Carrabelle

We didn’t really do anything during the three weeks we stayed at Ho-Hum RV Park over the holidays. That seems to be fairly typical for us, just taking some downtime to relax. Especially with some very busy times coming up after this (stay tuned!).

Ho-Hum is in a kinda out-of-the-way area, but near a town called Carrabelle (population 2,778). We did go to one restaurant, the post office, and the local grocery store; that was pretty much the limit of our exploring here. There are definitely a few more things to do and see, e.g. we considered going to check out a couple of nearby lighthouses, but we’ll save that for our next visit.

Here’s an interactive map:

Carrabelle

We had lunch at Marine Street Grill:

Marine Street Grill

Pizza

Next to the post office is the world’s smallest police station:

World's smallest police station

The Gulfside IGA Plus grocery store is a little small, but had almost everything we wanted:

Grocery store

(There is a Walmart 45 minutes away, for people who use that as a marker of civilization.)

Clock and memorial:

Clock and memorial

We do enjoy cute little towns, and this is definitely one. We’ll have to make a point of exploring it more when we’re here again.

Lambert’s Cafe

I usually don’t do a blog post about a restaurant, unless it is particularly remarkable. Lambert’s Cafe fits that criterion.

We went there for lunch, and it was quite the experience. Their claim to fame is “throwed rolls” — they have a guy roaming around, throwing freshly baked rolls to patrons. Which sounds like a bad idea, but is actually rather fun. (And this from a guy who doesn’t do “fun”.)

They also have people circulating with bowls of “pass arounds”, side dishes that they ladle onto a paper towel as soon as you sit down and your plate throughout the meal, including Southern staples like fried okra, black-eyed peas, fried potatoes and onions (my favorite), and several more.

Lambert's Cafe

There was a line to get a table, which usually makes us bail, but we opted to wait; it wasn’t a long delay:

Line

A sign indicates they don’t do doggie bags, which appears to be out-of-date, as we were offered a box for our leftovers:

Sign

Lambert's Cafe

Pretty much as soon as we sat down, they provided some fried okra; our first time tasting it (not bad, less great once cooled down):

Fried okra

Menu:

We were also tossed some rolls, as advertised. They were super tasty, nice and soft:

Rolls

We ordered sodas, which arrived in huge mugs (hard to tell the scale, but these were substantially larger than normal, even by American standards; the menu says they are 34 oz, which is about three cans of soda):

Huge soda mugs

Jenn ordered chicken and dumplings and a couple of sides (included):

Chicken and dumplings

I ordered meatloaf and sides:

Meatloaf

As mentioned, throughout the meal staff would come by offering additional sides; we tried several of them. It is possible to just order an empty plate and make a meal of the “pass arounds”, which would be plenty of food.

Throwing rolls:

Throwing rolls

When we were done (stuffed!), they provided a doggie bag and box, and even to-go cups for the leftover sodas, which we hadn’t encountered before; nice that they’re not wasting all that:

To-go cup

Quite a unique experience. And taking typical American over-consumption to the next level. Highly recommended, if you’re not on a diet!

Travel from New Orleans, Louisiana to Spanish Fort, Alabama

We drove our coach 146 miles, about 2 hours of driving, from New Orleans, Louisiana to Spanish Fort, Alabama.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northeast:

Route

An interactive map with potential stops; we actually only stopped at the Flying J:

Preparing to leave our site:

Preparing to leave our site

Hooking up our truck, with the City of New Orleans paddleboat in the background:

Hooking up our truck

Rail crossing and onramp:

Rail crossing and onramp

Drawbridge:

Drawbridge

Bridge:

Bridge

Another drawbridge:

Drawbridge

I-10:

I-10

“Welcome to Mississippi”:

Welcome to Mississippi

We stopped at a Flying J truck stop for lunch:

Flying J

The truck parking was rather full. With our toad attached we can’t back up, and this parking area has back-to-back spots, so we could only park where there was two adjacent ones empty so we could pull through. It was a difficult turn and tight squeeze, but Jenn’s driving skills got it done:

Parking between trucks

Parked between trucks

Parked with trucks

This Flying J has a Denny’s restaurant, so we had lunch there:

Denny's menu

I tried a rather decadent “choconana pancake slam”, just to be different:

