing states is almost as interesting as the map on the side of the RV.
Still missing Lake Erie...and Alaska...and because I know someone will ask, no, we didn't take the RV to Hawaii, but we traveled together to Oahu and the Big Island, and so we included them on our map. Cheating, yes. You'll can sue me if you like.
We were just minutes away from the state line when we left Mississippi yesterday morning. We dragged our feet leaving the park because we only had about an hour's drive to the RV park in New Orleans. We passed over a big long bridge across the Pearl River (which I misidentified in my post yesterday...fixed now).
When we reached the other side, we were in Louisiana. Helllllooooooo, out there!
Just a few miles down the road, three interstates diverged from one another. You don't see that very often.
We took the left fork to New Orleans. Seeing the sign to Baton Rouge made us curious, however. And, hey, I took two years of French in high school, so I figure that translates into something like "red baton," or "red staff," or "red flagpole," or something like that. And we both figure it has something to do with a flag that flew over the city at one time or another. So I looked it up in my AAA tour book, and, uh-oh. Here you go...don't blame me...I'm just the messenger.
So...Ew. Not as romantic as I might have thought.
Anyway...our RV park is right here on Lake Pontchartrain. Behind us is a marina and a yacht repair place. And here we are without our yacht...which happens to need repair. As if. Here's a picture I took standing behind the RV. There are two things to notice about this image. First, the mardi gras mask on the boat there in the foreground.
Also, look at the blue line below the words "yacht repair" on the building in the background. That's where the water line was during Katrina. Yikes. Indeed, this area looks pretty good, but the road leading in here was a sad sight to see. There was another yacht repair place down the road that has not been repaired since the flood, and it remains, a rusting hulk of metal and a testimony to the destruction that took place here. Kind of sad to see. The RV park is all new. It wasn't here before Katrina, so lucky us. It's a pretty nice place.
Also sad to see...this next image. Smitty took this picture from his catio. It's a stupid woofie...tied right outside at our next door neighbor's RV...sitting there looking at Smitty...on his own purrivate catio. I'm telling you the kitty insults never cease on this trip.
We needed a couple of things from the grocery store, and so I encouraged the Resident Engineer to get his one quilt shop visit out of his system right away. He's always so excited when we visit a quilt shop. (Not.) So...just down the road was this place, and that's where we went.
That's their business card. On the back is this handy little table:
So I'll tell you about that in a separate post. After that, we headed to the grocery store. We just needed things like lunchmeat and sandwich bread, but sometimes it's fun to see the local fare available in different grocery stores across the country. Here in New Orleans, you can get head-on shrimp for $6 per pound. These looked good.
Or how about some boiled crayfish?
Tempting, but we passed.
This morning we're heading into the French Quarter to feast on some beignets and just wander around. There is a shuttle that will take us from the RV park and drop us off, and then bring us back later on today. Sounds like a great plan. Also on the agenda, we'd like to take a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi and find ourselves a good restaurant for dinner. Some of you have made suggestions, so thank you for that. I'll catch up with y'all later and tell you what we did.
6 comments:
The locals 'suck heads' on the crawfish. A little too 'local' for my tastes. I like my shellfish headless. Eat a beignet for me. Did you know that you can buy beignet mix, and make them at home? Hubby does this sometimes (when I remember to buy the mix). Hubby knows better than to let me 'fry' anything (something about fires....).
I make beignets every christmas -- it's a simple yeast dough -- but they are never as good as at the cafe du monde! I've always meant to take the river cruise. Maybe you'll convince me to do it next time I'm there! Watch for lots of those water lines. There are still plenty of reminders of Katrina to be found. I've stayed in a hotel where the water would have been over my head. Scary.
Looks like a fun place to camp. My brother lived on the inside area of the lake, didn't get hit by the hurricane waters, but a tornado knocked a tree onto his house. He decided it was time to move further inland;)
Debbie
You've almost toured the whole country. Impressive! Where did you get your map? I started to order one of the old maps, the solid colors on the states, but I waited too long and now they are gone.
Did you like the campground? I like that they had a shuttle to take you to things. Was Bourbon Street in full swing when you were there? So much to ask, so little time. My girlfriends group is going to NO in June, but I can't take the heat so I opted out this year.
Only 8 of the contiguous states left! I have not been to New Orleans since Katrina. My Granddaughter went there on a mission trip to help clean up and repair. They took the kids on a bus tour of the 9th Ward, which was the worse hit, I think.It made a great impression on her,
Gosh, right next to the yacht harbor, can't get much fancier than that! My friend & I stayed in a hotel in San Diego that overlooked the yacht harbor, so I kinda know how it is. :)
Mmmm beignets!
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