New Orleans, Weekenders and Visting with Family

March 6, 2010.

One of the most beautiful sunny days we’ve had this year, with temps in the low 60’s.

My brother and nephew were on a planned turkey hunting expedition, so they weren’t able to spend the day with us.  However, My brother’s lovely wife, Sadie our niece Sophia, and 6 mos. old nephew Santo, picked us up for a trip to New Orleans. 

We started out the day with breakfast at a local restaurant.  The it was off to New Orleans over the 24 mile long Causeway Bridge crossing Lake Pontchartrain the longest bridge in the world.  

We got down to the French Quarter and were shocked at the number of people downtown.  Sadie tried to find a parking space in the public lot by the Mississippi River however, for the first time in her memory it was full and she couldn’t find a space.  We ended up in another very crowded public parking lot.

We started off with the obligatory shopping through the flea market. Downriver from Jackson Square and Artillery Park the historic French Market on Decatur Street dates to 1791 and is the oldest farmer's market in the U.S

We then wandered through many of the streets in the french quarter, taking  a lot of pictures and checking out the shops and crafts.

We walked through Jackson Square. Jackson Square is surrounded by historic buildings; St. Louis Cathedral—the oldest continuously active cathedral in the United States. 

A statue of General Andrew Jackson stands in the center of the square.

Joan Of Arc was holding the New Orleans Saints Flag.  Hmm...I don’t recall seeing her with the flag when I was here a few years ago!   With all the Saints outfits and paraphernalia, you’d think they had won the Super Bowl this year!

Joan of Arc—the "Maid of Orleans"—a the French peasant girl who saw heavenly beings and heard their voices led an army to break the siege of Orleans, changed the tide of The 100 Years' War and bacame a national herione of France. This Joan of Arc statue was presented to the City of New Orleans as a gift from the people of France by President Charles de Gaulle during a state visit in 1959.

We continued our stroll through the French Quarter taking the obligatory French Quarter balcony shots.

Before long we were all tired and hungry again.  So we headed to Cafe Du Monde for some coffee and beignets. 

As usual we had to wait in line.  However, this time the service was particularly bad as we sat for over 30 mins. before we had a waitress clear the table from the previous customers.  Anyhow, it was worth the wait...I guess.  At least that’s what the girls told me!

Afterwards, we went for a walk on the Mississippi River Walk and made our way back to the car.  

This paddle boat was making it’s way down The Mississippi River after having traversed the crest in the river the namesake for the Crescent City.

We made it back to our campsite, where we shared dinner with Sadie and Sophia before they had to call it a night.  We had a great time and appreciated the guided tour by native born Sadie.

March 7, 2010.  We again woke to a beautiful sunny day that quickly warmed to the low 60’s.  We stayed home during the morning hanging out in the sun while being entertained by the weekenders packing up and heading home.  Friday and Saturday this park was full.  Just about every third camper had a fire going.  At night it was foggy and the smoke was hanging thick in the air.  

It was nice to see the weekenders clear out with all their noisy kids, dogs and adults.  I’m sure the air quality will clear up with the weekenders gone!  Perhaps I’m sounding snobbish.  Seriously, I like that the weekenders enjoy camping and taking their kids out to enjoy camping.

It’s just different, when Rv’ing is your lifestyle and not a weekend adventure.  So it’s kinda interesting and fun to watch the weekenders come and go.  There were four families in the sites next to us that were obviously all camping together perhaps as an extended family in separate rvs.  Between them there must have been 8-12 kids aged 5-12 with 4 dogs.  The noise they all created was borderline ridiculous.  But apparently they camp here often.  I was entertained by the fellow in the site next to me attempting to hitch up his fifth wheel while being assisted by two or more of his friends.  He could sure use some practice!

In the afternoon, we went over to Damon and Sadie’s home and enjoyed playing with the kids and grilling out.  We also celebrated Sadie’s mom’s birthday.  We had a great time and look forward to some other activities together throughout the week.

Fontaine Bleu Vistor Center, Tandem Bike Tour via Mandeville and Abita Springs,

March 5, 2010.

The day was sunny and bright in the morning with temps in the 30’s.  It quickly warmed to the high 50’s in the bright sun.  

After walking Maggie and Rico, we decided to take a ride on our Cannondale Road Tandem. Of course by then it was approaching noon!  We started off with a ride through Fontainebleau State Park.  After cruising by Lake Ponchartrain we came across the visitor center which we had overlooked until now. 

Inside, we saw some historical artifacts from the area and learned that Fontainebleau once had an operational sugar mill on the property at the turn of the century.  The mill ruins are just outside of the visitor center.

The crumbling brick ruins of a sugar mill built in 1829 by Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville, founder of the nearby town of Mandeville, suggest an interesting history for this site, and indeed there is. The wealthy Marigny developed this area across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans as a sugar plantation until 1852. The plantation income helped support his lavish lifestyle. He named his large land holding Fontainebleau after the beautiful forest near Paris, a favorite recreation area of the French kings.

