Lafayette, LA

Camped at: Vermilionville Living History Museum - a Harvest Host stop

Dates: Dec. 10, 2021

We haven’t stayed at a Harvest Host since Bristol, TN so we were looking forward to checking out this place as it is always an experience to pull into one of these places. 

LOTS of parking lot parking (nice and level), so no trouble at all finding a spot. This location is known for its Vermilionville Living History Museum. It represents several of the different communities that lived, worked and played in what is known as Acadiana today - the Acadians, the Creoles, the Native Americans and the African descendants of the area. The village has several restored houses and buildings that showcase traditional artifacts and period costume from the years 1765 - 1890. I found it interesting that this was a sugarcane plantation in the 1800s, and 120 individuals were enslaved here. 

While we didn’t do the tour itself as we arrived while it was about to close, we did discover the Acadiana mountain bike trails a few miles from us, and took the opportunity to get out on those for awhile. We also were able to check out the gift shop at the museum, which had a number of great items all made by local Artisans. I was happy to find some really great Christmas cards. 

As it is Friday - and Friday night is always pizza night - we asked for a recommendation from the Museum Host and she steer us to Deano’s, which was excellent and had a nice outdoor patio. Tom and Owen stuck with a traditional meat pizza (Pepperoni and smoked Louisiana sausage) but I went for the Exterminator - smoked sausage, cajun shrimp and jalapeños - quite good! 

We didn’t sleep real well - there were a number of bright lights in the parking lot for security reasons, and being in a different place like this never brings about a great quality of sleep. We left at 8 am, as soon as the gates opened, and headed into Texas. 

New Orleans, LA

Camped at: Fairview Riverside State Park

Dates: Dec. 3 - 10, 2021

We were actually kind of sad to leave Gulf Shores - it left a deep imprint on us for so many reasons. I know we’ll be back there some day, but onward… there is always something new to discover. And discover we did. 

We went from a massive state park to a tiny little one that is really quaint and right on the Tchefuncte River (and no, we still don’t know how to pronounce this correctly). We were back to “roughing it” a bit (no sewer hookups) but had a space quite close to the bathrooms, which was convenient I must say. Also, very clean laundry facilities, which is always a bonus as well. 

There is a boardwalk that goes along the length of the campground area, but it was damaged by Hurricane Ida and hasn’t been repaired yet although it was still sturdy enough to hold us for launching kayaks. Don’t really feel like we tempted fate, but it was probably not the best idea to trust it structurally. Anyway, we set up camp and then tried to decide where we would head out for our Friday night pizza run. Depended on Yelp for this stop, and found ourself at Regenelli’s Pizza. Decent enough, but not a top contender for best pizza IMO.

On Saturday, we headed into the city with plans to spend the day there. We went to Molly’s Rise and Shine for breakfast, recommended to us by a friend of Tom’s. This was a great find - the menu was superb - I had yogurt with homemade granola, and a carrot marmalade with mint and lemon zest. Seriously, one of the best things I’ve eaten on this trip. The interior is a trip back into time, as it is dripping with toys, games and characters from the 50s on up. This was also the very first place on our trip where we were asked for proof of vaccination to remain inside. There is currently a NOLA city wide mandate, and they’re taking it seriously.

Gorgeous day with lots of sun, we decided to park near the French Quarter and head to a number of spots from that location. We received a lot of great suggestions as to what to do in the city from our good friends Don and Lindsi, and proceed to head to the ferry first - an opportunity to get a good close up look at a “working” river and also see NOLA from the water. It was a quick 5 minute ride to Algiers - the other side, where we got off. This area is good for biking and some historical walking around but we didn’t plan to spend too much time here as there was a lot on our agenda already. We walked around a bit, and along the shoreline there was a nondescript, nearly hidden plaque in the sidewalk:

I thought the sign should be elevated more so the historical significance could be seen by more people. So much history but sometimes, it still seems hidden from plain sight. There’s also a nice statue of Louis Armstrong in Algiers as well. We’ve been learning a little bit about him for Art/history lessons this week. He was a bit of a badass growing up and found himself in some trouble, but once he discovered his knack for playing the trumpet, that took him far. 

We took the ferry back and decided to walk around the French Quarter to show Owen that part of town. As we were there in the morning, we were able to walk relatively clean streets before the late afternoon and evening crowd descended upon the area. Found a really cool mask shop that I wanted to get a few masks from - but honestly, where would i wear them? However, it prompted the idea to do a Dia de los Muertos party (the masks for this were SO cool), so we’ll see where I go with that. 

We headed toward Jackson Square, saw all the artists selling their wares, and also decided the line at the original Cafe du Monde was way too long to stand in but we decided to catch a street performance near by. This group of 4 guys pulled together a pretty good crowd for an hour long show. They were street acrobats and had some amazing moves - flips, breakdancing, cajoling the people passing on the street …. their show was based on positive energy mixed in with joking about racism (these were four black guys) and they did a great job of riding that edge, making it inclusive, laughing at themselves and making sure there were lots of positive and inspirational messages for the kids and everyone. It was pretty impressive and well worth the time and the donation!

