Hi! You know the drill - older entries at the bottom, newest at the top - captions below the pictures. Hope you enjoy the Gulf states as much as we did!
We'd like you to meet "Maggie" Magellan, our GPS and family peacekeeper. I used to navigate and did an okay job but now we just put in a destination and she guides us there. Now if only Ted would learn to follow directions from a female voice, we'd be set. I overrule her decisions once in a while, but she does a great job and it allows me to see what's around me instead of having my head buried in a map. Plus I prefer Ted call her names when she leads us astray!!
February 1 - From Crowley, LA almost to the Texas border are acres and acres of rice fields. Almost a quarter of all the rice produced in the U.S. grows on the low, flat, fertile ground in this region.
February 1 - Between Baton Rouge and Lafayette runs the Atchafalaya River. It is surrounded on either side by swamplands, bayous and lakes. To cross this river basin, the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway Bridge was built on Hwy 10 - the 5th longest bridge in the world at 29.3 km. Four of the world's 10 longest bridges are in Louisiana. The only one we missed was on Hwy 10 entering New Orleans (9th longest) and because we stayed north of the city, we didn't cross it. Next time, I guess!
January 31 - We went for a drive to Pontachoula, a city northwest of New Orleans and southwest of our campground at Robert. We were on the way to Manchac when we were caught in a downpour. Visibility was the pits. This highway crosses the Manchac Swamp and we later discovered it is actually the second longest bridge in the world, 36.7 km in length.
Businesses were just as hard hit as homes and many stand empty waiting to be demolished.
St. Bernard Parish on the east side of New Orleans was one of the areas most severely affected by Katrina. Many homes are still standing but will never be lived in again. A large number of homes have been rebuilt but reconstruction will take years and some people who evacuated will never move back.
We took a drive through eastern New Orleans and had to wait for a ship to pass through under a drawbridge. Not something you see very often.
Because of the shallow water table in New Orleans, people must be buried above ground in family tombs or "oven" vaults. Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau is reportedly buried at this cemetery as were many early Creoles.
January 29 - New Orleans - St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. We were warned by people we met in campgrounds and in the guide books not to venture into the cemeteries in New Orleans alone, only with a tour. If the ghosts don't get you, the muggers will! I wanted a picture so I dashed in while Ted stood guard in the truck. It's just as crowded as the French Quarter itself.
The grounds of the State Capitol. In the middle is a statue of Huey Long, who was a very popular Senator and Governor of Louisiana.
This view is of the downtown area and the Mississippi.
We took the elevator to the 27th floor Observation Deck of the State Capitol and got a great view of the Mississippi River and the industrial area of Baton Rouge.
January 28 - Baton Rouge. We headed west to see the capital of Louisiana. This is the Louisiana State Capitol, the tallest capital building in the U.S. built by Governor Huey Long in the early 1930s. He was assassinated there in 1935 and you can actually see a bullet hole in one of the marble pillars in the building.
Many of the spectators were dogs (accompanied by their owners, of course). We thought this dog's costume was cute. You'd think there would be a giant dog fight with all these dogs in such close quarters, but no fights and very little barking. Guess we should have taken Bailey & Rusty. We didn't see any shih tsus in the parade or in the crowd.
Meet the Queen of Barkus. The entire parade was made up of dogs and their owners, most in costume. The theme of the parade was "Raiders of the Lost Bark" so many had snakes, bandanas and Indy hats as part of their costume or float. No marching bands in this parade, only jazz bands. One band's name was "Blame it on the dog".
Ted wanted to attend a Mardi Gras parade in the French Quarter (hoping for girls flashing for beads, I imagine). Instead he got the Mystic Krewe of Barkus parade, a dog parade. Yes, a dog parade!!
A view of downtown New Orleans from Bourbon Street.
Bourbon Street - pretty quiet on a Sunday morning, but you should have seen it when we drove through on Saturday afternoon. It was wall-to-wall people carrying alcoholic beverages (totally legal in New Orleans as long as the glass isn't real glass!) Jazz music filled the air. I can't imagine what it would be like after a parade!
The French Quarter is famous for its beautiful buildings with plants hanging from wrought-iron balconies. Many were decorated for Mardi Gras. People would stand on the balconies and throw beads down at you during the parades.
Beignets - sweet pastries dusted with powdered sugar. Mmmm good!!
