Southern
Louisiana and
Southeast
Texas
is a good place for a weekend getaway or short
vacation. It's the place we chose for mini-vacation in July,
2005. (Please note we do not know the current status of this area, as
this was just prior to hurricane Katrina.)
This
is our "Southern Louisiana and Southeastern, Texas page." It's our
opinions and observations of our visit; yours may certainly differ.
Prices and other information can obviously go out of date, so check with
each vendor for updated info.
IN GENERAL
The area is abundant in
scenery, and there are a multitude of things to do. For those who like
nightlife, Bourbon Street in New Orleans provides entertainment nightly.
As we prefer family activities, we chose to eat seafood and Cajun food, take
an airboat tour, and enjoy the scenery.
We drove from the Dallas area.
While there are interstate highways, we chose some of the back roads for
scenery. Be aware when you get into Louisiana there are three types of
roads (including the interstates): those recently constructed, those
under construction, and those in need of construction. Traveling down
I-55 provided a constant wop-wop-wop flat tire sound. While we'd
experienced this before so we knew it was the highway, one can only assume
it's not good for one's car.
A LITTLE HISTORY
Louisiana is full of rich history,
including pirates. John Lafitte, a pirate who refused to attack a
ship flying the American flag, assisted Americans in the war with the
British (in return for a pardon). The Mississippi River has created
much of the lower area south of New Orleans, changing the appearance of the
state over the years. Louisiana became part of the U. S. in 1812 with
the "Louisiana Purchase."
The area is rich in French influence.
"Counties" are called "Parishes," "City council members" are "Police
Jurors," and "rivers" are "bayous." French names abound, and can make
pronunciation a little difficult for some.
Alligator farms are big business, and
swamps are abundant. Most cemeteries bury people above ground, as much
of the area is below sea level. (New Orleans is about 6' below sea
level, and has many pumps to keep it from flooding.) Home to the
most famous Mardi Gras, the area is abundant in Creole and Cajun foods, as
well as traditional seafood. The Hurricane was invented at Pat
O'Brian's in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Tours abound,
including bus, ship (you can take a ride on the Mississippi on a paddle
boat), swamp boat, and air boat. Bridges and ferries give amazing
views of the Mississippi River. New Orleans is home to a national
museum and a well-known aquarium. The area has many old plantations,
and I-10 west of Baton Rouge is designated by AAA as a scenic route.
(Warning: this area of I-10 is elevated across a swamp, and is heavily
patrolled by radar.)
Lake Pontchartrain, the second largest
saltwater lake in the U. S., just north of New Orleans, contains the
longest over water
highway bridge in the world. At over 23 miles (38 km), when you
are in the middle of the bridge, you cannot see land. In spite of the
size of the lake, it averages only 12 - 14 feet in depth.
LODGING
Because we took the scenic
route, we took two days to drive each way.
The Econo Lodge
in Nacogdoches, TX:
There was a sign on the counter stating "absolutely no
refunds." That should have told us something. We couldn't
get the "card key" to open our door without depressing the handle and
turning it upward very slowly ... an employee had to show us how. A
light fixture near the bed didn't work -- it had no light bulb.
Thankfully, when I reached inside the lampshade to determine if the bulb was
loose, I didn't put my finger into the socket. I kept swatting at a
fly in our room. There was supposed to be a continental breakfast, but
it was extremely sparse. Communication with the desk clerk was
difficult as he didn't speak much English, and I don't speak Arabic.
Comfort
Inn in Amite, LA: When
we made our reservations on the phone, the manager would not honor the
published AARP rate, so I had to go online to make our reservations.
Again, that should have told us something. While the room was
appointed nicely, the end doors closest to our room were locked from the
outside, and the "card key" access had been turned off. When I asked
the desk clerk if they had a security problem, she said "no." However,
the next morning when I attempted to speak with the manager, he said several
banks in the area had been robbed. Our bill had a $1 charge for the
safe in the room, and they were very upset when I made them take it off.
When I told the manager that I was giving him a courtesy notice I would be
complaining to Comfort Inn, he responded with, "I don't need your courtesy
notice." (My complaint call to Comfort Inn resulted in a bored, "We'll
let them know.") Next time we'll stay in Hammond.
(Why the fuss over $1? Assume a
business gets away with tacking a $1 charge onto every room, and they rent
an average of 50 rooms per night, that's an extra $18,250 a year they steal
from the public. I refuse to participate in such a scam.)
