Monday Oct 27 – Swamp tour

Monday Oct 27 – Swamp Tour

First Alligator we saw-followed by many

Well hello there tasty person

Tranquil fresh water river

Well - it seemed tranquil!!!

A quiet morning. Another day the high 20’s C. We drifted around the campsite and then booked for the Cajun Encounters swamp tour at noon in Slidell. We decided to drive there ourselves which was perfect. Boarding a flat bottomed boat with a guide and some other passengers, off we went up the river for an unforgettable adventure which started off with the first of many encounters with Alligators.  The guide coaxed them close to the boat with marshmallows and hotdogs on a long stick. During the two hour adventure we spotted alligators, turtles, snakes, wild pigs, Egrets, and Blue Herons. The highlight of the tour was floating up a bayou, listening to the insects and trees hardly rustling in the peaceful tranquility of such a remote and seemingly uninhabitable area. The swamps up the bayou were eerie and beautiful, and that was in early afternoon…. couldn’t even begin to imagine this location at night. The pictures will be memorable. We also couldn’t help but think of the remote wildlife hunts and safaris we have been able to enjoy this year, from the Grasslands in South Africa, to the deserts of West Africa, to the swamps of Louisiana. 

All for a marshmallow... Yikes

Main river

Wild hogs

Type of boat we were on!

Egret

Blue Heron

Family meeting!!!

Sunning herself

Entering the Bayou

Drifting into the bayou

So still and eerie in many way

Derek the alligator hunter!

Leaving the bayou

Patiently waiting for someone to fall in!

Watch out behind you!!

Love the balconies here

The colours are just great!!

We made our way back into downtown New Orleans in time to see some of the filming for an upcoming NCIS New Orleans TV show. We then wandered around the French market again and went Coops restaurant for a creole meal….Gumbo, Jambalaya, Red Beans, Shrimp Creole and fried Chicken. Suitably satiated we came back to the RV park had a wander around before sunset and then settled into the blog.

The Scene of the crime NCIS (dead dummy!)

Set for NCIS New Orleans TV show

Great place for New Orleans cuisine

Checking out the Halloween decs

Sun 26th – New Orleans

Sun 26^th – New Orleans

Cafe Du Monde.. line up too long

Jackson Sq from the Mississippi River

Couple of goofy looking tourists

On the Natchez paddle steamer with Cafe Beignet

A jam packed day. We got up early and headed to the main building in the RV Park to watch a 40 minute video on Hurricane Katrina -  the build up and the aftermath and the reasons why there was so much damage. It was scary in many ways to see how much human activity on this earth has, is, and will continue to affect the weather, wildlife and our very existence on this planet.  So much devastation and hardship for the people in this beautiful city only 9 short years ago. The re-build continues but they are a long way from completing it.. if they ever really do. At 10 am we hopped the shuttle provided by the RV park for the trip into New Orleans proper, dropping us off in the French Quarter, we walked over to the famous ‘Café Du Monde for beignets, but were disappointed to see the line up that extended for blocks… so we opted to do that another time. We picked up some beignets from the ‘café Beignet’ and will look forward to comparing them with the ‘real deal’ another day!! We boarded on the Natchez paddle steam boat for a 2 hour cruise up and down the Mississippi river. It was a beautiful day, 27 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and we totally enjoyed the cruise, visiting the engine room to see the amazing way the whole paddle boat system works. There was a Jazz band playing for the last hour, so we felt rather immersed in the whole experience.

Steam driven paddle wheel

Cruising the Mississippi on the Natchez

New Orleans skyline

Katrina debris

Paddle mechanics

After the cruise, we wandered along the waterfront, chatted with some other people (one guy from Liverpool) and found out some information from some locals, that helped us in our explorations. We headed up Bourbon Street for the obligatory New Orleans experience. There is a Saints/packers game on later tonight and the street was filled with tourists, many of whom where wearing Green Bay Packers green … what an eclectic crowd… many of whom were well on their way to a massive hangover. Generally a huge long street party all along Bourbon street.  Loud and actually lots of fun… but just a bit too much noise and wild party people for us. Janice bought the obligatory t-shirt, we stopped for one ‘huge ass’ beer and hightailed it out to a quieter area of town… Frenchmen Street. This a less known area of New Orleans right next to the French Quarter and seems to be a more authentic New Orleans experience. Jazz clubs and restaurants abounding and filled with music lovers. locals and those wanting some good Cajun food.  We popped in to a restaurant / bar (The Marigny Brasserie)and tried the fried oysters (not bad) and awesome crawfish linguine… Oh my…. A taste sensation!!! We followed that with a stop at a Jazz bar that was an absolute dive from the outside with amazing talented Jazz inside… The Spotted Cat! Go there if you get the chance… very cool!!! Tired to the bone we took the last shuttle back to the RV park for an early night. 

Those tourists again!!

Steam calliope(top of steamboat) can play 32 notes

Bourbon Street

Statues on Bourbon street (Fats D. on left)

Thirst quencher on a hot day.. grateful for shuttle

Party atmosphere on Bourbon st

Love the Spanish style buildings

Spotted Cat on Frenchmen St

Inside the Spotted Cat. Great Jazz

Play a tune and relieve yourself - washroom in the Spotted Cat

Frenchmen St at night

Sat Oct 25   … Clarksdale to Indianola and New Orleans.

Good to be in Indianola

Convenient Parking at BB King Museum

We packed up early and were on the road by 8:30am heading to New Orleans via Indianola (BB King country) to check out the BB King Museum. It is so exciting being here in the heart of the Mississippi Delta… being in the area where the blues was born and raised! It is so flat and the landscape is overwhelmingly rural with field after field of cotton… it looks like fields of snow and the cotton balls blow around and look like snow on the side of the road. Miles and miles of flat fields. We chatted about the plight of the slaves and questioning how human beings so recently in our history could enslave a whole race and keep them from being recognized, even as citizens, until the mid 1960’s. We have received nothing but kindness and friendliness from everyone we have encountered down here. It truly is a complete cultural change, and we love it.
The people are generally warm, friendly and caring, regardless of their skin colour.
Anyway we arrived at the BB King Museum at exactly 10am when they open, and managed to park right on the street in front of the building… perfect. The tour of the museum started with a short video giving much of the life history of this amazing musician. By the age of nine his father had left and then his mother died. His grandmother and various aunts cared for him but he was basically on his own. The great adversity he faced throughout his young life and the kind and generous man he has become, is inspiring. 

BB's Sharecropper Home

Anyway we wandered for 90 minutes around the museum… watching videos, seeing various artifacts from his full life and learning more than we ever knew about BB’s life. We bought the DVD “The life of Riley” – he was born Riley King.

The story behind "Lucille"

We learned how he became BB and what it stands for … look it up or take the trek to Indianola, Mississippi to find out!!
The Museum was well worth the extra time getting there instead of going directly to New Orleans.
We continued our journey for an additional six hours passing through the delta and into Louisiana and arrived at Pontchartrain RV resort and Marina at 5:30.  Looks like a great place but VERY dusty!! We had a bite to eat and checked out the brochures to decided what we want to see while we are here for the next 3 days / 4 nights.

Bridge into New Orleans, Louisiana from Mississippi