Afterwards, we headed to the streetcars - public transportation has always been one of Owen’s very favorite things. We rode the streetcar that took us up and around the cemeteries. They’re not open for tours right now, but we were able to get a good look at the above ground coffins and the artistry of all the buildings. After all this time, we were getting hungry so we went to NOLA Poboys in the heart of the French Quarter - poboys, crawfish pie and fries made us all a bit happier. And by then, it was time to retreat back to Bayou country and call it a day.

We spent the next couple of days at the campground, enjoying the sights there. There is another boardwalk called the “Swamp Trail” that is beautiful, and has the perfect area for yoga! I practiced there at least 3 times and it is honestly the most beautiful, peaceful place I’ve done yoga. Loved it. No bugs either, which was hard to believe. We also put the kayaks in here, and went back into an area where the river led to homes on the water, Kind of fun to paddle back in there. No gator sightings but supposedly there’s a 12 footer that lives back there. Side note - we also heard they just wrapped up filming When the Crawdads Sing in this area, so we’ll have to watch for that - it’s a beautiful area with the cypress trees.

Our second visit into New Orleans started with a visit to Cafe du Monde (not the original) near our campsite. They were quite good - fresh out of the hot oil, smothered in powdered sugar. Definitely something I don’t need to get used to. And an order was perfectly made up of 3 beignets - one for each of us.

Our goal today was to see City Park, and learn more about the levee system throughout the city. A cooler day, it was actually nice to be able to walk around. Unfortunately, the botanical gardens were not open but we discovered that the sculpture garden was, and apologies to the Mpls Sculpture Garden, but NOMA’s is amazing. Well over 100 sculptures, we really enjoyed walking around the grounds and this definitely counted as art class! 

In the park, there are a number of massive old live oak trees, including the Dueling Oak, which is where they used to have duels with yes, swords, at this tree. There were actually two trees, but one has since been removed. Also in the park is another Cafe Du Monde, so yes, beignets twice in one day (we did a lot of walking). 

Hopped in the Jeep and drove to the shore of Lake Ponchitrain, in order to start to see some of the levees and the pump structures that surround the city. We went to the place of the London Avenue breach, which is also the site of the outdoor Levee Museum. At this location when Hurricane Katrina hit, the concrete barrier had a 30 foot breach which spilled out massive amounts of water and flooded the neighborhood. There is an outline of yellow bricks, which indicates where the previous house stood - it was lifted clean off its foundation and carried a block into the street. Next door, is the Flooded House Museum. It wasn’t open, but it is the actual house that is there from the flood. You can look into the windows and see how the water lines from the flood damaged the structure. And next door to that, there is a home that is still boarded up and the roof of the garage still had a massive hole in it. We drove around this neighborhood and it is jumble of new construction and homes that still have blue tarps on the roofs and look inhabitable. 

During this time, I was texting with our friends (Don and Lindsi) and they told us about the live webcam that was set up on the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter, and said they were watching it if we wanted to show up. Tom said “Let’s do it!” and as we had a few minutes to spare before our dinner appointment, Tom found us a place to jump out of the car and into the street to get our images (well, mine and Owen’s) captured for eternity:

We met up with one of Tom’s friends at Katie’s restaurant, a great local restaurant with cajun and creole options. While we’ve done a good job of eating at our campsite for most meals, we knew we’d eat out a bit more in New Orleans, because of all the awesome cuisine choices. Tom and I both had the seafood ravioli with eggplant marinara, which was excellent. The most interesting part of this restaurant to us however, was the plaque on the outside of the restaurant building that showed where the Katrina water line was up to. It’s so hard to believe that this kind of thing happened and these places are still standing (of course after much renovation and restoration):

Back to the campsite, which includes a 30 minute drive across Lake Ponchatrain, which is the longest continuous bridge in the world: “The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is the longest bridge in the United States and the longest in the world that runs continuously over water. The causeway consists of two parallel bridges crossing Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louisiana. The longer of the two bridges is almost 24 miles in length. The first of the two bridges was completed in 1956. When traffic on it exceeded capacity, the second was added. Construction was finished, and it was opened to traffic in 1969. 

Awesomeness factor: The causeway has survived many hurricanes over the years, including Hurricane Katrina in 2005. During that major storm, the only damage to the structure was to a few turnarounds.” (Bridgemastersinc.com)

We evaded tornado weather here thankfully, but had a soupy campground for a couple of days. Supposedly when the rains get too much here and threaten flash flooding, the campground is evacuated. One last great find - Abita Roastery in Madisonville. Tom and I headed there for coffee one morning. It’s located on the Tchefuncte River as well, in a cute little town and is a super cozy place to escape the weather. 

We really enjoyed our time here! Not sure when we’ll be back, but am sure we will. There’s still a number of restaurants we need to experience…