Morgan City, LA

I was remiss in my last blog when I mentioned that Larry and Lainie told us about Lake End Park....and Rita Mae's restaurant.....I did not include a photo....so here they are:   Larry, Pam and Lainie at the campsite last year on St George Island (FL Panhandle) with their (former) Avanti coach, Squarebottom!    (We love these guys!!)

                    Easy to tell where you are when you see a campground sign like this-ha!
(passing a good time....gotta like that!!)

 

We visited a small, 9 acre park established and named after the Brownell family here in Morgan City.  They built it as a memorial for their mother.   A nice, quiet space for contemplation, a nature walk (watch out for the gators in season) and the Carillon Tower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a photo of the bell tower erected by the Brownells.  The tower has 61 bells, all cast in Holland; and it plays various hymn segments every 15 minutes and chimes with its larger bells every hour on the hour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a view of Lake Palourde from the Brownell Park, with the bald cypress trees covered in moss and the mangroves in the foreground.   The bayous in this area are picturesque, sometimes in a foreboding way if the light is just right.....reminiscent of the movie "Swamp Thing"....in which Adrienne Barbeau stole the show....(for those of us old enough to remember and had a fondness for class B movies)

 

We took a drive to see the area and hopefully locate a couple of good bayou kayaking spots...our drive took us over the Mighty Mississippi a couple of times.....here is a typical bridge structure over the river....plenty high up to give plenty of room to the barges and tug boats that ply the river.

Our drive took us through the small town of Donaldsonville, LA where we discovered the Grapevine Restaurant.....a charming, eclectic place with great food....Pam had the gumbo and I had the crabcakes...and we shared the signature dessert:  bread pudding.   We recommend it!

 

These dark gray, quite plump aquatic birds....with black heads and very white bills and a white neck are (if you can believe it) American Coots!   The Coots are everywhere here...and give the ducks competition for the bread crumbs campers will toss about. 

 

Like the ducks, Ali likes to chase them.

 

 

 

 

 



And speaking of Ali.....here she is giving herself a good back rub!!

Stay tuned for more from Louisiana....a visit to New Orleans, a few of the plantations and the Avery Island Tabasco factory are coming up.....