Life in the city was a lot of fun, but like all good things it must end. We splurged while we were there, staying at a hotel and eating out. We certainly spent more than our daily budget while there, so it was time to move back to the camper.
We had made reservation online for a three night stay at the St. Bernard State Park, not far from New Orleans. The park was so darn sweet, I could have stayed easily stayed longer. It wasn't crowded at all and the sites were spread out in a way that it didn't feel cramped. In fact, our spot had a very big green space attached to it. The only downfall was that the parking space was under some sort of black acorn tree (or would that be oak tree?) and the damn things would drop on the camper creating a very loud sound..almost like someone threw a ball at us. We've experienced these trees throughout our journey. Camping here costs $20/night.
There is a little nature trail here at the campground that we walked. There were a lot of mosquitoes, but we managed ok. Dealing them was worth it when we came across an armadillo. We saw him clearly, but he did his best to hide once he came upon us. We weren't able to get a good picture, but see if you can find him in the larger picture below. If you can't, I've added a smaller picture where I've outlined him (freehand no less :)) which might help you see him. The tail is the most visible piece to me.
While here we took a day trip to explore the delta, going as far as the road would allow. We ended up in Venice, LA. The Delta National Wildlife Refuge is located there, unfortunately you can only get to it with a boat. We did see quite a bit of bird activity.
Did you see the fish that the bird had up in the tree? Pretty cool!
We stopped at Fort Jackson (Civil War), a long forgotten fort that is for the most part a pile of bricks. The fort is surrounded by wire fence so we didn't get to go in. It may be open during the summer, it's hard to know, but even if it is there isn't much to see (researching fort I found out it was hit hard by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which badly damaged and destroyed many of the exhibits and left the site structurally damaged after sitting in water for six weeks). There was a Visitor Center as well which was closed. Of course there were some other things there that we saw including a plaque commemorating the location of the first Mardi Gras across the river from the fort in what was called Bayou Mardi Gras back in 1699. There was also a monument commemorating Cavelier La Salle (1640-1687), a very early explorer of this region. The pictures below show the monument progressively closer. Check out the large ship on the Mississippi and Wilson's ode to the Seinfield episode where he was just itching his nose in the car...No disrespect was intended in the publications of these photos :)
While driving we were seeing signs for Satsuma and Boudin at the little roadside stands. We finally stopped at one to see what they were advertising. A satsuma is a citrus fruit that is sort of like a clementine. The peel is very loose and there are little to no seeds. We bought a few of them along with some Kirby Cucumbers to snack on. The stand we stopped at did not have Boudin, but we were told it was a type of sausage that basically combines sausage with a Cajun rice mixture placed into the sausage casing. We found some while grocery shopping and Wilson grilled it up. It was interesting for sure.
Leave New Orleans - 12:30 pm
Rte. 90E►I10E►39S►46►39S
Arrive St. Bernard State Park 1:20 pm
Miles Traveled - Approx. 40 (I forgot to write it down)
Boudin, Jambalaya, and Etouffe. Yum. Cajun cuisine.
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