Louisiana Plantation Day...............

Just a quick note about today.   We took our Internet map and drove to a few Plantations about 30 miles outside of New Orleans. 

 

We stopped at 2 Plantations and took their tours.  Taking a tour was cool because we learned about the Louisiana Plantation Laws back then, which were much different than other states.  But taking two tours was almost to much, since we heard almost the same information as the first, just a different family.  But on the other hand, we would have missed the Plantation we liked the best.

It was named Oak Alley Plantation.

Huge Oak Trees

 

No, the trees, or branches are not broken.

 

And the grounds around the home were beautiful..!!

 

After a day of driving around, becoming self made tour guides, we decided to stop by Bourbon Street to see if the tourist have arrived, and to have a drink.  The streets were definitely more crowded, the nightclubs were busy and there were noticeably more police officers, like hundreds of them, everywhere.  We figured that the safest place to be was Bourbon Street.

 

 

 

At one street intersection, on one corner there were some  very "COOL" looking bikes parked, then turn around, and at the other corner there were more bikes, not quite as "COOL". All Police bikes, and every head you see in the lower picture are officers.

 

We will be returning again tomorrow to see how much it changes on a Friday.

 

Until Next Time,

 

Roberta and Steve

Super Bowl and The Big Easy............

We have landed in New Orleans.  Interstate 10 through Louisiana is pretty amazing.  There seems to be swamp land everywhere you look.

and there is one section of the freeway that is a bridge over swamp water that is 18 miles long.

Yes, we said an 18 mile long bridge.

New Orleans is all a buzz with Mardi Gras, and the area around the Superdome is "CRAZY" with Super Bowl preparation.

We found out where the 49er's are staying.  It was pretty obvious when a bus load of players arrived with an escort of police officers on motorcycles.  It is amazing how much security there is around this hotel.

We were lucky with having nice weather for our first day, with temperatures in the mid 70's, and not very muggy at all.  Everything is decorated up, including the locals and tourists.  Even the pets are wearing beads.

Before we knew it, the evening arrived.  Well, we did make a stop, inside Harrah's Casino, for a chance to win some money...... Didn't Happen for me, but Roberta did pretty well.  It was good that we went inside, because we found that it poured down rain while we were there.

 

 

So, we had to see Bourbon Street and the French Quarter at night

It wasn't very busy while we were there, but it was still early.  There was live music at every night club we went by, and if I remember correctly, we stopped at about every one of them.  By the time we were ready to head back to our wheel house it was beginning to get busy.

We woke up this morning to a good old fashion rain and wind storm.  We were wondering if a hurricane was here, but it was just a storm.  The rest of the week, and weekend, is suppose to be beautiful, but only in the 60's.  I guess we will be able to survive.

So, according to the news reports, New Orleans will become a Madhouse beginning tomorrow, with most of the people arriving Friday.  Should be a good time.  We are planning to be right in the middle of it all.  We are thinking about staying until after Fat Tuesday to take in the Mardi Gras finale.

Thanks again for looking at us.

Steve and Roberta

Look Out Mardi Gras and Super Bowl........Here We Come...!!!!

We made it to Galveston Texas.  This was our last stop in Texas before entering Louisiana.  We have heard from others, that it seems like an eternity to drive across Texas.  Well, we are here to agree with them.  Galveston has been a very cool place to visit, not to mention the 75-80 degree sunny weather.  We never really gave much thought about Galveston being an island, but back in 2008, hurricane Ike raise havoc here, with super high winds and water in the neighborhoods as high as 7 feet.  While walking through some of the historic residential areas, and talking with some of the people living there, this island was a total mess.  The tidal surge caused boats, ships, wave runners galore, and anything else that floated, to end up in these neighborhoods.  Also, almost all of the huge old oak trees were blown down.  The good news is, there is still a lot of work being done to put these homes, and neighborhoods, back together.

Galveston also has a Mardi Gras , beginning the 1st of February.  It appears that the people of Galveston really get into their Mardi Gras, by all of the homes we passed by that were all dec'd out.

In the top left picture, there is a white line painted on the dark blue foundation.  That was the water line during the hurricane.  The dog on the porch has a mask on.

We mentioned that most of the trees were blown down by the high winds.  Some of the home owners decided to carve sculptures out of the stumps.  Today there is a map of 17 of these sculptures, in the yards of homes, in this historic district, and there are more around town, growing mainly by three different artist. 

Remember, these were oak trees before the storm..!!

Galveston Island has a fun shoreline area, with miles of boardwalk along the sandy beach.  There is a pier, at the end of 25th street, they call "Pleasure Pier".  Much like one of the piers we visited in California, this pier has 2 roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, and many other attractions.  Very FUN area of downtown, with lots of eateries and scenery.

We walked down to pier 21 to see an old restored sailing ship that had just arrive that morning, and to look for someplace we could sit down, watch the harbor and quench our thirst.

