Louisiana (by Walden)

Sunset over Lake Pontchartrain

Mommy and Daddy had never been to a place called New Orleans and always wanted to see it. They decided we should camp at a state park north of Lake Pontchartrain called Fountainebleau. It used to be big sugar cane plantation, and there will still some old brick ruins. We tried to go to their visitor center but it had gotten destroyed in a hurricane so we could only talk to the park man in a little trailer who had built and saved the exhibits before the storm hit. There was supposed to be a water play area and new playground but those were closed too. We found the old playground and I had fun playing on the big oak trees.

The next day, I wanted to keep playing on the playground, but Mommy and Daddy said we should go to New Orleans. We drove on a long long bridge across Lake Pontchartrain; according to Daddy, it is the longest bridge in the world at 23.8 miles. We found a place to park and Mommy and Daddy loaded me up in the stroller. As soon as we started walking into the French Quarter I asked, “Why is there so much crazy here?” There were lights and signs and buildings and cars everywhere. I smelled flowers and food and garbage. I heard lots of different kinds of music that people were playing on the sidewalk. Mommy and I danced to the crazy fun jazz music. We had a picnic lunch by a big river and I saw a train, airplane, barge, and paddlewheel boat at the same time! The loud horn on the paddlewheel boat made me jump. I saw horses with flowers on their heads pulling carriages of people. There was a man painted silver who I thought was a statue… then he moved and I got scared but I didn’t want to stop watching him. People gave him money and took their picture with him. We went into visitor centers, museums, a big old cathedral, and walked and walked along the narrow streets. The houses and buildings were so colorful, with neat balcony gates and flowers. I behaved so well that Daddy and I got a treat – a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone, yum!

Riding a streetcar

The next day we went to a different part of New Orleans and walked in an old cemetery. All the graves were cement boxes above the ground. I tried but could not see any dead people. The best part of the day was riding on a streetcar that runs with electricity on wires in the sky. Mommy and Daddy said that I could get my arm chopped off if I stuck it out the window, but every time the car stopped I put my arm out and waved to people on the street. Daddy had fun in the city but was a little disappointed we couldn’t eat more of the special food they have there (he’s still carving something called a Po’boy). There aren’t many restaurants that have food Mommy can eat so we always bring picnics for lunch and have supper at the Burro. Mommy’s favorite part of the city was seeing and hearing all the different street musicians.

Click here to view our photo album from New Orleans.

We wondered if alligators could climb onto boardwalks

After New Orleans, we drove west and took a scenic drive along the Gulf of Mexico on a byway called the Creole Nature Trail. There were lots of marshes and all the houses (mostly trailers) were way up high on poles. It didn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen in Wisconsin. Eventually we got to Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. It had really cool (and scary) robot people that told about the area when you pushed a button. There were sooo many birds and alligators there including pink roseate spoonbills that move their long flat beaks back and forth in the water to eat. We spent the rest of the day driving through some other wildlife areas to look at birds, turtles, muskrats, and alligators. I’m glad I have my own binoculars so I can see stuff too. Sometimes I use them when we drive down the highway to tell Daddy when signs are coming. I’m learning to read the numbers on the speed limit signs. Did you know that if you look through the big end of the binoculars things look really little? That’s fun too.

Sunset on Holly Beach

That night we drove the car and Burro right onto a beach called Holly Beach and parked it. Mommy and Daddy were excited because it was free and they said it would be a really memorable experience. It was memorable all right! The wind blew so hard that night it picked up the sand and hurt your face if you went outside. There were some noisy boys who banged on the outside of the Burro in the night. Daddy got up to go potty and see the full moon and stepped in a sand flea nest and got little red bumps all over his legs that itch and wouldn’t go away. We were glad to leave in the morning and Mommy said, “You get what you pay for.” Later we learned that this area used to be a very nice place where people had their vacation homes. A hurricane came and destroyed it all but a few people are starting to come back now to live there in their stilt houses. And camp on the beach. Now we’re off to visit Mommy and Daddy’s friend Susan in Texas!

Click here to view our photo album of the Creole Nature Trail.