And so the adventures continue!!! The weather cleared up and we headed down to the "Big Easy". Talk about timing, we hit it just right - the French Quarter Festival was going on!! Found a "free" parking spot (most designated parking areas were getting between $20 to $40), locked the car up (hoping we'd still have a car to come back to), and started hoofing it towards the music!! The streets in the French Quarter were filled with people.
All kinds of bands were playing everywhere outside in the streets. Jazz, blues, zydeco, rock, you name it and boy, were they good.
There were street performers, vendors selling their wares, restaurants & shops were open. Bourbon Street was wild but Dennis behaved himself :)).
Also figured we better get back to the car before dark. It was a fantastic day!!
Came back home to Buttercup for steaks on the grill, green beans & baked potato!!
Robin & Dennis
Monday - April 15, 2013
Up at 7:15 - Chef Dennis cooked our special sausage from Tiffin Campground in Red Bay on the grill outside. Had eggs & English muffins.
So, guess what we did today??? Decided to head down to the Bayou for an airboat ride!!!
Are we crazy or what?? But we're sure having fun!! Made reservations for 12:00, so we dropped what we were doing about 10:00 and off we went for our hour+ ride to "swamp country"!! Drove to Lafitte, Louisiana to Airboat Adventures!! Us and 10 others, hopped on our boat #12 named Gator Patrol with T Earl as the captain. He was huge, and a "good ole boy".
I'd say about 25 to 30. Been on the water all his life. Said he was bitten by his first alligator when he was 8 years old. Took it to school for show & tell in his book bag!! He gave us some instructions and headsets to protect our ears from the noise. The weather was foggy & drizzly - good thing we brought our rain slickers!! We got a front row seat and off we went!!
In the front of the boat we noticed a package of chicken parts to feed the alligators and lure them to the boat. So after riding around a bit we stopped and T Earl opened the chicken and sho nuf here comes an alligator slithering over to the boat. T Earl touched his snout and it opened showing his scary teeth. He also gave it a kiss. Tried to hold it, but it thrashed around a bit, slapped it's tail and dove under. It was wild!!
Then T Earl brought out his "pet" alligator, Fluffy! Looked like a baby, but he said Fluffy was two years old. We all got to hold him which was exciting!!
Saw some beautiful scenery, cypress trees with hanging moss, lots of alligators in the water, a snake in a tree, birds & plant life. Also rode out in Lake Salvador, saw a big barge and Indian burial grounds. What a great trip and we didn't get seasick!!
If you look in the middle of the picture below you can see the snake skin and just to the right on the same branch was the REAL snake. Don't shake the tree, they have been known to fall in the boat.
After the ride we were starving!! Rode around trying to find a place to eat, but we were virtually in the "middle of nowhere". Finally found Voleo's Seafood Restaurant!! Hole in the wall place, but the food was great!
Dennis had a bowl of seafood gumbo, jambalya and a seafood platter. I had red beans, rice & sausage! YUM!! The waitress even brought a piece of homemade cake! Definitely off the beaten path!!
And boy, talk about the size of the mosquitoes down here!! Check this out!!
On the way back Chad called with our weekly "mail review". Thanks Chad!!
Thanks to Dee & Don too for their expert mail delivery! Also, had just found out about the bombing at the Boston Marathon. What a tragedy for those folk! Arrived back home and turned on the TV to watch the news of the day. Still stuffed from our late lunch - no dinner tonight! Later.......
Robin & Dennis
Tuesday - April 16, 2013
At the suggestion of my brother, Butch, we headed to the World War II Museum in downtown New Orleans. Walked the museum, saw a 4-D film featuring Tom Hanks & the new Boeing Center exhibits. Very comprehensive overview of WWII. Great place to see if you are ever in New Orleans. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks for the tip Butch!!
German shelter above, American bomber below.
We then headed back to the French Quarter to check out some things we missed the other day. Did some shopping in the French Market and had lunch there. Got a shrimp boat, fried pickles and a banana smoothie!! Walked around and hit a few more shops.
Then it was on to Cafe du Monde for coffee and beignets. The coffee was perfect, almost too hot for Robin to drink!
Walked around some more, and then decided to go for a gelato at Brocato's across town. We had seen this ice cream place on TV and thought we'd try it. Great little place that's been around since 1905. And yes, we are fat little pigs tonight. Dennis had a little dinner tonight, but none for me :)).
Leaving New Orleans on Wednesday and heading west!! Gonna get our cowboys boots on!! Look out Texas, here we come!! Later.......
Robin & Dennis
Wednesday - April 17, 2013
Well we left this morning about 10 am and headed west. You know that saying, go west young man but in our case you might have to take the young out. Chad, Scott and Kevin would probably agree.
Route 10 in Louisiana is a rough road in parts so Dennis had to stay awake while driving today. Very windy as well. Stop for lunch and fuel at a Pilot and went to a Walmart next door.
We did go on a bridge that was about 18 to 20 miles long through the Atchafalaya Basin.
Finally arrived in Vinton, yes Dennis picked this because it was close to Minton. It is about 8 miles from the Texas boarder. We got set up and heard about severe storms again.
They must be following us so Dennis went inside the store to see where the storm shelter was. No luck here, just put your head between your knees and kiss your #%* goodbye. Just kidding we will be alright. Dennis was talking to the lady about some fields we had seen on the drive. They had been flooded with what look like buoy markers in a row. Kinda like looking at crab pots in the river. She said they were craw fish ponds where they raise craw fish. Well that's all it took, we were not going to leave Louisiana without eating some craw fish.We jumped in the car and drove to a place call the Cajun Cowboy restaurant. Yepee, oops, they only have them on Thursday through Saturday. But the lady behind the bar told us that if we go up in to town and turn right at the library, yeah a library, who would have thought that, and go to the Circle A and they might have some. Sho nuf they did! We bought 3 pounds and came back to the camper and ate all of them.
Watched MeTV, had a little supper about 7, and went to bed. Got to find my boots for San Antonio!
Until the next blog!
Robin and Dennis
PS Dennis actually wrote Wednesday the 17th blog.
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