The world-famous Cafe du Monde serves the most wonderful cafe au lait (with chickory) and beignets. Outside a jazz band entertained us while we ate.
The Canal Street ferry crosses the Mighty Mississippi as does the Crescent City Connector bridge.
January 27 - Today we decided to explore the French Quarter (Vieux Carre). Behind us is Jackson Square, the heart of the French Quarter. In the middle is the 1797 St. Louis Cathedral and to the left is the 1911 Cabildo, formerly a city hall, now a museum.
This house is located in the area between Lake Pontchartrain and the French Quarter. Many homes like this have been abandoned. Search and rescue people left notes on the homes after they were searched indicating when it was searched.
The Superdome has been rebuilt, but many people live in tent cities underneath the many underpasses and overpasses that criss-cross the city.
This is one of the levees holding back Lake Pontchartrain that ruptured when Katrina hit causing water to rise as high as 20 feet, flooding 80% of the city. The levees have been rebuilt but still don't look all that sturdy to me.
We have never seen so many marching bands, drill teams, colour guards and dance groups in one place. Several local high schools were represented. It was funny though - when they weren't playing, many of the kids were yelling at each other (4-letter words included), the band and drill moms were yelling at the kids and the band leader was yelling at everyone! Didn't they realize we could hear them??? (Ted would also like me to mention that segregation is alive and well here; personally I think white people can't march and play at the same time!!)
What is a parade without a camel?
The Pontchartrain and Shangri-La krewes were the sponsors of the parades we watched. Beautifully decorated floats filled with people in costume throwing things at you - life is good!!
January 26 - Mardi Gras - New Orleans style!!! We watched two back-to-back parades on a street in the Uptown District. Several families built ladders like the one above for their children to sit on and watch the parade. It also makes for easier catching of everything they throw at you. One dad actually attached a two-foot square of plexiglass to the front of their ladder to prevent their toddler from being hit. This Mississippi family comes to the same spot on the same weekend every year to watch the parades. They also recommended we eat at the school across the street after the parade. We had our choice of catfish dinner, chicken dinner, jambalaya and gumbo. I had the fish and Ted had the jambalaya. He wasn't too impressed (didn't like the flavour of the sausage), but mine was good. They also charged 50 cents to visit the washroom! Mardi Gras must be a great fundraiser for them.
This is the view looking north. It was amazing to travel for almost 25 miles on a highway totally surrounded by water!
Hello Louisiana!! You are looking at the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway - the longest bridge in the world (according to Wikipedia). It is 38.4 km in length joining the cities of Mandeville in the north to Metairie (a suburb of New Orleans). We were staying just west of Mandeville so we were fortunate to travel this bridge 3 times. This is the southbound view.
. . . new life and purpose. All along Scenic Hwy. 90, tree trunks were transformed into sculpted works of art.
These oaks were damaged by Hurricane Katrina, but if there's one thing we have learned about the people in the south, it's their strong will to survive and rebuild. From the dead springs . . .
January 23 - Can't visit Mississippi without spending time at a bayou. We went hiking at the Gulf Islands National Seashore and hiked the Davis Bayou Trail through marshlands and forest. A beautiful home to birds and alligators.
The Hard Rock Casino drew us in one afternoon. Neither of us are big gamblers so Ted people-watched while I spent a huge $13.00 and cashed in when I hit $18.75 - a net gain of $5.75 (which will buy me lunch). Lots of rock & roll memorabilia could be found in the casino.
January 23 - Welcome to Biloxi, Mississippi!! When you think about Hurricane Katrina, you usually think about New Orleans, but the Gulf shores of Alabama and Mississippi suffered major damage as well. Coastal homes, bridges and whole towns (Waveland) were totally destroyed. Before Katrina, Biloxi was home to 13 "floating" casinos (mandated by Mississippi law - no casinos on shore) which were tossed inland and destroyed. Several (such as the one above) have since been rebuilt on land; apparently the government didn't want to lose the tax revenue generated by the casinos should such a catastrophe occur again.
Beautiful downtown Mobile. This is one of the historic homes located on Government Street.
This is the view of downtown Mobile from the main deck of the USS Alabama. Also on the site was the USS Drum, the oldest US submarine left in the world. During WW II, it sank 15 ships, 4 on its first patrol. An airplane museum/pavilion with war planes including A-12s, Panthers and Skyhawks was also located on the site. It was heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina (3 planes were totally destroyed) and repairs to it, the Drum and the Alabama are still being made.