Some additional displays on the history of the area and Fontainebleau State Park were found in the visitor’s center.

We spoke for a while with the park ranger in the visitor center.  He told us about a Bald Eagle’s nest and then made arrangements to have a staffer meet us at the site with a scope to see the nest.  The nest was far from the road in a tall pine tree.  Through the scope we were able to see the nest and just make out the eaglet. 

Afterwards, we left the park and went west on the paved Tammany Trace Bike trail, one of the national Rails to Trails projects.  We rode through Mandeville, La and continued into Abita Springs, La.

The trail had some interesting features to include an underpass under La Hwy 190.

Also of interest to me was this section of the trail with a bridge over a water feature, and the trail going under interstate I-12 before approaching construction. I mean how many times do you ride a bike under an interstate!  It was a first for us.  And for my friend, Rocky I was sure to include the cell tower in the photo!

A fair portion of the trail up to this point involved a lot of intersections.

However as the trail turned north there were long spans of uninterrupted trail.  I noted there were signs all over for horse trails intersecting the Trace Trail.

Once we got to Abita Springs, we decided to have a late lunch.  A local resident suggested we go to the Brew Pub.  Inside we split a Muffuletta sandwich a local favorite.

By the time we got back home we had ridden close to 30 miles.  We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the rig. Just another beautiful day in our Rv lifestyle.


We made plans with my sister in law to go to New Orleans tomorrow.  My Brother and nephew Sergio won’t be with us as they had plans before our arrival to go on a turkey hunting trip over the weekend.  So we will continue our visit with them when they get back!

Campsite Change, Lake Pontchartrain and Dinner with Family

March 4, 2010.
The sun was shining brightly and temps were in the upper 30's when we rolled out of bed.  I was on a mission.  As you probably surmised from the previous blog submission, I was not happy with our "premium" $18 site in Fontainebleau State Park.  Aside from slipping and falling in the mud surrounding our rig, I didn't like being sandwiched between rigs with no views.  For me it's all about the views!  I would have been okay with it if we were just spending a night or two, but we are here for a week.

Our "premium" site CI127 which is a very small pull-through site is side by side with its neighbors and surrounded by mud that isn't as evident in these pictures.  50 amps, made this a "premium" site.

I was determined this morning to try and find another site.  I noticed that the perimeter sites in the campground had great views and large lots.  I looked for those sites on the Reserve America site and learned that most are "not available on-line".   Hmm...interesting.  I had my eye on site 130 which was across the road from us.  It was empty and dry except for the back field behind the pad.  I called the ranger station and spoke to a ranger about moving to that "non-premium" 30 amp lot.  I was told over the phone that it was reserved for emergencies!  I explained my displeasure with our site and the mud mote around it.  I told him that yesterday, I had slipped and fallen in the mud.  He wasn't budging but invited me down to the office to see the clerk and check what else was available.


Joyce and I immediately drove to the office about 2 miles away.  I explained to the clerk the aforementioned situation and our displeasure.  She appeared to be new and unaware of what to do.  I told her I was interested in moving to site 30 and told her about the conversation I had with the ranger on the phone.  I suspected the ranger I had spoken with was in the office and I knew he would overhear.  He told her to go ahead and give me the site.  


So the morning was spent moving to our 30 amp non "premium" site.  My mood changed and I felt as bright and sunny as the full sun shining on our new unobstructed site, #130. 

We now have a view of the woods and the swamp water behind our rig.  I noted a lot of deer tracks while hooking up our utilities.

  

We have room to park both of our vehicles.  Maggie and Rico can now be outside without being in the mud.  Now I look forward to our stay!  So, the moral to this story is that I will in the future continue to refrain from making sight unseen reservations!  Especially when there are sites that are "not available online".

The afternoon warmed up to the low 60's and it was beautiful outside.  Joyce went to Walmart and I took a spin around the park on my bike.  I headed to the shore of Lake Pontchartrain.

  

The wind was blowing across the lake from the South and creating waves.  It was chilly in the cold wind off the lake.

I continued my ride around the park and came upon the remodeled/ rebuilt cabins that are for rent in the park, right on Lake Pontchartrain!

Later in the afternoon, my younger brother, Damon stopped by with his three children, Sophia, Sergio and their baby, Santo.  We made plans for dinner and were soon joined by Damon's lovely wife, Sadie at our campsite.  Later that evening we drove to Vera's Seafood Restaurant in Slidell.  We had good company and good food.

As I read back over this blog, I can't help but to consider the frustrations of the last two days, with the tire and campsite.  Those minor frustrations pale in comparison to the frustrations of a full time job or my former career in law enforcement.  How does that saying go?