Apr 8 - 13, 1999 Last updated: 4/11/02 1:30pm CT
April 8, 1999 through April 13, 1999 we went to Louisiana to visit my Aunt and Uncle (Sue & Ed).
This trip was a dream full of food! We didn’t have a bad meal on the whole trip. In fact, the food was so good, we didn’t even have an average meal, everything tasted great. Our first real taste of hot and spicy was at a place called Friends (not sure where exactly, but north of Lake Pontchartrain). We had a platter of boiled crawfish. Here’s some eating advice, try not to let the buggers touch your lips. Try to pop them into your mouth after you peel them, that way only your tongue will burn! The spice was really intense. We also had the deep-fried pickles (thin slices of pickles that were breaded and fried). Another great meal was at Jacmel Inn in Hammond. One night we also ate at NOLA, one of Emeril Lagasse’s restaurants in the French Quarter. Normally you need reservations there, which we found out must be made months in advance, but they have a couple of tables reserved for walk-ins. Just make sure you get there early (we got there about a half hour before they opened and got one of these tables). The food was fantastic, but we did not see the King of Bam anywhere. We also did brunch at Brennon’s, which is the place where Banana’s Foster was created.
One of the first things we did in Louisiana was visit the Global Wildlife Center – 900 acres of rolling hills and 12 ponds and a lake. This is a free-range wildlife park where you take a tractor pulled wagon tour to see and feed the animals, which include bison, eland, giraffe, wildebeest and many more.
We also visited the Aquarium of the Americas on the banks of the Mississippi River near the French Quarter. This aquarium has the largest collection of jellyfish on display in the country.
We did a lot of walking around the French Quarter seeing things like Bourbon Street, the French Market and Jackson Square. We also rode the St. Charles Avenue streetcar through the Garden District (fancy older homes). I can’t believe it, but I can’t find any pictures of this. We had plenty of time to take pictures. We were on the streetcars for a long time as there was an automobile accident blocking the tracks (the tracks run down the median of the street).
We went on a swamp tour with Honey Island Swamp Tours in Slidell. Wear a lot of sunscreen. They threw marshmallows out to the gators to get them to come out. Doesn’t seem very healthy.
The frog was on Denise’s hand. The pig was on some homeowner’s property. The third picture is the swamp.
One afternoon we drove north to Tangipahoa to the Camp Moore Confederate Museum & Cemetery. Again, I can’t find any pictures, but this museum has many Confederate artifacts from the Civil War, along with a cemetery with Confederate soldiers. If I remember right, one of the people working at the museum was the Great-Grandson of one of the soldiers, which just makes me realize that the Civil War was not that long ago.
One day we drove to the Gulf of Mexico. You might think that New Orleans is on the Gulf, but it’s not, it is on the Mississippi River. It was quite a lengthy drive to Grand Isle State Park (3 hours). The beach was empty, but there were some nice covered picnic tables. We had packed a picnic lunch (a muffaletta, which is like a sub sandwich the size and shape of a pizza). Here we are in front of the Gulf of Mexico, using the picnic table to hold the camera. The second picture is either some land based weapons from Star Wars or a few oil rigs out in the water. Finally some action photos of the pelicans.
Our last day, we went to Oak Alley Plantation – built 1837-39 by Jacques T. Roman. It is famous for its alley of 28 evenly spaced live oak trees, believed to be at least 100 years older than the house. The story goes that Jacques Roman found the trees all lined up and built a house at one end of the alley.