This is the room where the projectiles (military speak for bombs!!) are kept.
Can you imagine sleeping in such tight quarters? This is one of many "berthing spaces" on the ship. Doesn't look like much space to me! We toured the ship from the very bottom to the O-8 level at the very top including such intriguingly named places as the Damage Control Station, Turret Barbette, the Plotting Room and the Gedunk Stand (the soda fountain).
This is one of three turrets on the main deck. Each gun shoots accurately to 21 miles.
January 20 - I told Ted it was his turn to pick something to do so here we are at the Battleship USS Alabama. It was really neat to tour the ship. She was commissioned in 1942 with a crew of 127 officers and 2205 enlisted men (up to 2500 at times), earned 9 Battle Stars and shot down 22 enemy airplanes during World War II.
January 19 - Welcome to Mardi Gras! Mobile is famous for having the world's first Mardi Gras in the U.S. (over 300 years ago) - long before New Orleans. Mardi Gras actually starts over 2 weeks before Fat (Pancake) Tuesday and there are one or more parades hosted by various krewes (societies/social clubs) almost every day during that time. Of course the biggest parades occur the weekend prior to and on Fat Tuesday itself. We planned to go to the afternoon parade but it was so cold that it was cancelled and held after the two parades scheduled for that evening. We stuck around and saw all three and managed to accumulate a huge number of beaded necklaces, plastic glasses, Moon Pies, marshmallow treats, etc. thrown to us by the parade participants. I actually caught a stuffed bear but my hands were so cold I dropped it and a kid swooped in and grabbed it before I could pick it up again. I was so disappointed, but it was a fun night! We are lucky that Easter was early this year so we could enjoy Mardi Gras.
January 17 - Welcome to Alabama, the heart of Dixie, home to Rosa Parks, the civil rights struggle, and . . . fireworks!! As we entered Alabama we were greeted by 3 giant fireworks megastores like this one. People here really enjoy their fireworks and we often heard them in the campgrounds. Of course I, being a paranoid Canadian who watches too many Law & Order shows, immediately thinks "GUN!!!!! while Ted calmly strolls to the door and looks outside to see if he can see the fireworks.
We'd like you to meet "Maggie" Magellan, our GPS and family peacekeeper. I used to navigate and did an okay job but now we just put in a destination and she guides us there. Now if only Ted would learn to follow directions from a female voice, we'd be set. I overrule her decisions once in a while, but she does a great job and it allows me to see what's around me instead of having my head buried in a map. Plus I prefer Ted call her names when she leads us astray!!
February 1 - From Crowley, LA almost to the Texas border are acres and acres of rice fields. Almost a quarter of all the rice produced in the U.S. grows on the low, flat, fertile ground in this region.
February 1 - Between Baton Rouge and Lafayette runs the Atchafalaya River. It is surrounded on either side by swamplands, bayous and lakes. To cross this river basin, the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway Bridge was built on Hwy 10 - the 5th longest bridge in the world at 29.3 km. Four of the world's 10 longest bridges are in Louisiana. The only one we missed was on Hwy 10 entering New Orleans (9th longest) and because we stayed north of the city, we didn't cross it. Next time, I guess!
January 31 - We went for a drive to Pontachoula, a city northwest of New Orleans and southwest of our campground at Robert. We were on the way to Manchac when we were caught in a downpour. Visibility was the pits. This highway crosses the Manchac Swamp and we later discovered it is actually the second longest bridge in the world, 36.7 km in length.
Businesses were just as hard hit as homes and many stand empty waiting to be demolished.
St. Bernard Parish on the east side of New Orleans was one of the areas most severely affected by Katrina. Many homes are still standing but will never be lived in again. A large number of homes have been rebuilt but reconstruction will take years and some people who evacuated will never move back.
We took a drive through eastern New Orleans and had to wait for a ship to pass through under a drawbridge. Not something you see very often.
Because of the shallow water table in New Orleans, people must be buried above ground in family tombs or "oven" vaults. Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau is reportedly buried at this cemetery as were many early Creoles.
January 29 - New Orleans - St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. We were warned by people we met in campgrounds and in the guide books not to venture into the cemeteries in New Orleans alone, only with a tour. If the ghosts don't get you, the muggers will! I wanted a picture so I dashed in while Ted stood guard in the truck. It's just as crowded as the French Quarter itself.
