LAKE END PARK & CAMPGROUND

     


Morgan City, Louisiana....

Lake End Park & Campground
& the Cajun Coast.

Lake End Park is located in Morgan City, Louisiana.  It is a municipal park that is just a great find.  Good friends of ours stayed here last year, and they highly recommended it.   Thank you, Larry and Lainie!!!

It is offseason here....great for us as there are very few campers here now.   A few more locals show up on the weekend, but not that many.  As you can see from the photos, we are one of only two campers at the far end of the "spit of land" that is surrounded on 3 sides by the waters of Lake Palourde. 

The park has lots of trees with the hanging moss and many pathways for walking.  It also has a playground for the young kids, lots of picnic tables, and family play areas as well.   Add to that a large pavilion groups can use for functions and bath houses in at least two locations. 

 

 I don't know how many acres the park has, but it is quite large and offers up many things for locals in addition to the campsites and a marina where folks keep their boats.   There are several house boats located at the marina too!

We just love the moss hanging from the trees.

 
 
 

 

 

 

There is over a mile of walkways like this one in the park.   Ali and I have enjoyed many walks along here....and I go out by myself for some brisk walks too....as "brisk" is not in Ali's vocabulary.

 

 

 

Walking along these paths you see many benches that are inscribed in memory of loved ones and are donated to the park.   There must be a couple of dozen of them and they are touching....in addition to offering a spot to sit and contemplate.  

 

  Here is an example of the benches placed along the paths in the park.   This gentleman had the distinction of a long life....unlike many others.

 

 

This memorial bench is very touching.

 

 

 

 

Here is part of the marina....it has another section as well....both leading out to Lake Palourde, which is a sizeable lake some 5+ miles across.  We are anxious to get our kayaks out on the lake....we are just waiting for this "blue northern" weather pattern to change and for temperatures to return to a more normal range.

 

 

 



Note the empty campsites....most of the campsites are like this....our guess is 15% or so are occupied now.   We are told this changes in summer when local area folks bring their campers out to enjoy the beach in the hot weather.

Here a young Amish couple visit the park and enjoy the view of the lake.

Look closely....note the icicles formed on the kayaks.
Hardly Kayaking weather!!!

 

 

 

Our weather station tells it all....

30 degrees outside....and another

cold front is moving in tomorrow for

two more days or so.   After that it

should warm up so we can kayak the lake

and a few of the bayous.

 

 

(At least our heat is working well as evidenced

by the number in the upper right corner....(lower right is % humidity).

 

LOUISIANA

When given the option, we prefer our route to be good secondary roads rather than Interstates.  If you are in a hurry or there is not a good alternative, then Interstates are the way to go.  But for sightseeing and experiencing a bit of culture while driving, nothing beats a good secondary road...in this case, we decided to take US 90 through Mississippi and into Louisiana.  It did not disappoint.

In the photo above we are coming up to the bridge that brings us to the New Orleans district....that is Lake Borgne on the left and Lake Ponchartrain on the right.

This is typical of the small communities of St Bernard Parish that are part of greater New Orleans.

Note the houses are built on stilts to raise them at least one story above potential flood surges. 

Even the larger homes are built up in the air.  Surely not for those who walk in their sleep!

Here a barge plies northward on the Mississippi River.  It is astounding to think of the amount of raw materials and other goods that ship up and down this great river highway.

Looking out across massive Lake Ponchartrain, which separates New Orleans from the northern suburbs of Slidell, Lacombe and Ponchatoula.   The causeway that connects Slidell directly to New Orleans is about 35 miles long over the Lake....note, we did not drive on the causeway with the motorhome!

Here is an example of a typical cemetery (aka, the "dead center of town") in and around southern Louisiana.   Since most of the areas are at or below sea level, crypts and vaults are built above the ground....and as you can see many of them are quite decorative.  (there could be additional photos of cemeteries like this if we visit the likes of Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen of New Orleans in the 1800s.)

