We started the day with a great breakfast. Then it was on to Thompson’s tree farm. We have been purchasing our tree from the farm for awhile now. They not only sell tree, they sell an “Experience”. Sleigh rides, hot chocolate, cookies and a campfire…
I had the chance to attend the National Ceremony again this year.It should be on every Canadians “must do” list. This and Canada Day. Approx 35,000 people gathered to remember, The people of Ottawa continued the tradition of placing their poppies on the tomb of the unknown soldier
Another Halloween is over. At least the weather was good for the little trick or treaters. We had 85 in total. About 5 Elsa’s and lots of Minions. My parents broke their 5 year drought and had 5!
Today we decided that we were going to go around Lake Ponchatrain. We arrived just in time to catch our bus for the three hour Katrina tour. Our tour guide Mary Lacoste, who happened to be 82 years old, was great. She is a retired school teacher with a history background. She went into great detail on what happened during the storm and how government agencies that were not working together, may have caused the disaster, In the end the Mississippi levees held up. It was the walls of the canals that failed causing flooding in ward 9.
X – Marks the spot
The Gallery:
New Orleans. What can I say. This will probably be the highlight of the trip south this year. We had two goals. A trip on a steamboat down the Mississippi and to go on a Hurricane Katrina tour of the city. On day one we boarded the Steamboat Natchez. It was a 2 hour harbour tour of New Orleans. It included narration, live jazz music and lunch. Lunch….what can I say? I got to try CATFISH for the first time. It did not taste bad at all but it took a lot of will power to get the idea through my head. After the trip we decided to head out to the French Quarter and hit some of the famous streets. Stephanie had never been on a street car so we decide to take one to the cemetery district. The cemeteries closed at16:30 so we did not get to go in. The streetcar brought us back into town and we enjoyed dinner at Evangelines. The food was good. What seemed alien to us though was when they offered us our drinks in “to go” cups. It was cool. We ended day one by going back to Bourboun Street to see what it looked like at night. It was only 20:00 so it was not that busy.
This was as closest state park that was available near New Orleans. A beautiful setup, washrooms were clean, lots of wildlife including deer, boars, alligators and birds. Our site was a little more open than we like but we didn’t spent much time in the park. New Orleans was our destination of choice and you had to cross the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway to get there. Its only 24 miles long and for 8 miles in the middle you can not see land in any direction.
USS Kidd (DD-661), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named after Rear Admiral Isaac C Kidd, who died on the bridge of his flagship USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Admiral Kidd was the first US flag officer die during World War II and the first American admiral ever to be killed in action.
In the Wheel House of the LOUISIANA
Our next stop was Baton Rouge. We stayed at the KOA just outside the city for 2 nights. Enough time to see some of the local sights and do our laundry. Being so close to the attractions this KOA was a little expensive. $65US a night.
The down town area was small so we parked at the casino and decided to walk along the Mississippi River. It was a gorgeous day. The water level in the area was at its lowest point of the year. So low you could be the bottom of the USS Kidd.
We decided to take a tour of the USS Kidd – Veterans museum. It was great. First through the Memorial Hall then out to the ship.
Our next stop. Atlanta State Park, Texas. We decided to stay here for a couple of days. When we arrived we were to only campers in the section other than the Campsite Host – Sam. Sam welcomed us with opened arms. This State Park was great! The only “challenge” was the night bugs. We don’t know what they were called, but they got everywhere at night. We had to vacuum them up each night before we went to sleep. Our day trips brought us geocaching to Oklahoma and Louisiana.
This was an excellent find. We stopped just because it looked cool and we wanted to check out the Bass Pro. WOW is all I can say. This is a Bass Pro Superstore. It’s quite large and even has a hotel in it. The Big Cypress Lodge – $275 a night, but it looks like it might be worth it. The tallest free standing elevator in America takes visitors to The Lookout at the Pyramid at the apex of the building, where they can take in the view on an indoor and outdoor observation deck or get a bite to eat at the “Sky High Catfish Cabin”; a restaurant, bar, and aquarium at the top of the building.
Wikipedia – The Memphis Pyramid, initially known as the Great American Pyramid, formerly referred to as the Pyramid Arena and locally referred to as The Pyramid, was originally built as a 20,142-seat arena located in down town Memphis at the banks of the Mississippi River. The facility was built in 1991 and was originally owned and operated jointly by the city of Memphis and Shelby County; Shelby County sold its share to Memphis in April 2009. Its structure plays on the city’s namesake in Egypt, known for its ancient pyramids. It is 321 feet (98m, about 32 stories) tall and has base sides of 591 ft; it is by some measures the tenth tallest pyramid in the world. The Memphis Pyramid has not been regularly used as a sports or entertainment venue since 2004. In 2015, the Pyramid re-opened as a Bass Pro Shops “mega-store”, which includes shopping, a hotel, restaurants, a bowling alley, and an archery range with an outdoor observation deck at its apex.