US Trip Part 22 March 10 to March 20

Day 209  Saturday March 10
We went into the French Quarter of New Orleans today.  After parking we took the trolley along the water front to the French Market.

We walked through the French Market and then strolled around some of the streets looking at stuff.. We watch a lady and her band, tiny daughter on drums, and they were fun and good. We went into a store and got some peanuts and sodas and wandered around some more.  We went to lunch and had some crayfish.  What a place-crayfish and jazz. After lunch we wandered some more listening to a young group of black kids playing by the cathedral.  We went walking again, saw a antique shop and walked in.  Wow.  This place was amazing.  They had jewelry, dishes, and paintings and it was extremely expensive.  Paintings ranged from $50,000 to $3.6 million.  Jewelry is in the many thousands of dollars.  Everything  was exquisite and we were flabbergasted and amazed at the quality of the pieces.  We then went to world famous Café du Monde and got some beignets (French donuts) to go and found a nice bench to sit and eat and watch the people.  We wandered a bit more and took the trolley back to the parking garage.  Getting back the few miles back to the freeway took a very long time.  Lots of traffic and a parade slowed things down.  Very fun day.

Day 210 Sunday March 11
We went to Bayou Sauvage wildlife refuge this morning after a leisurely morning.  Not much there except lizards. Two different kinds, one a chameleon like lizard that changed from green to brown and a different brown lizard. Went to a different area and saw a few egrets and coots and a snake.  As we were getting ready to leave two families arrived with 4 adults and 9 kids.  They were there to snag (legal) gar fish which they had done several weeks ago and gotten some up to 5 feet.  Well, today, the biggest we saw was about two feet long and they threw it back.  There kids were a hand full.  After watching for a while we left and went grocery shopping for a few items.

Day 211 Monday March 12
Easy relaxing day.  Thunder storms and rain most of the day.   Went to a credit union ATM to get some more cash.

Day 212 Tuesday March 13
We left Slidell, LA and headed  East on I-10 to I-12 West.  At I-55 we headed North to highway 84 West to Natchez, Mississippi.  Crossing over the Mississippi R. into Vidalia, LA we went South a short distance to River View RV park taking spot 109 facing the Mississippi R.  After setting up we drove into Natchez and stopped by the visitor center and picked up tickets for the mansion tour and a vocal history of blacks  in the town by a black Catholic Church choir.  We then drove around the historic down town looking at some of the old houses and churches. 

Day 213 Wednesday March 14
Today we visited three mansions.  The first was Governor Holmes house which was originally built in 1794 when Natchez was under Spanish rule.  Holmes became first governor of the Mississippi territory. The current owner and some friends dressed in antebellum costumes  , portraying friends of the governor., talked about the house as we walked through.  One person was Andrew Jackson and another was Audubon. It was very nice.  The second house called the Hawthorne house was built in 1813 was also very interesting with period costumes and some original furniture.   The third house was called Elm Court built in 1814.  It too was fun to go through but no pictures inside .  All the houses have had additions to the original structure and of course now have electricity, plumbing and air-conditioning.  After lunch at a local eatery with nice BBQ,  we then went to the Johnson house who was a freed slave before the Civil War and did very well financially in Natchez.   After that we went to the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians. There is a small museum and three dirt  mounds, on top of  which is were the kings, called “Sons” lived.  When the king died, his family and staff were killed and all were burned in the house.  New dirt was put down and a house built for the new king.   There are many of these mounds in the Mississippi valley.  It got hot and humid in the afternoon.  Whew!!!

Day 214 Thursday March 15

We went to the St. Catherine Creek wildlife refuge.  Most of it was flooded because of the high water of the Mississippi.  We drove to one lake area and saw maybe a thousand white pelicans.  Very impressive.  Also saw cardinals, sparrows, and jays.  The exotic buntings were not here yet.  We left there and drove ten miles on the Natchez Trace Parkway which was a native trail from Natchez to the Nashville area.  You can still see a lot of the original path.  At ten miles was Emerald mound made by natives and used as a ceremonial center   from about 800 to 1400 AD and it covered 8 acres .  After dinner we went to a choir performance at the African American Roman Catholic Church in Natchez,  the first black Catholic Church in Mississippi.  They gave a history of blacks from first arrival to the present day with songs. Judy wanted to hear black gospel music and this show was good and fun. Natchez was the site of the second largest slave market in the south. 

Day 215 Friday March 16
We left Natchez and headed South on 61 to Baton Rouge and then West on I-10. We stopped for the night at Frog Pond RV park just West of Lafayette, LA.  We got spot 3.  Today was hot and humid.  I got a cold and was not feeling well.

Day 216 Saturday March 17  Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Not feeling well still so spent the day sleeping and relaxing.  Did laundry.

Day 217 Sunday March 18
I am still under the weather with a cold so we just stayed put for the day.  

Day 218 Monday March 19
Ditto.  Big storm to the West so we decided to spend one more day recovering.  So far Judy has not gotten my cold.