Here is a sign we were happy to see along our route through Mississippi and Louisiana.  Far better petrol prices than in Florida or Alabama!
(stay tuned for more from LA....we are here for 3 more weeks!!)

Pam's Pen -- the week in Cedar Key

Cedar Key at night from our Campsite

Cedar Key, to me, has been a week in heaven. There is something about this little town that just tucks itself into your heart. The obvious things would be having our "house" face the water and the fabulous sunsets in the evening, and then looking out the bedroom window from one's pillow to see the sunrise. So nice. Then there is the lack of traffic --- the nice little Main Street with a nice little consignment boutique, small clothing shop, two real estate storefronts, a charming Museum, two VERY nice arts co-ops, and an historic hotel, where the owner many years ago reportedly created the Hearts of Palm Salad. Oh, and did I mention Tony's -- the little restaurant with the clam chowder that has you coming back for more....and buying some to freeze and take with you? Mercy me, it was and is divine -- and I don't even like clam chowder, but I sure love this! At Tony's you become a good friend of the waitstaff pretty quickly....all very nice gals who use various endearments....one lady called Ken, "baby" while I was "sweetie"! I told him he had made it up in the world....one place we ate before coming here he was called, "Bubba"!! HA!! At the Town Beach one has glorious fine white sand and dogs are allowed! We met and enjoyed visiting with a fellow from Toronto named Barry Gillis.....down here for the winter with his wife, staying at his brother's place....and because he got bored, he volunteered to help the gentleman who owns the kayak rental business, by working for him a couple of days a week. Well, business wasn't booming, so he spent a lot of time chatting it up with us, and what an interesting man he is. He was also there the day we kayaked, and was again, chatting away before and after we set out. By the way, the current was so strong, I did three strokes forward and seemed to go back at least two! Got very tired and sore.....I have muscles letting me know that they are not happy in my neck, shoulders and back...and thumbs where the arthritis is! Gads, to be 50 again would be lovely. However....it was a week when we bicycled one sunny and warm day, around the Main drag and the surrounding small residential streets.....we did kayak on another lovely day.....we took a drive all over the little roads that wind next to the water throughout town, we walked with our Ali on the beach and laughed as she ran into the water and dipped her nose into it....then came out and rolled over and over in the sand....we ate chowder and crackers....we shopped in the consignment shop for fun....and found two sweet pillows for our couch with palm trees on them, and I found a nice skirt -- for $1! Ken bought me a lovely necklace....a big cut faceted crystal on a silver and crystal chain....we sat on Adirondack chairs in front of the coach and read and watched the sunset come....we visited with new friends parked next to us in the Tiki bar one early evening...having tea and sodas! We toured the clam farm just a short walk down the road from us --- who knew there were clam farms??-- and it was fascinating! Camped next to us for two days was the nicest couple with two beautiful Whippets, who visited back and forth with Ali....and then another couple we had met last week at Lazydays and had no idea they were coming to Cedar Key showed up there two days ago... It's a bit like being in a place that time forgot....I am sure this is what the old Florida was like, and probably the Keys, as well. There are some rental condos and charming little houses to rent, but no high rises, no traffic jams, no traffic lights --- yes, there is a marina, but it's neither huge nor packed with million dollar yachts. No super markets, just a couple of nice small grocery stores. No Walmart or any big box stores. A small laundromat and I think there was one gas station. Nearest supermarket is 40+ miles away. No movie theater in town. Several restaurants, and a few really small and quirky little eateries....lots of places to walk and ride your bikes and we did....above all, it's a place where you can relax, do nothing, and just enjoy your days. You never are rushed, you don't have all that many places to go and no reason to be there at any particular time. And several evenings, before fixing dinner, I sat at our desk doing some filing and bill paying, with the fireplace going (yes, it got pretty cool the end of the week!) and music coming softly out of the surround system, glancing out the front window at the sunset and the water glisteming while the palm trees waved in front of us...and I was just plain content. So, Cedar Key, I will miss you....and I have a feeling we might be back 'ere long. We have been very happy here.

