Grand Isle, Louisiana

The state park in Grand Isle is the perfect place to unwind after New Orleans. Grand Isle isn't on the way to anywhere. There's one road in and one road out. It's a spit of land at the southern end of the Mississippi Delta and it's only a few feet above sea level.
And speaking of the road in, it's 25 plus miles of elevated highway ( 20 feet above the bayou), complete with intersections and traffic lights. A road network in the sky.

Shrimp fishing and oil are the main industries here. From the beach you can see at least a dozen oil platforms out in the gulf. Helicopters routinely ferry crews back and forth and oil rig supply ships equal the number of shrimp trawlers off shore. BTW fresh shrimp are about $4/lb.

Wildlife is abundant. Pelicans, Egrets (some are pink), Black Skimmers and numerous others.


Pelicans (apparently well acquainted)

Black Skimmer (I can't take credit for the pic, found it on the web).

And dolphins just a few feet from the beach.

This guy obviously escaped from Marineland, quite the show off.

This shark had washed up on the beach. Even small (about 3 feet), and dead, they look menacing.

And now another animal story. 
Darlene was on Facebook today, and saw that someone had found a calico cat in Mill Village, which is about 10 kms from our home. She recalled that one of our neighbours, Patricia, has a very similar looking calico cat, that liked to wander. 
So, not having Patricia's phone number Darlene called Elizabeth, another neighbour. Elizabeth called Patricia and left a message saying "Darlene called from Louisiana and she thinks she may have found your cat!" 
Not only does news travel fast but apparently cats do too. I'm not making this stuff up, honestly.

Tomorrow a rainy drive to Lake Charles LA, and then on to Galveston.

'Nawlins

We skipped New Orleans 2 years ago when we were staying about 40 miles to the north. I  thought it would be unwise to drive an hour into the city and then have to drive back, after doing what they do best here, day and night.
But the park we're staying at now has a shuttle!
It's only a few minutes the the French Quarter... and man, we have been using it!

So, first night. We made a beeline for Pat O'Briens for a Hurricane. Loaded with fruit juices and vitamins! Yum, and sooo good for you.

This is how it's made, (you can try this at home...)

2 ounces white rum.
2 ounces dark rum.
2 ounces passion fruit juice.
1 ounce orange juice.
1/2 ounce grenadine.
1/2 ounce simple syrup.
1/2 medium lime, juiced.
slice of orange and maraschino cherry, for garnish.


And the music!  

This was the "big finish" of a tune featuring what appears to be an electric saxophone. Our favorite place, BB King's Blues Club. This is the kind of talent that makes this place so special.

And there's a new kid in town. Bourbon Street has traditionally been party central in the French Quarter. A mile of bars, restaurants and various other types of "entertainment".

We learned of a newer, trendier, grittier (if that's even possible) area called Frenchman's Street.
It's at the north-east end of the French Quarter.
Apparently, that's where the locals go. So we, being "local" (for a few days anyway),  had to check it out. Not crazy like Bourbon Street but still lots of bars and no shortage of great music.

Frenchman's Street

And some of the music on Frenchman's Street

A band on the street, I've never heard anyone play a clarinet like that!

And buskers. This guy gets marks for originality.

Coffee and biegnets at Cafe du Monde. A hearty breakfast for two, equal parts of biegnet and icing sugar. I believe "Biegnet" is french for "donut without a hole". They're served warm, right out of the fryer.

Tomorrow is the start of the 3 day "Pardi Gras. Not sure what it's all about but they say it's a "Pardi" and it seems like a good time to get in shape for the BIG party in a few weeks. We won't be here for Mardi Gras, but we'll be glad to participate in the warm up party. 

Goodbye St. George Island, Hello Redneck Riviera

Even after 2 weeks on the island we still haven't had enough. The weather has been amazing (in comparison to 2 years ago when it went below freezing almost every night). But, there is a 14 day maximum stay here, and it's time to let someone else enjoy this amazing place. 

On the typical day here, I would take my chair and umbrella on the bike in the morning and head to the beach, only a few minutes away. Darlene would join me later with the car, bringing snacks and a cold beer. Life's a beach! I have read more books already than I usually read in a year. The e-bike is approaching 300 kms on the odometer, most of it done here.

Next stop is Big Lagoon State Park, still in Florida but only a few miles from the Alabama state line and Gulf Shores, otherwise known as The Redneck Riviera. Yeee-haaa!

And that reminds me of a Redneck joke:
What are a Redneck's famous last words?
"That weren't nuthin', hold my beer and watch this!"

I had to find another cell phone service provider.
The Roam Mobility service I had signed up for before we left was pretty much useless. The new service is with AT&T and I'll never go elsewhere, their coverage is the best, unlimited everything  and at one third the cost.
I guess my new number is quite similar to a local "entrepreneur". The first night I got a text  ....."can I buy 2g from you". I screen captured the very short conversation. kinda funny. (phone # clipped to protect the guilty)

I'll bet Massiah's friend is still looking over his shoulder....he he.

Next night another potential customer. Damn, this is starting to look like a business opportunity.

Translations welcome, I haven't a clue what "finna get off tm" means.