Day 219 Tuesday March 20
Today we went to Avery Island, a salt dome six miles wide and eight miles deep, Southeast of Lafayette, which is the home of Tabasco hot sauce. They had a very nice tour showing how Tabasco sauce is made. It takes three years.  The peppers are picked, smashed, mixed with salt, and then put into old whiskey barrels to ferment for three years.  Then mixed with vinegar for a month and bottled.  The plant puts out about 700,000 bottles a day.  Unfortunately,  there were a bunch of school buses filled with small kids taking the tours too.  Whew.  We then went to the Jungle Gardens, a 150 acre park built by the founders of Tabasco,  Very pretty.  There is a Buddha statue there made in 1100 ad for the emperor of China. They have built a refuge for white egrets since they were being hunted to extinction at the time.
It is very windy today and expecting heavy thunder storms and rain overnight.

US Trip Part 21 March 1 - March 9

Day 200 Thursday March 1
We left Hawaiian Isles RV park and headed North on I-75.  Stopped for lunch at a rest stop.  We spent the night at Casey Jones RV park at exit 423, near Lake City,  taking spot 57.  Huge RV spots. 
Drove 191 miles today.

Day 201 Friday March 2
We took our time getting ready to leave the park.  We drove North on I-75 into Georgia taking exit 18.  We spent the night at River Park RV park.  After lunch we went to visit a shirttail relative Charles and had a very nice visit Had chili for dinner.  After dinner Judy went to TJ Max just over the freeway.
Drove 67 miles today.

Day 202 Saturday March 3
Well today was exciting and sometimes a little scary.  We were under a tornado watch for much of the day.  There were tornado warning to the southwest and north and north east of where we were staying.  We are at exit 18 and tornadoes were spotted by the weather service between exits 22 and 29.  We did not have much wind during the day but lots of rain.  There was an inch in about an hour and then got 3.4 inches over night.

Day 203 Sunday March 4
We went to the Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge by going to the West side and  a nice paved road into the Steven C. Foster state park.  The ditches along the road were fill with water from yesterday’s rain.  When we entered the park, the rangers were removing a group of trees that had fallen across the road. We went to sign up for the 1 pm ranger led boat trip but because of the wind and falling trees, they cancelled all trips and boat rentals.  It was very windy today and temperature was in the low 60‘s..  We went on the nature walk and found part of the elevated wood loop trail was destroyed by a fire that started last April.  The ranger said they think it is out now.  There were alligators there but no wading birds.  Still in Southern Florida I guess.  I was here in 1975 and all that there was a dirt road from Fargo into the park and a small boat launch.   On the way home Judy wanted to stop at a house built in 1898 by a US senator in downtown Valdosta.  It had thirteen columns representing the original 13 colonies. 

Day 204 Monday March 5
We left Valdosta and went to I-75 exit 18 and drove South to exit 16 and took 84 West to the town of Quitman.  There we went South on 221 to I-10 West.   We drove to exit 85, the city of DeFuniak Springs, and went North a ways to Sunset King’s Lake RV Resort.  Before dinner we walked down to the lake which is down about 3 feet due to the draught.   The humidity was 26%, the lowest we have had for a while and the afternoon temperature was 75 degrees.  Ahhhaaaa!   There was some strong gusty headwinds most of the day.
Drove 215 miles

Day 205 Tuesday March 6
We went to the Gulf beach today.  Went South on 331 to Grayton Beach state park. It was different here than down by Tampa in that there were sand dunes which we had to stay off of.  Bright white sand, very few shells.  We walked the beach and sat for awhile. Then ate lunch in a nice picnic shelter overlooking a fresh water lake. We left there and went West to the city of Destin where we went to a city beach and watch life guards practicing while sitting on the beach.  Then we continued West to highway 85 and headed North to I-10 and back home.  Most of the drive along the beach was crowded with expensive homes, high rises and lots of businesses. Made spicy Mexican soup for dinner.

Day 206 Wednesday March 7
Left  Florida heading West on I-10.  Stopped at the Alabama visitors center and the lady convinced us to spend some time here.  So we got off the freeway at Exit 53 and drove about 0.8 miles to  Hilltop RV park taking spot 2.  We made lunch then headed South to the beach.  Really windy, red flag warnings so no swimming allowed, but fun to eat and watch the surf and the few people playing on the sand.  We left there and headed to the Bon Secour wildlife refuge.  No birds because of the wind but a very nice mile loop hike. We drove to the headquarters to get more info and the man directed us to another hiking spot.  There was a horned owl’s nest and an osprey nest by the edge of a lake.  Came home and had rest of soup and a salad for dinner.
Drove 110 miles today.

Day 207 Thursday March 8
We left Alabama and headed West again stopping at visitors centers in Mississippi and Louisiana.   We decided to go into Louisiana and stay there for a while.  We stopped for the night off exit 263 on I-10 at :Pine Crest RV park taking spot 8.   Very hot and humid today and we had rain showers after dinner.
Drove 143 miles.

Day 208 Friday March 9
We were going to go into New Orleans today but the weather was not suppose to be good for walking around so we decided to go bird watching.  We drove to the Southeast Louisiana regional wildlife refuge headquarters on the Northeast side of Lake Pontchartrain to check out access to local refuges.  We went to Big Branch Marsh NWR and did a board walk trip.  Not many birds or critters but we did see some cardinals and a couple of egrets.  Light rain and some wind but ok to walk.  We then headed South of I-10 to see some of the flat lands Southeast of New Orleans.  You can still see some of the Katrina devastation.