MORE ON CEDAR KEY.....

Cedar Key is a "city" in Levy County on the NW Coast of Florida. The population was 702 at the 2010 census.  The Cedar Keys are a cluster of islands near the mainland. Most of the developed area of the city has been on Way Key since the end of the 19th century.

The old-fashioned fishing village is now a tourist center with several regionally famous seafood restaurants. The village holds two festivals a year, the Spring Sidewalk Art Festival and the Fall Seafood Festival, that each attract thousands of visitors to the area.  Aside from these two festivals, tourism seems "sketchy" these days....we have been told by locals that fewer folks are arriving to visit than few years back.  This is borne out by the fact the population has dropped by some 11% since the 2000 census.  

A very interesting part of Cedar Key's history involved pencil making....here are the plaques in town describing that period:

 

We like it here and it will be on our "come back and visit again" list.  The town is charming and offers good bike riding and kayaking opportunities.   Two days ago we took our new Adventurer "break down" bikes to town (they both fit in the back seat of the Mini!!) and biked around, stopping for lunch at Tony's, famous for its world renowned clam chowder (check it out here http://www.tonyschowder.com/), winner of three straight years (2009-2011) in the chowder competition in Newport, RI.  And yesterday we took the kayaks out into Cedar Key Bay for some offshore sightseeing and some good exercise.

 

 

 

Here we are a few hundred yards offshore....the currents in the bay were reasonably strong in that before we knew it we were quite a bit further east than we had planned...not to mention aways out as well....so course correction (not without some effort) was necessary.  

 After our kayaks were back on top of the Mini, we came back to Low Key and got Ali and took her to the town beach for a swim.....

which she thoroughly enjoyed!!

 

On one of our rides to explore the area, we came across this interesting signage on the front of this colorful house....

 What a strange thing to see on someone's front porch!   And to those of you who are wondering......"no, we didn't".  (We have other plans)!!

 

 



 

 We close out this blog entry with this wonderful sunset that we watched from the comfort of our coach!   Stay tuned.....our next stop (early next week) puts us in Morgan City, Louisiana for a month long stay.   More and different "stuff" to come, for sure!

 

 

 

CEDAR KEY (& Low Key Hideaway)

A normal sight on Florida roads....we followed this orange laden truck for several
 miles before it turned off at a processing plant.....we are guessing orange juice?

We would like to say Cedar Key is a "yet to be discovered" gem jutting out
on a peninsula off the West Coast of Florida....just West of Gainesville.   But we can't
....because it has been semi-discovered (property prices determine that status)
 and it really isn't a "Gem".   Well, okay....a gem in the rough, maybe.  
Cedar Key has an interesting history that deals with pencil making and digging clams
....but more on that later.

 

We came here looking for a place to kayak and found the Low Key Hideaway
 Motel and RV park (3 sites) via a blog that Pam follows.   Little did we know
 how quirky the place would turn out.  Don't get me wrong....it is a great
location, it is cute and it is positioned very well to view sunsets out
your windshield and sunrises from your bed....out the slide out window in
the bedroom, to be more precise.   And we had this luxury of seeing setting
and rising on our first day here....not too many things can get better than that!

 

The Hideaway motel consists
of 6 very well appointed rooms as pictured here.  Colorful, eh?

 

 

 

And the RV parking (again, 3 sites) are adjacent to
 the cute motel.  The sites are set up such that you can drive your motorhome straight in rather than backing in....this gives you a wonderful view facing west....for the sunsets.  The sites are fully equipped with 50amp service, water and sewer hookups and some 20 cable TV channels.   All the comforts of home indeed

 Here we are facing West with the setting sun glistening off the coach.....note the
palm trees: also not too hard to take!!

 

Here's a look at the Low Key Hideaway from the air....it is just to the right of the
long building (a fish farm) to the right of the bridge.

