Driving to New Orleans
The Big Easy has been high on my list of things to see before they are destroyed by climate change (along with the glaciers at Glacier National Park, the Great Barrier Reef, northern California) You can certainly do a lot of walking once you get there, but I’m going to disagree with Mr. Domino (mind if I call you Fats?), and recommend you either fly down or do like we did and drive.
When last we left you, we were in Alabama, so to get to New Orleans we had to cross the state of Mississippi. We don’t have a hard goal of visiting all the states during our RV adventures but we are keeping track, so we stopped in the worst state in the union for a week to cross it off our list.
After an easy drive west on I-10, we arrived at TLC Wolf River Resort in Pass Christian, Mississippi. This was a pretty nice park and only $10 a night with our RPI membership.
Our site was right next to the playground.
There was also a little river in the park.
The park was close to the Gulf, so one afternoon we drove down to a nearby beach. It wasn’t nearly as nice as some of the Florida beaches we’ve been to, but Izzy still enjoyed it.
One day, the lizard that decided to live with us back in Destin, FL appeared on our hanging fruit basket. I managed to take the basket outside without startling him and now he’s a Mississippi resident, likely causing massive ecological havoc. Better than him continuing to live in our RV though.
We got some pretty good rain while we were there, and the park flooded a bit. Izzy loved it because she got to wear her new to her rainboots (thanks Zach!).
Our time in Mississippi was pretty good. It probably wouldn’t come in last on a ranking of states to RV in, if we ever made one. We even found a surprisingly good Thai takeout restaurant not too far from the RV park.
After hitching up the rig, we headed out for another quick drive across I-10, this time to Robert, Louisiana and a Jellystone RV park.
This was another nice RPI park. Izzy and I played some mini golf and took a paddle boat out onto the little lake.
It rained here too, so there were more puddles to splash in.
Just outside the park, I saw a bit of Cajun innovation. How many times have you guys been driving in your car on a hot day, when you start getting thirsty and think to yourself, “I need a cool, refreshing beverage.” But not just any soft drink will do. You need something cold, something frozen, something sweet and fruity, but that will also take the edge off. A daiquiri! But who wants to pop into Applebee’s? Ain’t nobody got time for that! This is America. We demand convenience and absolutely minimal walking. Dear reader, let me tell you that our prayers have been answered. Behold! Also perfect for all those times you feel like your driving is a bit too good.
Of course, while in the area, we had to visit New Orleans. We made the drive to the city, and then down to the French Quarter. Now the Vieux Carré was built in the early 1700s, and unfortunately, the city designers didn’t have the foresight to anticipate the 2019 Ford F-350 Super Duty, crew cab, long bed pickup and its poor turning radius. So the streets were tight. But we managed to navigate our way to a parking lot right outside Jackson Square and find a spot.
Visiting New Orleans during the day with a 4-year-old isn’t going to be the most exciting visit, but you play the hand you’re dealt. Our first order of business was to get some beignets. Café Du Monde was our first choice, but lines were too long. We walked a short ways to the rival Café Beignet where we waited in a slightly shorter line and eventually got our beignets as well as some lunch.
The food was pretty good, and the beignets were fantastic. I don’t know why you can’t get these things at any restaurant with a fryer.
After lunch, we hit the streets and started walking. We saw a few street corner bands, some of them very good, but Izzy thought they were all too loud. We browsed through a quaint little art shop and offered to buy Izzy a print to hang in her room. She couldn’t settle on anything, so we left emptyhanded. Izzy then complained about her lack of art for the rest of our time in the city.
Charlotte and I were enjoying just wandering the streets, checking out the interesting shops and restaurants, live music, weird people, and old architecture, but that’s not Izzy’s idea of a good time. So we walked into a more residential area and found a neighborhood playground.
She had a good time running around, attempting to hang from the monkey bars, and even found some kids to play with.
After recharging at the playground, we did some more wandering, eventually ending up back at Jackson Square, where Izzy insisted on running around some more.
We then picked up some pralines (overrated, especially compared to beignets) and headed out. This time we took the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (because it’s free to drive in this direction), which claims to be the world’s longest bridge over a body of water. The world’s longest bridge is over four times longer, but apparently it goes over some dry land which we all know is pretty lame for a bridge. The drive was pretty odd. When the other side of the lake finally came into view we thought we had basically crossed the whole thing, but then had to keep driving for another 15 minutes before finally reaching the end.
We then found a cool little restaurant that had a fenced in backyard with some toys and equipment for kids to play with. Izzy was able to run around and even found another girl about her age to play with.
The food and drinks were good, but they didn’t have chicken tenders on the menu for Izzy. They did have fried catfish strips though and we learned that Izzy would eat those if we still called it chicken.
With our time in southern Louisiana over, we said goodbye to the Gulf of Mexico and headed north. Our next stop was Poverty Point Reservoir State Park in northern Louisana.
We haven’t stayed at too many state parks. This was just number two for us, after Topsail in Florida. Many state parks were built back when RVs weren’t so big, or don’t have full hookups, so they don’t work well for us. But Poverty Point is pretty new and has a very nice modern RV section. Since we were there over Easter, we dyed some eggs and hid them (several times) for Izzy to find.
The park even had a splash pad. And although it was too early in the season to be open, temperatures were hot, and one of the employees was nice enough to turn it on so Izzy could play.
We also visited the nearby Poverty Point State Historic Site, which is a US National Monument and a UNSECO World Heritage Site. This site showcases large ancient earthworks built nearly 3000 years ago by indigenous people that we know very little about. There was a surprisingly large city of thousands of people who lived here and built the mounds. They had an extensive trade network as evidenced by artifacts discovered here with origins from all over North America.
We toured a small museum, and then walked through and climbed some of the mounds.
Wrapping your mind around the significance of this ancient stone age site and giant earthwork, which was the largest earthwork in North America until the modern era, is difficult, even for an adult, but Izzy did a great job of staying engaged. And since this site is run by the National Park Service, they had a Junior Ranger program and she was able to earn a badge.
That’ll do it for our adventure in Mississippi and Louisiana. See you down the road!