Our 1996 Trip Across the USA Page 12
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A note on Photographs - All of us are taking pictures - I'll do my best to give photo credits with an initial, but if I miss one be sure to let me know! J = Jon, D = Don, A = Anne & C = Carol. You can usually tell Anne's - her camera puts the date on the image! Also, most of the images are scans of old & faded prints, so the quality may not be all that hot.

June 28 - Manderville, LA & Fontainebleau State Park (541mi)

After we decided to continue the trip we hit interstates 65 & 10 to rejoin Don & Anne. They had stopped to see the battleship "Alabama" in Mobile, AL, and stayed in Biloxi, MS for the night. The plan is to meet us at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville, Louisiana. After a long drive, we reached the park, got on the CB, and believe it or not, they had just arrived! The park is filled with many pine trees, and very wet - many of the sites are under water. We found one that was dry (Site 17) & settled in. There is an abandoned sugar mill in the park - not much left but a few old buildings & chimneys.

Folks at the campground office told us about the LaCombe Crab Festival - Sort of like a county fair (but they don't have counties in Louisiana - they are Parishes.) Anyway, we decided to check it out. Quite the party! There must be different rules for carnival rides in Louisiana than New York - they had rides that would never be allowed back home; wild, but they looked like lots of fun! We wandered around, tried new & different food (such as alligator on a stick, gumbo, etc) & drinks - if you see Anne, ask her about Hurricanes... Tried to get a soft shelled crab Po-Boy, but they were all gone. They suggested coming back tomorrow night. Did get a tee shirt. My collection is growing - I'm not going to get one in every state, but the pile is growing. Tomorrow we will head into New Orleans.

The Battleship Alabama (D)
Alabama (D)
Don & Anne's Tent - Biloxi, MS (A)
Site 17, Fontainebleau State Park (D)
Old Sugar Mill, Fontainebleau State Park (D)
The LaCombe Crab Festival (A)

June 29 - New Orleans, LA (96mi)

The bridge across Lake Pontchartrain (Actually the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway) is amazing. Four lanes, almost perfectly straight & 24 miles long. Check out the photo in the link above.

New Orleans is another wonderful city. I know the French Quarter is a bit of a tourist trap, but so are many of my favorite "Interesting Places," and this has to be one of them. Beautiful old buildings, bustling crowds and an attitude that sets it apart from the rest of the US.

The French Quarter (A)
Above Ground Graveyard (D)
The French Quarter (D)
The Natchez (D)
New Orleans (C)
New Orleans (A)

We have all found that "It's a small world," when running into someone unexpected far from home - well while walking down Bourbon St we ran into Jim Palmer, a retired director and collogue of Dons from his SUNY Cortland days. Neither of us knew the others were going to be here. We spent the day driving & walking around the city, and doing a couple of loads of laundry.

We made another trip to the LaCombe Crab Festival tonight - This time I got there before they ran out of Soft Shelled Crab Po-Boys - sort of like what we call a sub sandwich, but we never have them with crab. Excellent! Tomorrow we will explore the Bayou.

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Last Update: March 21, 2012