Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Texas USA

Our first stop in the great state of Texas was in a small town of Wallisville TX. The time here would be short , only two days but the experience would not be .
We headed to the Gulf of Mexico via the Bolivar Peninsula , that’s where Sharon and I saw the working oil wells  we’ve never seen before .
working Texas Oil Well
I started to wonder why there weren't more housing along this gulf shore …….Sharon remembered that this is where Hurricane Ike hit only a year or so ago ……
100_4769

 Mile after mile of empty shore and streets …….
We drove the 20 miles along Crystal Beach , finding only an occasional house being built or done ……very sad ……
At the end of the road is Port Bolivar and a short ferry ride to Galveston TX.
100_4774
Galveston , is a neat city ……  lots of shops and older buildings ……It also had one of Sharon’s favorite places ……Ice Cream Shoppe ……
We drove back to the campground and were treated with a nice bridge ride :
100_4793
we’ll be heading to Elgin TX. , home to one of Sharons’ friends from when she was a young newspaper girl ……

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Christmas in the South

We arrived at Abita Springs Resort in Louisiana on the 21 of December …….and only a 45 minute ride to the” BIG EASY “ that’s right Christmas in New Orleans LA……..

100B4580

The route we took to New Orleans was on this 24 mile bridge …..we couldn’t see any land and it looked like a bridge to nowhere …….

The first thing we saw was the Silver Dome …..it  brought memories of  Hurricane Katrina , I think it was only five years ago …..

100_4462

Next , we had to find parking , not an easy thing to do , lots wanted $20.00 for all day parking….They are nuts to think I’d pay that much……1/2 hour later I found no free parking ….DARN IT !!!!  I did remember a fellow camper told me if you  gamble only 30 minutes the Casino lets you park for  “FREE” in their ramp !!!!  That’s for us I said to Sharon ,as smart as I am , when I’m done they’ll be paying me to park there !!!!  OK needless to say it cost me over $125.00 for parking ….Will I ever learn ?

 100_4464

So , here's the French Quarter :

Bourbon St . is just like you see in the movies ….and on TV…..Bar after bar and we were there during the day  , but you can feel it’s the nights when all things good and crazy happen !!!!!

Next we went to the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square .   Really big and beautiful ……

It was time to find something to eat ……we  wanted to try the food known in the Quarter ….we found a neat cafĂ© and ate on the second floor balcony ….

100_4485

This was the view and the weather was a little cool but sunny …… I ordered a Muffaletta , it’s a round sandwich with ham , salami and cheese grilled with and olive oil and green olives dressing  …. uuummm so good …..Sharon had a chicken and fish gumbo ….

The Casino had a snow machine going outside …so we had a feel for  Christmas's past  …It was fun to see the kids playing

100_4512

Oh and Santa was here too …..

100_4516

That’s it for now …from here we head to Wallisville TX and we all know everything is HUGE in Texas ….