Big Lagoon State Park was a nice quiet place. It has a couple of small beaches but we'll remember it for it's outstanding trails for hiking and biking. 

 

It looks like we're in for a change in the weather for the next few days. Still warm but lots of severe weather warnings.


Next week.....New Orleans!

St George Island Week 2

The night before New Years Eve was "practice night" at Paddy's. There had to be over 200 people in a place that seats maybe 80. New Year's Eve will undoubtedly top that.


St. George Island stretches out toward the east for about 8 km's beyond the park campground. There used to be a road for hikers and bikes going all the way to the end but Hurricane Michael tore that up and covered a lot of it with sand, so that area is now closed. The beach however, is not closed. I had been wanting to ride to the end since we got here. Yesterday I did it, a 16 km round trip, all on the beach, it was magical. 
Here's a short video. Best viewed in Big Screen, (button bottom right).

A short walk takes you to the bay side of the island. Here you can find oysters clinging to just about any structure, even old tree trunks. So with  the help of my Swiss Army knife, we had lunch. Ahhh, livin' off the land. Next time we'll remember to bring the hot sauce.

Tara greeting a relative with complete disinterest. He's a big boy for a sheltie.

Photo bombed on NYE. This was our NYE selfie.
In retaliation for my bombing her NYE selfie, she returned the favour. Don't know who she is but she is pretty good at it. It was a great party, Paddy's of course.

St George Island, for 2 weeks!

After St. Augustine we spent a few days in north central Florida at O'Leno State Park. The park has a great trail system. This part of Florida has all the springs, Ginnie Springs, High  Springs, etc. The Santa Fe River actually goes underground (called river sink) in the park and then resurfaces 3.5 miles  away (river rise).
This is where it comes back to the surface.

The trail to this spot was about 9 kms through forest, bush, swamp, jungle. I did it on the bike but took the roads back to the campsite, it was a rough trail.

The next stop is St. George Island State Park.
It's one of our favourite destinations with a beach that tops them all. The park is on a long spit of sand well out into the gulf.
It was hit hard by Hurricane Michael in 2018, the same storm that leveled the town of Mexico Beach nearby. The park just reopened last summer. There used to be 20' dunes between the road and the water but they're all gone now.
It makes for a great view, but little protection now, from the next storm.

The island is also home to Paddy's Raw Bar (the sunny place for shady people). We spent a lot of time here on the last trip and we probably will again this time. We went there for Christmas Eve and will be there again for New Years. 

Christmas day we spent sitting next to what could be mistaken for a snow drift, except the temperature was in the low 20's.
That's a Blue Heron just left of the umbrella.

Here is a picture of some wildlife. This pond is at the entrance to the campground. Either the heron likes to live life on the edge, or he didn't get the memo......

We will be exploring a few nearby towns, probably next week when it's supposed to cool off a bit. 

BTW for those who have been unable to comment I changed some settings and comments "should" work now. 

Jacksonville and St. Augustine

Fort Clinch State Park

Near Jacksonville, this park is situated near the fort and also happens to be on several miles of pristine beach. The fort was built in 1847, no battles were ever fought here, which probably explains why it is in such great condition.
At least a dozen 10 inch guns are mounted on the ramparts. These guns are huge! 
A 10" cannonball would weigh 128 lbs.

The favorite beach activity here is looking for shark's teeth. If you're good at it you can find quite a few in a day. I tried for hours, found none.  A very gracious young lady took pity on me and gave me 3 she had found. She has been finding them here since she was three.
They are usually black because they have fossilized. It takes about 10,000 years for them to do this, so the black ones are at least that old.

Anastasia Island State Park, St. Augustine.

We could only get 3 days here, its a very popular place. Once again an incredible beach...

and only minutes from St Augustine's "Nights of Lights", Christmas extravaganza.

View of the Historical Section from the bridge.
Traffic was stopped on the bridge so I hopped out and took this picture.

The lights in town.

It was 28C here yesterday, today 14C.
Tomorrow we head west, to O'Leno State Park in north central Florida. No beach.......but its supposed to warm up again.

My next post will probably be from St. George Island, one of our all time favorites. We'll be spending Christmas and New Year's there.

Savannah

We've been here for a week, at Skidaway Island State Park. Skidaway has a great natural setting with large sites, huge oak trees and Spanish moss everywhere.
This is the road into the park. A short clip.

As seafood restaurants go, The Crab Shack on Tybee Island, is legendary. Every table has a hole in the center into which you toss the shells. And we had every intention of going there for dinner, until we found this....so we dined in instead.

Savannah also has another great attraction to get you in the spirit of Christmas. The Coastal Botanical Gardens hosts a Christmas lights show that defies description.

Here are a couple of pictures. There were acres and acres of this.

As for wildlife, this guy was often hanging around, not the least bit shy.

There are lots of trails in the park too. This one ended up by a small beach on a bayou. Nope, I didn't see any gators, and that's just fine with me.

And on the subject of Gators, we had some for lunch a few days ago. "Gator Bites", small chunks breaded and fried. Tastes like a combination of fish and chicken.

We are off to Jacksonville next.