Last Monday we pulled up stakes and hit the road toward our new diggs at St. Bernard State Park about 18 miles East of New Orleans. The past few days before departure had been pretty foggy in the AMs, so it didn’t surprise us that Monday was the same. We only had a couple hour drive so there was no hurry to leave…Dennis decided it would be more scenic to take Rt. 90 instead of I-10. Rt 90 runs right next to the Gulf of Mexico and we decided to just saunter along that way. The fog was lifting about 10AM, so we made like a baby and “headed out”..
As it turned out, the fog got considerably worse as we got next to the Gulf! Not to be deterred, I did get a few pictures of the lovely homes along that road…
There were many old homes like the one above “For Sale”…and some had the price out front…One lovely old home was only $135,000..right across from the ocean!..These old homes were built the traditional way, not up on “stilts”. Now, if you build or re-build, the codes say you must put it up on those high water stilts if you are in a flood plain…Most of the people that lost their homes to Katrina just tore them down and moved inland. There were many lots for sale with just a foundation left..and many vacant lots. It would be a beautiful view to live here, but the risk of losing your home too much…I don’t think I could do it either.
Dennis did some white knuckle maneuvering down Rt. 90 in the fog..You couldn’t even see the Gulf right across from us!! And we thought we would be able to relax and enjoy the “Gulf view” on our drive..NOT!!! You couldn’t even see the stop lights ahead..and there were lots of them for quite a while. Poor MacGyver didn’t see anything but hazy taillights through the pea soup ahead of us..
The closer we got to our park area, the more wonderful that bayou became!
There were many MANY old draw bridges..very dilapidated and narrow, on the road winding through the waterways. Taking the Hiker over those bridges was a little unnerving for “moi”! We noticed that here, most of the homes were prepared for flooding..
It’s seems it’s always windy here by the water too!..and EVERYONE owns a boat!! Our road led us out of the bayou and right up to the Mighty Mississippi River, following her South. The levees were right next to our road…
The St. Bernard Port is here along this road…Right is part of our lovely drive toward the little towns of Meraux and Violet. We arrived at St. Bernard State Park about 1PM…
Well….I kind of feel like we are on an island amidst soft, squishy mud. It’s a bit disappointing not being able to get out in our “yard”, but everywhere we put our feet it’s mud. We cannot get to our firepit, and couldn’t sit there anyway, it’s in a mud hole. The pads are blacktop, but are so narrow that when you put the steps out, you put your doormat out on mud..There is no place to go that isn’t a challenge. On our walk, we actually discovered that this place has a water splash park, a nice pavilion and it once had a pool…now closed.
So….I am a bit disappointed, but I do understand that they have had a TON of rain down here!! In fact, our next reservation was for Tickfaw State Park, North of New Orleans..I intended to visit Rosedown Plantation from there…but..those plans were changed for us!..Yesterday we got a call from that park saying it was closing due to flooding…SHEESH!! Den and I scrambled to look for something close, but there isn’t much. We opted for a campground called Clear Springs in the Homochitto National Forest, Mississippi. It isn’t near Rosedown, but it IS only 30 miles from Natchez!! WOOT!WOOT!!!!..Lots of history there!
On the up side, MacGyver and I are going to go into the French Quarter tomorrow. Our 2 days of 80 degree sunny weather ended today..Our high is 50 degrees and going to get to 33 tonight. I think the sun is going to shine tomorrow, though, and it might make it to 56..perfect day for a tour of The Big Easy!!
I need to say that there is one thing I thoroughly enjoy about this park..the swamp and the bayou night noises! It’s a symphony of tree frogs, water frogs and critters I cannot even imagine! Just about sunset the Owls begin their concert and it goes on all night…You know me and birds…can’t get enough of them..Oh…and before we left Shepard State Park, I tracked down a Pileated Woodpecker…
YES!!! I had to haul my arse up on a picnic table to get a closer picture, though..YOU CAN RUN, WOODY, BUT YOU CANNOT HIDE!! ha ha ha ha ha !!
Might want to take your time heading north. The weather guessers are calling for one storm after another. You might get a couple of nice days just long enough to travel into another's path.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
Too bad that fog made for a white knuckle adventure. I always enjoy looking at local real estate and love those old homes. Have fun at the French Quarter and stay out of trouble ;-)
ReplyDeleteClear Springs is a wonderful old campground, with some beautiful sites. A word of caution, though. Keep your beverages "low profile" as the campground is located just inside a "dry" county. Otherwise, I know you'll enjoy your stay in the area. Don't miss Longwood in Natchez.
ReplyDeleteThe houses that haven't been raised might look like a good deal until you try to get insurance on them.
ReplyDeleteQuite the adventures between traveling in dense fog, coping with old bridges, trying to keep out of the mud, and having campground reservations canceled due to flooding. Sounds like a good blog story there somewhere. Driving in heavy fog in a car is bad enough, but in an RV...scary.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy exploring Natchez and watch out for the storms!
Here I thought you'd found the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker... darn!
ReplyDeleteWill you do a portion of the Natchez Trace?
ReplyDeleteJudy...We have done that..it is amazing..Highly recommend it, but camping is few and far between...taken up in a hurry!
ReplyDelete