Houston TX

En route to San Antonio, we decided to "hotel it" in Houston TX to reduce our daily travel time.

This restaurant was an unexpected delight.

Entrance was delightful.

The interior was elegant.

Coconut shrimp with huge, fresh and tasty shrimp.

Fresh oysters baked on a half shell with cheese.

Andouille sausage, craw fish, shrimp, Cremini mushrooms and pasta.

Creme Brule

Great Food

Into the city of Huston for the night.

Special Christmas

 SPECIAL SANTA UPDATE

The last posting that may have shown Santa crashed in the swamp has just been clarified by our team of alligator reporters in the area.

Apparently Santa lost his hat and a runner off his sleigh after takeoff from the swamp but has arrived safely back to the North Pole.

The alligators said "this was a pile of crock".

Our journey took us from New Orleans LA to Lake Charles LA.

Since our planned destination was San Antonio TX and Christmas was near, we decided to take our time and stop over in Lake Charles at a state park for Christmas.

The route was a wonderful experience.

Maggie even enjoyed the country from her back seat "roomette".

A late arrival at the park resulted a quick setup in a very dark location.

A quick flash shot outside our door was our first view of the front yard-

"Welcome to the swamp".

Early morning in the park.

Huge tress were scattered throughout the swamp.

This elevated walking bridge provided closeup views of this magical setting.

Small deer roamed the park grounds.

Wild life was evident everywhere.

Maggie and I tried our luck "trolling for alligators".

I think Maggie was not impressed.

After moving quietly towards this log I thought was an alligator, an otter jumped out of the swamp on to the log. This resulted in a quick return to the trailer for a garment change!!!

Served by a sweet heart of a chef I have known for many years, pork loin, all the "fixins" and a bottle German wine made our Christmas special.

Trails in the Sam Houston State Park LA

Egrets were everywhere.

Good bye from the swamp.

CHRISTMAS IN THE SWAMP!!!

What's the story?

Checkout my next post.

NEW ORLEANS - The Big Easy!!

Entrance to the River Walk in downtown New Orleans.

The mighty Mississippi as it flows through NO.

Street car in the square.

Palm trees line the streets.

Huck Finns is a great place to wait for a city tour.

Super Jambalaya!

I tried the alligator sausage "po-boy".

Chris had a shrimp "po-boy".

Louie Armstrong Park

We toured three cemeteries in the city area.

Many sites showed damage of the Katrina floods.

The history of the cemeteries go back to the 1700's.

Evidence of Katrina still occupies the city.

Code markings on the buildings identify the safety status and number of dead found on the site.

A small display shows the water height (blue posts) as compared to a home structure during the flooding.

This home is one of hundreds built by the Brad Pitt Project.

Pitt has spent over five million dollars of his own money on this project.

Since New Orleans has been influence by both Spanish and french owners, the buildings are of mixed styles.

The french quarter is a wild site to experience!!

LOUISIANA ARRIVAL

We had a great trip from AL to LA.

The highways were excellent and we had an early arrival at the Fontaineblue State Park 35 miles north of New Orleans. Our plan was to tour the area and then travel to a KOA just outside the city of New Orleans for a total of five days.

Swamps, bayous and wetlands were with us on this journey.

Even Maggie enjoyed this trip.

The Fontaineblue State Park was a former rice plantation  on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain.

Park  picnic area.

Park pier.

In the distance is a 24 mile causeway that takes you across the lake to New Orleans.

The causeway is a $3.00 ride that reduces the distance by half to New Orleans.

I was told the causeway was built in 1956 and must have been a huge project at the time.

We also took the east and west highway routes to New Orleans.

The east side bridge.