Holiday Inn in
Slidell, LA: (372
Voter's Rd., 985-639-0890). This hotel was comparable to much more
expensive hotels in which we've stayed. The bathroom was not very big,
but the room was spacious, and the window air conditioning unit was
connected to a wall thermostat. The room had a refrigerator and
microwave, and the manager was not only pleasant, but gave us directions to
an excellent restaurant, The Port Hole. This was probably the nicest
Holiday Inn I've ever seen. (We no longer patronize Hilton Hotels,
which are known for quality. This Holiday Inn was comparable to some
Hiltons, in our opinion, and was considerably less expensive.)
Best Western in
Jasper, TX: (205
W Gibson, 409-384-7767). An extremely nice motel, especially for
the low price. The evening clerk was a friendly, gracious lady.
When we checked out, the manager/owner was extremely pleasant. The
room was well-appointed, especially for a Best Western. Their ice
machines were lacking, and restaurants in the area close early. You
won't beat this motel for good East-Texas friendliness.
RESTAURANTS
There were many "hole in
the wall" restaurants where we stopped to get shrimp Po-Boys. We were
never disappointed. The two following restaurants were more formal,
and stood out as being exceptional in an area known for exceptional
restaurants.
The Port Hole
Restaurant:
(4406 Pontchartrain Dr., Slidell, LA; 985-643-1419, on Lake
Pontchartrain). A recommendation from the manager at the Holiday
Inn, they have unbelievably good seafood at reasonable prices for what you
get (our meal, for the two of us, was about $50). Upscale, but casual.
There is a dock on the back of the restaurant that accommodates boats coming
up the canal from the lake. Our waitress, Stephanie, was very
polite and efficient. I complimented her service to the manager /
owner, who was very gracious.
We did something we never do in Louisiana
-- we went back the next night. (When we go to Louisiana, part of the
fun is trying new restaurants. Their food, service, and attitude were
just too good not to experience again.
Middendorf's
Seafood Restaurant:
(30160 US Highway 51;
Ponchatoula, La;
985-386-6666,
on Lake Maurepas in the Manchac area).
Famous for their seafood, it's good food in a casual atmosphere at
reasonable prices. They are very popular with the locals. Closed
Mondays.
ATTRACTIONS
There are many attractions
in the New Orleans area. We list only one, as it was the only thing
that stood out as exceptional. There were signs for other tours, but
we didn't know about them as most don't have websites. One tour
company, with a website, didn't publish their rates, and didn't even quote
them when I sent them an e-mail. They smugly responded they preferred
to speak directly with the customer. Since I do most of our planning
late at night when they don't want my phone call, we chose the one company
that provided sufficient info on their website to allow us to make a
planning decision at our convenience.
River Gauche Airboat:
(1-877-AIRBOAT, close to Paradis, on a 14,000 acre estate.
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Another airboat we encountered |
Southwest of New Orleans, and a little over an hour from our hotel in
Slidell. Multiple tours, we chose a 1:45 minute tour for $50 each,
after a $5 internet coupon). This was the most fun we had on our
trip. The boat we rode boasted a 454 Chevy engine that produced about
400 horsepower. Its rear fan produces thrust of 400 mph to propel the
boat up to 57 mph. The scenery was breath-taking.
The swamp where we rode was covered with
vegetation in many areas. The vegetation grows on top of the water,
and is so thick our boat driver was able to walk on it.
We stopped at a "camp" where
Mariah Carey
reportedly made a music video in a swing. Movie
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Camp where Mariah Carey made her video; swing
is on the right |
stars are reported to take this trip.
Many visitors to the U. S. take this tour -- we saw several people who were
obviously not U. S. citizens, including a very nice young couple from
Germany who shared our boat for the tour. This is absolutely one of
the most exciting things we've ever done.
Their website is
http://bayouairboattours.com/,
and it's very informative, in spite of the extremely annoying flash media.
Don't forget the $5 discount coupon, although they gave us the discount
without showing the coupon -- we just let them know we had it.
There were other tours in the area, and we wished we'd
known about them so we could have taken them as well. Perhaps they'll
discover the internet in the future!
OTHER PICTURES
(These were taken from a
camcorder while moving, so please pardon them being a little blurry.
Click on thumbnails to
view full-size picture)
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The "famous" swing again |
Holding an alligator! |
Engine and prop |
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Scene from boat tour. In the
background you can see the I-310 bridge supports. |
Scene from boat tour. |
Scene from boat tour. |
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Scene from boat tour |
Scene from boat tour |
Scene from boat tour |
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Scene from boat tour |
Scene from boat tour |
Yes, we went OVER the
levee |
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