In and Around New Orleans

Fontainebleau State Park is a nice, big park on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain with 126 campsites. We planned to stay there three nights. Since it was the weekend after Mardi Gras, I didn’t think there would be a problem but, just in case, we got an early start and got there before 11 am. A woman was helping the guy in front of me with his campsite. She took a long time on her computer. When he left, she turned to me and asked if we had a reservation. We didn’t. “I’ll be right with you,” she said and turned her attention to someone in a car that had just driven up to the window. She talked with him a long time and seemed to know him. Finally, when she was finished, she turned to me and said, “We’re full.” She explained that unless there was a cancelation later, nothing was available. I was not pleased to have been waiting 30 minutes for this information, especially since I could be using this time to find another place. Nevertheless, we did find another campground, a bit more expensive and not as scenic, but it had full hookup, and for 3 days, that was nice. 

Later that afternoon we went on a two-hour swamp tour. It was well-done, although there were hordes of people, and we felt we were being herded through a disney ride. The swamp wasn’t particularly unique for us, and we saw only a few animals, but it was interesting to hear the guide talk about local culture, such as hunting gators and crawfish and the homes and fish shacks on the bank. One poor great blue heron was trying his best to swallow a huge, long garfish, but it got away.

The next day we took an interesting tour of Bayou Lacombe gardens 

and walked a trail around a recently burned pine savannah in the Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. The weather was great--sunny in the low 70’s.

After lunch we biked part of the Tammany Trace, a 31-mile bike/walk paved rails-to-trail trail. This fabulous trail passes through residential neighborhoods and patches of “wilderness” and connects to Fontainebleau state park. As usual, David took off and was gone. I tooled along, and when I got to the state park, road around it to see what we were missing. It has a huge lawn with gigantic live oaks. On the massive lake is a small beach, a fishing pier, a fountain and grass where kids were playing sports. There are remains of an old sugar mill in front of the visitor’s center and walking trails. It’s a popular park, and on such a nice day, there were tons of people engaged in various activities. David and I met back at the truck. He had ridden 30 miles. 

On our third day we went to the French Quarter in New Orleans, paid $14 to park for 3.5 hours, walked around and waited too long for a so-so, over-priced lunch. We were amazed at the line to get into the famous Cafe du Monde.

 We had been there 20 years ago and had no desire to stand in line for two hours for a beignet and coffee! Bourbon Street was dirty and lined with strip joints and bars. Loud music blared out of competing restaurant bars. Perhaps at night it’s more appealing. We enjoyed just walking around and looking at buildings, people, statues and street scenes.

 I like the architecture and the street musicians in the French Quarter, but there are too many tourists. We left and went to city park, which is pretty and big. 

There’s an art museum and the Sydney & Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, which has a good selection of sculptures by various sculptors. 
We then went to Chalmette National Battlefield where Andrew Jackson soundly defeated the British in the battle of New Orleans in 1814 and became a hero. The British lost 2,000 men while the Americans lost only 13. Unfortunately the battlefield closed early, so we only had time to watch a video of the battle, but I think David had enough sightseeing for the day.