Breakfast for lunch

Jenn’s was a bit more conventional:

Breakfast for lunch

Back to our coach:

Back to our coach

“I love the way you look at me” Buc-ee’s billboard… a little creepy, perhaps:

I love the way you look at me

I had fun spotting our coach passing by on traffic cameras:

Our coach via traffic camera

Bridge:

Bridge

An amusing info sign: “Cats have 9 lives. You are not a cat. Buckle up”:

Cats have 9 lives, you are not a cat. Buckle up

Another traffic camera:

Our coach via traffic camera

Alabama state line:

Alabama state line

“Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama”:

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama

I think these are electrical transformers:

Transformers on a truck

Another couple of glimpses of our coach on Alabama traffic cameras:

Our coach via traffic camera

Mobile, Alabama:

Mobile, Alabama

A tunnel under the Mobile River:

Tunnel

You can see it curving downward as it goes under the river:

Tunnel

USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park:

USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park

USS Alabama Battleship

Our destination for the next two weeks, Meaher State Park:

Meaher State Park

Check out the video from this drive, which includes a picture-in-picture of the view from the truck behind our coach.

New Orleans Steamboat Natchez Sunday Brunch Jazz Cruise

We did a brunch cruise on the Natchez, the last authentic steamboat on the Mississippi River.

Steamboat Natchez

Live steam calliope playing:

Live calliope playing

A video:

Lunch boarding info:

Lunch boarding info

Dining room:

Dining room

Our table:

Our table

Gumbo and salad:

Soup and salad

Buffet:

Buffet

Brunch:

Brunch

Dining room

Dessert:

Dessert

Bow:

Bow

Steamboat Natchez

Gift shop:

Gift shop

Steamboat Natchez

Paddle wheel:

Paddlewheel

A video:

Selfie

Paddlewheel

Steamboat Natchez

Life vests in the ceiling:

Life vests in the ceiling

Boiler room:

Boiler room

Engine room:

Engine room

Three short video clips:

Paddlewheel

Engine room louver

Info

Bar:

Bar

Ship

Near the waterline:

Near the waterline

Bow

New Orleans:

New Orleans

Bridge

Church

City

Sister ship City of New Orleans:

City of New Orleans

Ferry:

Ferry

Creole Queen:

Creole Queen

Cruise ship:

Cruise ship

Bridge

Lines

Throwing a leader line:

Throwing a line

Pulling the line:

Pulling line

On the winch:

Line

Disembarking:

Disembarking

Steamboat Natchez

Posed photo (I really need to learn how to smile in a way that’s visible behind my mustache in such photos):

Posed photo

Natchez info:

Natchez info

Steamboat Natchez

A fun brunch cruise.

New Orleans Oak Alley Plantation

We visited Oak Alley Plantation, a historic sugar plantation west of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Sign

Entrance drive

Map:

Map

Trees

One reason we chose to tour this plantation was that they acknowledged the history of slavery as part of the establishment:

Info sign

They had exhibits on the slave quarters, work, and other conditions:

Slave quarters

Slave exhibits

Some nice gardens:

Gardens

The big house:

Big house

Sugarcane theater, with a video on sugarcane harvesting:

Sugarcane theater

Big house

Gardens

Big house

Gardens

Big house

We had a guided tour of inside the big house. Unfortunately they don’t allow photos inside:

Ticket

A view of the oak trees from the second floor balcony:

Oak trees

The wrap-around balcony:

Porch

Gardens

After the tour inside, we walked around the gardens some more:

Gardens

Oak trees

Big house

Oak trees

Then went to the cafe for lunch, followed by the gift store:

Restaurant and gift store

Cafe

Beverages

Food

Slave quarters and big house

Fascinating history.

New Orleans

We did a bit of exploring of New Orleans, Louisiana, including walking around the French Quarter, a quick drive through the Garden District, and elsewhere. This post has an assortment of pictures from the city.