The grounds of the State Capitol. In the middle is a statue of Huey Long, who was a very popular Senator and Governor of Louisiana.
This view is of the downtown area and the Mississippi.
We took the elevator to the 27th floor Observation Deck of the State Capitol and got a great view of the Mississippi River and the industrial area of Baton Rouge.
January 28 - Baton Rouge. We headed west to see the capital of Louisiana. This is the Louisiana State Capitol, the tallest capital building in the U.S. built by Governor Huey Long in the early 1930s. He was assassinated there in 1935 and you can actually see a bullet hole in one of the marble pillars in the building.
Many of the spectators were dogs (accompanied by their owners, of course). We thought this dog's costume was cute. You'd think there would be a giant dog fight with all these dogs in such close quarters, but no fights and very little barking. Guess we should have taken Bailey & Rusty. We didn't see any shih tsus in the parade or in the crowd.
Meet the Queen of Barkus. The entire parade was made up of dogs and their owners, most in costume. The theme of the parade was "Raiders of the Lost Bark" so many had snakes, bandanas and Indy hats as part of their costume or float. No marching bands in this parade, only jazz bands. One band's name was "Blame it on the dog".
Ted wanted to attend a Mardi Gras parade in the French Quarter (hoping for girls flashing for beads, I imagine). Instead he got the Mystic Krewe of Barkus parade, a dog parade. Yes, a dog parade!!
A view of downtown New Orleans from Bourbon Street.
Bourbon Street - pretty quiet on a Sunday morning, but you should have seen it when we drove through on Saturday afternoon. It was wall-to-wall people carrying alcoholic beverages (totally legal in New Orleans as long as the glass isn't real glass!) Jazz music filled the air. I can't imagine what it would be like after a parade!
Another building in the French Quarter decorated for Mardi Gras.
The French Quarter is famous for its beautiful buildings with plants hanging from wrought-iron balconies. Many were decorated for Mardi Gras. People would stand on the balconies and throw beads down at you during the parades.
Beignets - sweet pastries dusted with powdered sugar. Mmmm good!!
The world-famous Cafe du Monde serves the most wonderful cafe au lait (with chickory) and beignets. Outside a jazz band entertained us while we ate.
The Canal Street ferry crosses the Mighty Mississippi as does the Crescent City Connector bridge.
January 27 - Today we decided to explore the French Quarter (Vieux Carre). Behind us is Jackson Square, the heart of the French Quarter. In the middle is the 1797 St. Louis Cathedral and to the left is the 1911 Cabildo, formerly a city hall, now a museum.
This house is located in the area between Lake Pontchartrain and the French Quarter. Many homes like this have been abandoned. Search and rescue people left notes on the homes after they were searched indicating when it was searched.
The Superdome has been rebuilt, but many people live in tent cities underneath the many underpasses and overpasses that criss-cross the city.
This is one of the levees holding back Lake Pontchartrain that ruptured when Katrina hit causing water to rise as high as 20 feet, flooding 80% of the city. The levees have been rebuilt but still don't look all that sturdy to me.
We have never seen so many marching bands, drill teams, colour guards and dance groups in one place. Several local high schools were represented. It was funny though - when they weren't playing, many of the kids were yelling at each other (4-letter words included), the band and drill moms were yelling at the kids and the band leader was yelling at everyone! Didn't they realize we could hear them??? (Ted would also like me to mention that segregation is alive and well here; personally I think white people can't march and play at the same time!!)
What is a parade without a camel?
The Pontchartrain and Shangri-La krewes were the sponsors of the parades we watched. Beautifully decorated floats filled with people in costume throwing things at you - life is good!!
January 26 - Mardi Gras - New Orleans style!!! We watched two back-to-back parades on a street in the Uptown District. Several families built ladders like the one above for their children to sit on and watch the parade. It also makes for easier catching of everything they throw at you. One dad actually attached a two-foot square of plexiglass to the front of their ladder to prevent their toddler from being hit. This Mississippi family comes to the same spot on the same weekend every year to watch the parades. They also recommended we eat at the school across the street after the parade. We had our choice of catfish dinner, chicken dinner, jambalaya and gumbo. I had the fish and Ted had the jambalaya. He wasn't too impressed (didn't like the flavour of the sausage), but mine was good. They also charged 50 cents to visit the washroom! Mardi Gras must be a great fundraiser for them.