 

Talk about good kayaking country!!!

 



Pictured here are Cindy and Pat, the owners of Low Key.   They spent 4 years
travelling the back roads of America in a travel trailer.  When they realized they
 were about to run out of travel dollars they had to settle down.  Having been to
Cedar Key previously, they came here and bought the motel and added the RV
 sites and the quirky Tiki Bar.  They have settled in nicely to the community
after 4 years and are doing it right.

 

 If you think I may have "overused" the term "quirky" take a look here at
the side yard....a wall sculpture made from empty bottles.

 And here is the Tiki Hut.....don't let the looks of it fool you...the Tiki Bar is a money
maker for the place for sure.  Most nights it is jammed pack with folks "bellying
up to the bar" for some measure of drink.  Note the bikes on the roof.....
talk about quirky!!

 

 

This photo is taken from the dock ramp, looking back at the water side of the
Tiki Bar....note all the bottles built into the structure....and if you look closely,
 yes, those are action figures in all manner of "posing".   Why?   What's it all
about??   Haven't asked yet.

So, this is where we are....miles from most places as the sign out front of the
 motel indicates.  Stay tuned.....more from 32625 as the week progresses.



 

 

 





Lazy Days....and New Friends

A Vintage General Motors motorhome from the 1970's

Traveling in a motorhome and staying in campgrounds brings the opportunity to make friends.   We met our good friends Larry and Lainie from VT (soon to be Beaufort, SC) in James Island Campground near Charleston, SC, for example.   And here is a photo of our newest  friends, Deb and Steve Bohl of Racine, Wisconsin.  We met Steve and Deb in early November last year at Precision Painting in Bremen, Indiana.   Like us, they were there for some work on their Envoy motorhome.....also a Travel Supreme like ours.   After an initial meeting at PP's office, unbeknownst to us we ended up in the same restaurant for lunch so we joined up for some eats and, as it turns out, some good laughs.   During lunch we told Deb and Steve about Lazy Days campground near Tampa and we agreed we would try to meet up there this month.  And sure enough.....we met up again the day after we arrived.  We went to lunch a couple of times, walked our dogs (Ali and Buddy) and visited each other's motorhomes to compare notes....but above all we shared many laughs once again.  These guys are great!!  We had lunch with them on our departure day and discovered that Steve was also born in February of 1947.  Talk about small worlds....I should add he is 8 days older than I am!!

Lazy Days is the largest RV dealer in the United States.  With operations near Tampa and in Tucson, they sell some 300 units a month routinely.  Add to the revenue they generate from well over 100 service bays (and while we were there anyone calling in for service was told the soonest date they could have was 3 weeks out!) and you have quite an operation.   And the campground has 299 sites...all paved back-ins.  When we arrived the campground was only about 25% full....but that quickly changed as the week went on.   When we left it seems they were more likely 80% full.  Many rver's were there for the Tampa RV show the next week....the 2nd largest such trade show in the country.  Others were there (like us and Steve and Deb), passing through to new destinations.  And still others were there for rallys....rallys occur (usually) when campers with like RVs decide to meet up and just have a good time comparing notes and making plans that have to do with their common campers.   One of the rallys at Lazy Days while we were there involved vintage GM campers....motorhomes produced by General Motors between the years 1972 and 1978.   These were typically either 23 feet or 26 feet in length.   These are classic motorhomes....and here are a few that were there last week:

These are classic units....and their owners are usually rather 'fanatical' about taking these 40+ year old campers and bringing them back to life....tuning up their motors, retrofitting their interiors and oftentimes repainting the exteriors and jazzing them up.  This one below gets my vote for "best in show" at the campground:

What a beauty!

 

And from these vintage 'busses' we see the newer designs coming out these days...with sharp angles and flowing designs like this...



Many will like this....but I don't.  To me the front end looks more like an old locomotive's "cow catcher" than anything else.   And last, but certainly not least, here is the top of the line motorcoach that was at the campground last week....

