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.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

GOOD BYE BAY ST. LOUIS, MS

Friday, May 21 – Last day for the beach :-( I'm getting pretty burned so maybe that's a good thing.

Our last beach sunrise.

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Talked to a local fisherman staying here in the park. We asked how the fishing. He said, “We limited out (15 fish) in two hours.” He's fishing for Red Fish but caught all Trout. Nice size too!

Well, we certainly got our entertainment for the day. The weekend campers have landed. WOW! The stuff they set up. Awnings, flags, signs, patio rugs, tents, umbrellas, coolers, fans, lights, the list goes on and on. Three trailers came in together. Party tonight!!! Supposedly the campground is sold out for the weekend.

This is what the campground looked like before the weekenders came.

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After the weekenders come.

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Hit the casino again tonight. Band wasn't very good either and neither were the slots...uck! Oh well, off to New Orleans.

See you in New Orleans!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

ANOTHER DAY AT THE BEACH

Wednesday, May 19 – Computer internet is working pretty slow here at the beach. Last night it became almost impossible to get anything to load. Might have been an issue with the stormy weather in the area????? In the morning it usually works great....evenings not so good. Must have something to do with the high speed EVDO and the number of people using it.

Awoke to a beautiful day, after last evenings thunder storms, 71 degrees but 83% humidity.....skicky! We are spending the day at the beach......maybe?? I'm a little burned and might come back and do some jobs around the MH. Boy, the Gulf water is sure warm. The shores are very gradual when walking into the water. You can be out several hundred yards and the water is only waist deep. We came back to the MH for a little break and some lunch. 87 degrees outside and beautiful. I better wear a shirt the rest on the day.....burny, burny! We returned to the beach and took a long walk then read and enjoyed the HOT SUN for an hour or so. That's enough, I'm medium rare with a charred crust.....LOL Time for a shower and a field trip to town.

Darn Bella almost got away from us today! She did a really weird thing. Marsha unhooked her from her leash to untangle her. As soon as she was unhooked she bolted. She ran up the beach toward the MH. She darted across the street toward the alligator infested grassy area. We both yelled for her...in a panic! Marsha bribed her with the offer of a treat and she stopped in front of the MH. Did she just want to go in the MH or was she going crazy???????? Scary!

We took a drive to Bay St. Louis “downtown” area. It is a very small area and still in a BIG renovation stage. We did see some very nice buildings.

The Courthouse. For some reason, the U’s look like Vs…very strange.

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Our Lady of the Gulf. It is the 5th oldest Catholic Church in Mississippi. It was built in 1847.

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We drove along the beach highway in Waveland, MS. WOW! Kind of sad and depressing. Most of this area is still barren from Katrina. Even the street is gone....now sand!

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Many properties are for sale. I had just said to Marsha...”I wonder what these properties sell for” when we saw THIS SIGN..

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For this…

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It seems most of the rebuilding is through government grants, so the towns getting the most grant money are rebuilding and those not receiving much are struggling.

The houses that have be rebuilt are on HIGH pylons.

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We saw miles of containment buoys and crews of HAZMET personnel checking for oil. The same crews that were “pre-cleaning” the beaches in anticipation of oil coming ashore, were working on the beaches up near Gulfport. They are holding community meetings this Saturday at two area casinos concerning the possibility of oil coming ashore. Hope that doesn't mean this area is in for trouble.

We also saw more frequent fly-overs by helicopters and airplanes. They fly right along the coast...pretty low too! Two swamp style boats have been running up and down the shoreline too. Something is definitely happening!

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“DRILL BABY DRILL”...........yeah right!

Going to visit the other casino in town......Hollywood (Hurray for....). Not much cheering at this casino. We are not big/experienced gamblers, but could easily see the payouts here were not near as frequent or as big as at the Silver Slipper Casino where we are staying. So we said “Goodbye to Hollywood” and headed home early to watch American Idol.

Thursday, May 20 – Marsha is so excited to see “Cowboy” get kicked off Idol last night. She has nicknames for all the contestant on Idol and Dancing With The Stars. She wants “Pussycat” to win on Dancing.

At the beach all morning. A tractor groomed the beach this morning. The sand is like fluffy flour.....looks really nice. Guess they are getting it ready for the weekend crowd. It certainly isn't crowded now. We are almost the only people on the beach!

This panorama shot is taken with our new camera.

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While we were walking, we came across this little critter. Don’t worry…it was dead.

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Checked the batteries in the MH for water. Needed to add about a half gallon. Could be a lot of evaporation going on in this heat!

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