An interactive map:

Lots of pictures from the distinctive French Quarter:

French Quarter buildings

French Quarter

We had a jazz brunch at the Court of Two Sisters:

French Quarter

Court of the Two Sisters

Court of Two Sisters

French Quarter

A beignet and coffee snack:

French Quarter

Even the cops have swag:

French Quarter

We stopped at another Cafe Beignet for coffee beans (that were kinda gross), and also picked up some tasty pralines:

French Quarter buildings

French Quarter

A brief drive through the Garden District:

Garden District

Hale Boggs Bridge:

Hale Boggs Bridge

Veterans Memorial Bridge:

Veterans Memorial Bridge

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway holds the Guinness World Record for longest continuous span over water in the world, at 23.83 miles (38.35 km) long:

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway

A couple more shots from the French Quarter to finish up:

French Quarter

The city certainly has a lot of character.

New Orleans RV Resort & Marina

We stayed at New Orleans RV Resort & Marina in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A canal-front site close to the attractions of NOLA.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-11-19
Check out: 2023-12-03
14 nights

Weather:

Partly cloudy, some rain
High temps ranging between 54-77°F, lows around 50-62°F
A little wind, gusts to 24 MPH

Noise:

Some road noise
Distant train noise
Plane noise from local airport
Occasional boat and jetski noise in the canal
Little neighbor noise

Site:

#7, front in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
Fairly level; used hydraulic leveling
Gravel driveway about 50 feet long by about 20 feet wide
Bark between sites about 6 feet wide
Picnic table on grass
No fire pit
A bunch of small garbage and dog poop
Waterfront!

Utilities:

50 amp power, very conveniently located
35 PSI water, very conveniently located
Very loose sewer connection (the screw part wasn’t connected to the pipe), conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 55 Mbps down, 32 Mbps up, 54 ms ping
AT&T: 7 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 52 ms ping
Verizon: 9-13 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 135 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage pickup from site
Package delivery to office
Onsite restaurant
Waterfront (canal)

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Industrial shipyards and pelicans

Don’t let the sketchy-looking area fool you as you drive in. This is a very nice resort close to everything you’d want to do in NOLA. We had a waterfront site and loved watching the birds skimming over the water and the parade of fishing boats going between the lake and the river. Our site was pretty short, just long enough for our 40′ motorhome, with barely enough space to park our tow vehicle alongside, but being able to face over the water was very nice.

The resort has a nice restaurant and bar onsite for when you don’t feel like going into the city itself. All the touristy stuff you’d want to do is conveniently close and parking in the French Quarter was not as scary as I thought it would be. We camped at New Orleans RV Resort & Marina in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our canal-front site:

Our site

Views from our site:

View

A rail drawbridge, sticking up in the open state:

View

And closed:

View

A barge waiting for the drawbridge to open:

View

Lots of pelicans:

View

Moon

The City of New Orleans arriving for servicing:

View

Some rainy days:

Rain

And thunderstorms:

Thunderstorms

The sewer connection was super loose:

Loose sewer

The site wasn’t very clean; this is the trash I picked up on arrival:

Trash

We could fill a gap in our states map (but yes, by the time you read this, Florida will also be there):

States map

We were sandwiched between two “Presidential” sites, with covered kitchens and hot tubs. We wouldn’t have preferred such a site, though, as the roof would have impeded our view:

Other sites

The neighboring hot tub kept blowing open in the wind:

Hot tub

Other sites:

Other sites

Cabins:

Cabin

The office:

Office

They allowed package delivery for guests, with a large pile in the front of the office (not very secure; people just come grab their packages; I prefer it when they have a mail room to keep packages more secure, though of course that is more staff burden):

Packages

There is a shuttle to downtown, though we didn’t use it, preferring to drive and park; plenty of paid parking available:

Shuttle info

Pool:

Pool

Dog park:

Dog park

There are two marinas; this is the smaller one behind the office:

Marina

The larger one opposite a boat repair yard:

Marina

A nice thing about this resort is an onsite restaurant, The LightHouse Bar:

The LightHouse Bar

Menu:

Specials

The LightHouse Bar

We went there several evenings; here are a sampling of our food and beverages:

Drinks

Food

A nice resort; we’d be happy to stay here again.