These are Prevost busses.   The basic bus is manufactured in Canada and then specialty custom designers work with the owners to customize the interiors as well as the paint jobs.   When new, these busses normally sell at a minimum for $1.5 million.  So, if you have "Prevost on your mind" you best save your pennies or go buy a lottery ticket.   Well, enough ramblings for this blog....we wanted to introduce Steve and Deb and give a "taste" of motorhomes from vintage to new to super deluxe.   See you next time when we report from 32625.

Big Cypress National Preserve

Alligator Alley is I75 from Miami to Naples....aka the Everglades Expressway.   Distance between the two cities is about 100 miles....and the Seminole Indian Reservation exit is about 1/3 of the way. Several thousands of acres make up the Seminole Reservation...including the Indian owned Big Cypress RV Park where we spent the past week.   A very nice, extremely quiet and remote (nearest town is some 35 miles away....so don't forget your milk when you come!!) campground with many seasonal (winter) folks who come every year.....many from Ontario.

This sign welcomes us to the Reservation once we turned off I75 onto Billy Josey Road, also known as Snake Road.   The Seminoles are the only Indian tribe who did NOT sign any treaties with the US Government (to their credit), and as a result they were pushed from further north in FL to here in the Big Cypress region of the Everglades. 

The Seminoles are a very enterprising tribe....they own several casinos and they recently purchased all of the Hard Rock Cafes.  Now they are coming up with a new beverage called Hard Rock to compete with the likes of Red Bull and others.   The campground is adjacent to a 4000 foot runway here on the Rez, and we have witnessed the chiefs landing in one of two Gulfstream jets they own.  Another time while walking Ali I saw members of the tribal council taking off in a helicopter for somewhere.   So, even though they have the occasional rodeos here in a huge rodeo / entertainment arena, transportation for the tribal upper echelon is now private jets and helicopters!

Here is a photo of Pam with long time friend Margaret from Lancaster NH and her 'significant other', John.   Margaret and John came over to the reservation from Hobe Sound, FL where they spend the winter, to spend the day with us.   We took them to the Billy Swamp Safari on the reservation where we visited alligators, a Florida Panther and took airboat and swamp buggy rides through the swamps here.  It was a rainy day and we all got soaked pretty well on the airboat ride....but at only 3 miles from our campsite we were able to come back and have some tea and warm up.

The Swamp buggy ride took us past many different types of animals the Seminoles have "rescued" from a former exotic game hunting preserve here in southern Florida.  Here you see water buffalo and Ibis birds.   The birds are indigenous to the area and sit on the backs of the buffalo and pick at the bugs and flys....!

 

Swamp Buggy at Billy Swamp Safari

Another animal on the buggy ride is this very handsome Elan.  An Elan is the largest of the antelope family.

 



To the left is a banana tree.  Note the huge leaves that collect rainwater for the plant and funnel it to the root system.  The bananas grow in bunches like these and often are found to be very nice habitats for the tarantula spider.   So if you ever want to pick a banana in its own environment, do so very carefully!!  There is a very beautiful flower than blooms in season on the very end of that "roped tentacle" you see hanging from the bananas.  The next photo shows the blossom we were lucky enough to see.
 

 Here is the purple flower that seems to blossom as an oval shaped flower about 8 to 10 inches long....and then as the season progresses it seems to "peel back" like an onion, showing very colorful leaves.  Note too the roped tentacle that attaches the flower to the bananas above.   Very interesting.

Before leaving the area we were fortunate enough to catch Pam's cousin Patty, seen here, and her husband David, at home in Naples.   We made the drive to Naples to meet them...and got a tour of their very lovely home.   They took us to a very nice place for lunch and then we drove through the beachfront area of the city where we witnessed one huge mansion after another on the water.  Serious money in Naples for sure!!   Pam had not seen Patty and Dave for 13 years so it was a big event indeed.