This is the view looking north. It was amazing to travel for almost 25 miles on a highway totally surrounded by water!
Hello Louisiana!! You are looking at the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway - the longest bridge in the world (according to Wikipedia). It is 38.4 km in length joining the cities of Mandeville in the north to Metairie (a suburb of New Orleans). We were staying just west of Mandeville so we were fortunate to travel this bridge 3 times. This is the southbound view.
. . . new life and purpose. All along Scenic Hwy. 90, tree trunks were transformed into sculpted works of art.
These oaks were damaged by Hurricane Katrina, but if there's one thing we have learned about the people in the south, it's their strong will to survive and rebuild. From the dead springs . . .
January 23 - Can't visit Mississippi without spending time at a bayou. We went hiking at the Gulf Islands National Seashore and hiked the Davis Bayou Trail through marshlands and forest. A beautiful home to birds and alligators.
The Hard Rock Casino drew us in one afternoon. Neither of us are big gamblers so Ted people-watched while I spent a huge $13.00 and cashed in when I hit $18.75 - a net gain of $5.75 (which will buy me lunch). Lots of rock & roll memorabilia could be found in the casino.
January 23 - Welcome to Biloxi, Mississippi!! When you think about Hurricane Katrina, you usually think about New Orleans, but the Gulf shores of Alabama and Mississippi suffered major damage as well. Coastal homes, bridges and whole towns (Waveland) were totally destroyed. Before Katrina, Biloxi was home to 13 "floating" casinos (mandated by Mississippi law - no casinos on shore) which were tossed inland and destroyed. Several (such as the one above) have since been rebuilt on land; apparently the government didn't want to lose the tax revenue generated by the casinos should such a catastrophe occur again.
Beautiful downtown Mobile. This is one of the historic homes located on Government Street.
This is the view of downtown Mobile from the main deck of the USS Alabama. Also on the site was the USS Drum, the oldest US submarine left in the world. During WW II, it sank 15 ships, 4 on its first patrol. An airplane museum/pavilion with war planes including A-12s, Panthers and Skyhawks was also located on the site. It was heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina (3 planes were totally destroyed) and repairs to it, the Drum and the Alabama are still being made. 
This is the room where the projectiles (military speak for bombs!!) are kept.
Can you imagine sleeping in such tight quarters? This is one of many "berthing spaces" on the ship. Doesn't look like much space to me! We toured the ship from the very bottom to the O-8 level at the very top including such intriguingly named places as the Damage Control Station, Turret Barbette, the Plotting Room and the Gedunk Stand (the soda fountain).
This is one of three turrets on the main deck. Each gun shoots accurately to 21 miles.
January 20 - I told Ted it was his turn to pick something to do so here we are at the Battleship USS Alabama. It was really neat to tour the ship. She was commissioned in 1942 with a crew of 127 officers and 2205 enlisted men (up to 2500 at times), earned 9 Battle Stars and shot down 22 enemy airplanes during World War II.
January 19 - Welcome to Mardi Gras! Mobile is famous for having the world's first Mardi Gras in the U.S. (over 300 years ago) - long before New Orleans. Mardi Gras actually starts over 2 weeks before Fat (Pancake) Tuesday and there are one or more parades hosted by various krewes (societies/social clubs) almost every day during that time. Of course the biggest parades occur the weekend prior to and on Fat Tuesday itself. We planned to go to the afternoon parade but it was so cold that it was cancelled and held after the two parades scheduled for that evening. We stuck around and saw all three and managed to accumulate a huge number of beaded necklaces, plastic glasses, Moon Pies, marshmallow treats, etc. thrown to us by the parade participants. I actually caught a stuffed bear but my hands were so cold I dropped it and a kid swooped in and grabbed it before I could pick it up again. I was so disappointed, but it was a fun night! We are lucky that Easter was early this year so we could enjoy Mardi Gras.
January 17 - Welcome to Alabama, the heart of Dixie, home to Rosa Parks, the civil rights struggle, and . . . fireworks!! As we entered Alabama we were greeted by 3 giant fireworks megastores like this one. People here really enjoy their fireworks and we often heard them in the campgrounds. Of course I, being a paranoid Canadian who watches too many Law & Order shows, immediately thinks "GUN!!!!! while Ted calmly strolls to the door and looks outside to see if he can see the fireworks.
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