Travel from Red Bay, Alabama to Toomsuba, Mississippi

We drove our coach 180 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Red Bay, Alabama to Toomsuba, Mississippi.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading southeast:

Route

An interactive map:

Leaving the Red Bay Acres RV park:

Leaving Red Bay Acres

“Welcome to Mississippi”:

Welcome to Mississippi

Highway 76:

Highway 76

Exit to I-22:

Exit to I-22

I-22:

I-22

Tombigbee River:

Tombigbee River

A momentary loss of visibility from farm dust:

Farm dust

The speed limit signs also have a minimum speed, unusually:

Minimum speed sign

Exit to Tupelo:

Exit to Tupelo

We stopped for lunch at Tin Lizzie Cafe in West Point, Mississippi:

Tin Lizzie Cafe

BLT (without the tomato) and “tater babies” wedges:

BLT and wedges

The highway had frequent turnaround lanes:

Turnaround

Paladin asleep next to the passenger chair:

Paladin

Highway 45:

Highway 45

Exit to I-20:

Exit to I-20

I-20:

I-20

TA fuel stop:

TA fuel stop

The pump price was $371.99 for 107 gallons of diesel (thirsty coach!), though we actually paid less, thanks to our Open Roads discount (see below):

$371.99 for 107 gallons of diesel

The slowest DEF pump; it took 10 minutes to pump five gallons:

DEF

$23.69 for 5.779 gallons of DEF:

$23.69 for 5.779 gallons of DEF

The Open Roads statement indicated that we saved $30.65 on the diesel (the DEF isn’t discounted):

Open Roads statement

A narrow road to our destination:

Narrow road

And a narrower road:

Narrower road

Our destination, a KOA Journey:

Our destination

Our site:

Our destination

Unfortunately no travel video today; my dashcam had filled up and failed to record.

Red Bay Acres RV Resort

We stayed at Red Bay Acres RV Resort in Red Bay, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice full-hookup RV park in the hometown of Tiffin Motorhomes.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-11-07
Check out: 2023-11-18
11 nights

Weather:

Partly cloudy, some rain
High temps ranging between 63-80°F, lows around 41-62°F
A little wind, gusts to 24 MPH

Noise:

No road noise
No train noise
Hourly clock tower noise
A little neighbor and tech services noise

Site:

#31, back in, concrete
Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
Level; used air and hydraulic leveling at different times
Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by about 12 feet wide
Grass between sites wedge-shaped, from about 20 to 35 feet wide
Picnic table on 12 by 12 feet concrete patio; fire pit
Clean site
Lots of ladybug-like insects invading our coach; we kept finding them for months afterwards

Utilities:

50 amp power, conveniently located
60 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, fairly conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 55 Mbps down, 18 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
AT&T: 117-122 Mbps down, 11-16 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
Verizon: 4-28 Mbps down, 9-12 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage pickup from site
Package delivery to site
Onsite restaurant
Pond
Hometown of Tiffin; local RV repairs

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Nice place to return to after service

This is the place to stay when in Red Bay for service. It is a beautifully maintained park, with all the sites facing the fishing pond. All the other parks in town were basic gravel lots. The one drawback is having to back in to the site when coming back from service each day, but that’s not a big deal. The concrete pad was nicely level and all the utilities were good. It’s also nice to have the Yacht Club on-site for a bite to eat at the end of the day. If you’re looking to get service done on-site, make sure to check the list of approved vendors. We camped at Red Bay Acres RV Resort in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Lost Pines Coffee had decent coffee and baked goods for a midday pick-me-up. The Natchez Trace Parkway is fairly close and a very nice scenic drive.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site was one of the Luxury sites on the corners, with more space and a fire pit (which of course we didn’t use):

Our site

Staying here was a bit different than most campgrounds, as we drove our coach to RV service companies in town on several days; waking up early and driving about 7 minutes to get some services done, then driving back to our site to spend the night. So we used air leveling and didn’t put on the Magne Shades on those days.

But we did have several days without any services in the middle of our stay, so we put on the Magne Shade and used hydraulic leveling then:

Our site

We boarded Paladin at a local vet during the first few days of our stay, since the techs needed frequent access to the inside of our coach during that period. So we were able to leave our entry door and screen door open; very unusual for us (though we didn’t leave it open long, to avoid bugs invading):

Open door

Later in our stay, there was an influx of Asian Lady Beetles, invasive ladybug-like beetles. We spent a few days catching dozens of them (and releasing them outside):

Asian Lady Beetles