Winter Excursion 3, Day 95

Our friend Corb from Ft Drum came by this morning after his run and picked up Kaylee at 0930. He and Kelly are dog sitting for us today and we really appreciate it!
We headed south across the causeway to New Orleans and the WWII Museum. This place is so worth going to! We looked at two of the exhibits (Pacific and European theaters). We also took in the hour long 4D movie narrated by Tom Hanks called Beyond All Boundaries. This is a must see, especially for our kids and grandkids.

We left the museum around 1300 and walked the mile or so to the French Quarter. Here's a few pics.

Crossing Canal Street.

The French Quarter streets are skinny, skinny, and skinny.

There are bands, guitarists, tarot readers, hawkers, and beggars all over the place. 

We ate lunch at Pat O'Briens on Bourbon Street. 

The Hurricanes and food were great. Here's my muffaletta and Cath's shrimp and grits. 

 On the way back to the truck we saw this grenade guy hawking for a bar.

They are getting ready for mardi gras.

A pic of Jackson Square.

We stopped at Ole Saint for a brew. They have 50 local craft beers on tap.

Rush hour traffic on the way home was great fun (NOT!). We got to Corb and Kelly's to pickup Kaylee. She actually behaved for them, just kidding, she really is a good dog. Cath and I missed her today. Thanks again to our friends for watching her, she would not have had a good time in the city with us.
Back at camp we are getting the camper ready to go to Lake Charles tomorrow.
All is well in the Boss Camp!

Winter Excursion 3, Day 94

We spent the morning cleaning up the camper and watching some TV.
Our friends Corb and Kelly from Ft Drum came over around 1500 and we caught up on old times and talked a lot about camping as they are thinking of getting a camper. We went out for dinner at a converted railroad station that is now a microbrewery. Cath and I had Boudin  and Po Boy sandwiches for the first time. It was really good. We will try some more of the local foods in the next few weeks.
Back at camp we hit the sack early as we are headed to the WWII museum and French Quarter tomorrow morning.

Winter Excursion 3, Day 93

I took the truck in this morning for an oil change. We've driven almost 7000 miles on this trip so far. I got back to camp around 1000. Cath made a nice breakfast and then we too a walk around the park.
First stop was the visitor center and the old sugar mill. This is what's left of it. It was in operation around 1850.

There are lots of live oaks in the park and tons of moss on them.

There is a nice beach and day use area. Here's Cath and Kaylee on the pier. The lake is only a few feet deep even out this far. Max depth for Lake Pontchartrain is 65 feet. 

Later in the afternoon we drove to Slidell and did a little food shopping. Back at camp we relaxed, had a nice dinner, and watched a few shows. It was cold today with the high in the low 40s, it should start to warm up a little in the next few days.

Winter Excursion 3, Day 92

We were up early and headed to Avery Island by 0900. Snapped this pic of camp before we left. The park is nice and our campsite is OK. As you can see we have a swamp outside of our door, but on the other hand the whole of southern Louisiana is a swamp (or bayou as they say). 

Crossed the Mississippi twice today.

A lot of the roads and highways are elevated. They call them causeways. They are just like a miles long bridge. 

It must take awhile to build one of these.

Arrived at Avery Island after a 160 mile drive. You have to pay for a tour of the factory to get into the museum. We were a little disappointed. They have a restaurant called "The 1868", but t was closed for renovations. There was a food truck and the fried shrimp was really very good. The country store was nice. We never realized how many different products Tabasco actually makes.

A pic of the factory. Notice the white SUV to the right of our truck. When we parked there were no other vehicles there.

Took the backroads on the was back to camp. Here's the Mississippi again.

 

This is the causeway that links New Orleans to points north across Lake Pontchartrain. It's 23 miles long! Two different spans one flows north the other south. 

We stopped at a roadside market on the way back and picked up these shrimp. They are HUGE! At 7.99/lb they are a deal.

Black Beans and Rice with the shrimp made a nice dinner. A few shows then off to bed.

Winter Excursion 3, Day 91

We got up at 0630 this morning. Coffee and then hit the road by 0800. We did the back roads all the way to Fontainebleau State Park, LA. After 350 miles I was ready for a toddy!
The drive was fun and we saw lots of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, back country. This is the way to see America! Interstates are OK, but you don't get to see the country. We arrived at camp by 1530, got all set up, met the neighbors, and relaxed after the long drive.
I'll post some pics tomorrow, the campground is nice.

Winter Excursion 3, Day 90

After I did the blog last night things got interesting here at the campground. One of the campers across from is a cancer patient and was unconscious most of the afternoon. They finally called 911 and the response was overwhelming! We had 2 MP cars, 4 fire engines, and one ambulance. We wish the best to a fellow camper.  

Kim and Kevin stopped by around 1200. It was good to see them and catch up on some old and new times.

We met Ronnie and Carol for dinner at a Mexican place in Ozark. DInner was great. Afterward we drove over to their house, said our goodbyes, and then headed back to camp. We hope to leave by 0830 tomorrow bound for New Orleans!

Winter Excursion 3, Day 89

We left camp this morning and took a drive to Panama City, Panama City Beach, and Mexico Beach. Those town names should sound familiar as they were the ones hardest hit by Hurricane Michael in October. The damage is tremendous. We have never seen anything like it. We felt bad just being in the area for no reason other than to gawk!
These are pics from Panama City and Panama City Beach:

These pics are from Mexico Beach.

The house with the red roof is the only structure in Mexico Beach with no damage. The owner built it to withstand a CAT 5!

This is the road from Mexico Beach to Tyndall AFB.

And here's Tyndall. The place is destroyed. They are rebuilding. The campground is open!

We noticed lots of campers on many properties. Seems folks put campers where their house used to be or where their damaged house is until it is habitable again.

The area is rebounding. There are workmen and contractors everywhere. Blue tarps are on almost every roof. Keep in mind it's been three months or more since the hurricane. We can not imagine what it looked like right after the storm. To the north of Panama City we saw a huge pile (landfill). They are still hauling debris constantly to this place. It all gets ground-up and becomes part of the man-made mountain.
On a lighter note (this seems trivial) the dump station at our campground is open again.