Sunday, May 23, 2010

NEW ORLEANS, MS

Saturday, May 22 – The drive to Bayou Segnette State Park, New Orleans, LA had lots of scenery. Of course, 75% of the drive was over the marsh lands.

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This is a wonderful state park. We stay for half-price with my America the Beautiful Senior Pass (one of the few good reasons to be 62). We are in site #68. Along with the discount, we also get free admission into one of the LA State Historical Sights (at least a $30 value), free laundry, free WiFI, free TV..loving it! We're practically staying free. $54 for 5 days minus the free admission....about $24.....WOW!

You can see by the pictures below how much room we have. Bella is loving this site. They even have a place to put up our bird feeder.

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Our first stop was the fish market. I've been hungry for shrimp ever since we came to the Gulf area.

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We stopped in at Market Wego. We told the owners that we really enjoyed their place, and we were going to put them on our blog. They said they were in the process of making a website and would we please put their address up…sure! So it is 100 Westbank Exp. Westwego, LA 70094. If you are in the area, this is one of the places that has great food.

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What a neat place. They had EVERYTHING imaginable…as far as seafood goes. The market had crawfish, crab, oysters, shrimp (four sizes) and cat fish. All fresh off the boat. Even bonelss stuff chicken with cornbread and crabmeat…YUM.

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So we got the shrimp plate with fried Orca and French fries. We shared the plate and it was all we could eat....fresh and soooooo good. We don’t normally eat fried food or take pictures of our food, but this was so good.

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We then drove into New Orleans. Nice to drive around the city with little traffic.

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We visited St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. a historical grave yard. Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1 is located at the corner of St. Louis Street and Basin Street in New Orleans, Louisiana (Orleans Parish). St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was founded in 1789, and it is the oldest cemetery in New Orleans. The above-ground tombs in the cemeteries of New Orleans are often referred to as "cities of the dead." The rows of tombs resemble streets. New Orleans burial plots quickly became known as "Cites of the Dead." Burial is above ground because in New Orleans because the water table is high. There are two we wanted to see but just about the time we were finishing walking through the first we heard the watchman announcing the cemetery is closing. The other had already closed, so we'll go back another day.

Here is a question for you -- how can you bury more than one family member in each vault? How can a tomb hold all of those coffins? According to a local ordinance, as long as the previously deceased family member has been dead for at least two years, the remains of that person is moved to a specially made burial bag and put to the side or back of the vault. That coffin is then destroyed and the vault is now ready for the newly deceased family member. What happens if a family member dies within that two year time restriction? Generally, local cemeteries are equipped with temporary holding vaults and the newly deceased family member is moved into their final resting place when the time restriction is met.

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This were the Italian immigrates were buried. In other words, Marsha’s family on her mom’s side would be buried here…LOL.

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We drove past Tulane University. Jeesh....glad our girls didn't go to this school. Right smack in the middle of downtown....not a very nice area either.

We then drove along River Road which runs along the Mississippi River. Unfortunately, you couldn't see the river because of the levy. We're below the waterline! A paved bike bath runs along the top of the levy. We may ride there later in the week.

We walked up to the top of the levy. The Mighty Mississippi.

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After returning to the campground, Marsha took Bella for a walk. First grassy area, with trees, and all kinds of good animal smells, that she's been in for quite a while. She loves it!

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We spent the rest of the evening planning our visit to New Orleans.

Thanks for stopping by. Y’all come back again.