We found a nice restaurant, with an outside patio area, and sat down to order a drink, just in time to watch a Disney cruse ship, and then a Carnival cruse ship, leave the port.

So, after two days, and nights, visiting Galveston, we stopped at a downtown, very loud (live music), lots of fun, biker bar for a late night snack and a beer.

Then we said goodbye to Galveston for this trip.  This would be another place to return to, if we passed this way again.

We hooked up this morning and made our way half the distance to New Orleans.  Tomorrow we will arrive in New Orleans, and have reservations at an RV Park just 5 miles from downtown.  We plan to ride the city bus, or take a cab, to downtown from the RV Park to experience Mardi Gras.  This way we can enjoy Mardi Gras, and not have to worry about driving......"YIPPEE".   We are expecting that this is going to be "PRETTY CRAZY", since it is the middle of Mardi Gras, and the Super Bowl is being played here next Sunday.  Check back later to see how we survive.

Thanks For Looking At Us,

Roberta and Steve

PORTLAND............???????????????

We made it to Rockport Texas, and on the way, we had to pass through "Portland".....????

(You can click on the photo to enlarge it)

The highway into Corpus Christi was littered with oil wells, and those crazy looking pumps, that resembles that Duck thing that Spencer's Novelties sells.  You know the one, where Duck head keeps pecking at a glass of water.  Oh never mind, not sure where that came from......  ;-)

Anyway, coming into Corpus Christ the horizon looked like OZ

 Actually it was Oil Refineries, for as far as you could see.

Now don't take that like we don't like it here.  Corpus Christi and Rockport is a beautiful Texas Gulf Coast area.   There are many communities that are built on canals, which are very COOL.

The Aircraft carrier U.S.S. Lexington is parked here and is a museum.

And it seems that everywhere you go, you are at the beach.  We took the ferry over to Mustang Island where you can drive on the beach for miles and miles and miles.

We think that some areas must flood every so often because we noticed quite a few homes built on stilts.

The Texas A&M campus is also located here, with a beautiful campus area, overlooking the Gulf.  We enjoyed our time here, but probably will not return.  San Antonio is, by far, our most favorite Texas location.   We will let you know if we find anyplace we like better.  We will be hooking up the Old Wheel House to the truck tomorrow and working our way a little closer to New Orleans.  The weather has been wonderful, with the sun everyday, and in the upper 70's.  Sorry, but we had to rub it in.......  :-)

So once again we bid you a fond farewell, and we will let you know where we land in a few days.

Thanks for looking in on us.

Steve and Roberta

Way Down South In Texas

WOW, Texas is a long way across........ But we made it.

Since the speed limit is "80" it cuts your travel time down significantly.....

Actually we were one of those Old Slow RVer's you see all of the time, doing 55 in the 80 zone.

Anyway,  we made across Texas, and landed in San Antonio instead of Austin.  We ran up to Austin today, to check it out, and we must say, San Antonio "ROCKS"......

The San Antonio River Walk is a public park like area, lined with businesses, restaurants, hotels, attractions and more.  We spent the entire day yesterday, and most of the evening, strolling around, having drinks, watching football and eating dinner.  We took about 80 pictures, so below are just a few.

The boat in the canal is a water taxi.  There are also tour taxi's that will take you on a narrated tour all around the waterways.  It took us almost an hour to see only a small portion of the canal.  The price was very reasonable, only $6.00.

Some Old Guy 

 Our Narrator, and Guide, on our Waterway Tour

 Notice the green light on the traffic signal at the top of  the bridge arch.

 Huge Mall at the end of one of the canals

The stage where Sandra Bullock did the Ms. Swimsuit contest in the movie "Ms Congeniality"

San Antonio River Walk area at night

River Walk / Alamo Area

Also, just a few blocks from the River Walk area is home of the "Alamo".  This is the actual site of the Battle of the Alamo.  It is a free museum, and you can walk around the courtyard area.  Very Cool.

 

OK, Please Forgive Me, this is becoming a very long post.  Just one more stop, which was today, when we ran up to Austin.  We have heard from many people that Austin is a Very Nice Town, so we had to check it out.  It is also the Capital of Texas.

 Texas Capitol

So, our take on Austin.....?  It is a lot like the Portland / Vancouver area.  But if you are planning a trip to the San Antonio side of Texas (Southeast), you need to take a day out of your busy life, and check out the River Walk area.  Absolutely Beautiful......!!!!!!

We are pulling up stakes tomorrow morning and motoring South to the Corpus Christi area.  We have made reservations at an RV resort in Rockport, just east of Corpus Christi, across the Bay.  From what we've heard this is suppose to be a very nice Coastal area, so once again, we are forced to check it out and report back.  Check back in a few days to see what we've found out.

As Always, Thank You All for following us, on this Blog, while we do what we have always wanted to do.

Roberta and Steve