A timelapse from my 360 camera of an airboat swamp tour near New Orleans.
New Orleans airboat swamp tour
We took a swamp tour on an airboat, via LaBiche Swamp Tours. Though more of a bayou tour, with a brief trip through a swamp.
We saw a bunch of birds, and some alligators, on a small six-passenger airboat.
A map of the area:
We booked via Mona Lisa Lounge, a nearby dive bar, who provided a bonus pre-tour beverage, some beads, and conversation with the very drunk wife of the owner:
We then proceeded to the tour dock:
The waiting area:
Our airboat:
A larger airboat:
Heading out through the bayou:
The alligators were starting brumation, so were less common, but we did see a few. Here’s our first alligator sighting:
A video of a swimming gator:
A video of airboat travel:
Another video of a swimming gator:
Our airboat:
Another airboat:
A rescued gator back at the dock:
A fun experience.
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:
We had a jazz brunch at the Court of Two Sisters:
A beignet and coffee snack:
Even the cops have swag:
We stopped at another Cafe Beignet for coffee beans (that were kinda gross), and also picked up some tasty pralines:
A brief drive through the Garden District:
Hale Boggs 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:
A couple more shots from the French Quarter to finish up:
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:
An interactive map:
Our canal-front site:
Views from our site:
A rail drawbridge, sticking up in the open state:
And closed:
A barge waiting for the drawbridge to open:
Lots of pelicans:
The City of New Orleans arriving for servicing:
Some rainy days:
And thunderstorms:
The sewer connection was super loose:
The site wasn’t very clean; this is the trash I picked up on arrival:
We could fill a gap in our states map (but yes, by the time you read this, Florida will also be there):
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:
The neighboring hot tub kept blowing open in the wind:
Other sites:
Cabins:
The 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):
There is a shuttle to downtown, though we didn’t use it, preferring to drive and park; plenty of paid parking available:
Pool:
Dog park:
There are two marinas; this is the smaller one behind the office:
The larger one opposite a boat repair yard:
A nice thing about this resort is an onsite restaurant, The LightHouse Bar:
Menu:
We went there several evenings; here are a sampling of our food and beverages:
A nice resort; we’d be happy to stay here again.
Travel from Toomsuba, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana
We drove our coach 208 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Toomsuba, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading southwest:
An interactive map:
Back along the narrow road from the campground:
We stopped at the Loves truck stop to use their CAT scale to weigh our coach and truck:
The results are much the same as previous times, though the truck is heavier, no doubt due to the addition of the canopy and slide; all still within the limits:
Heading onto I-59 south:
The truck parking areas have totally reassuring signs saying “No Security Provided”; we have to wonder what incident caused them to add such signs:
Lots of space in this parking area:
Roadworks:
Another parking area stop; a little smaller and busier, but we found a spot:
“Welcome to Louisiana” sign:
Twin span bridge over Lake Pontchartrain:
Old bridge segment, I guess? Now a fishing pier:
Drawbridge:
Chef Menteur Highway bridge:
Abandoned buildings on the road to our destination:
Arriving at our destination:
Guided to our site:
We had a pull-in waterfront spot for two weeks:
Unfortunately no travel video again today; I didn’t notice that it had filled up and wasn’t recording until after this trip.
Extra shelving
While in Red Bay we spent several days at Davidson RV, getting them to do several projects. One of those was to add extra shelves to many of our cupboards.
Some cupboards above our couch, before adding shelves:
After adding shelves:
We also got some organizers for ziploc baggies, lids, and measuring cups:
We got them to raise this new shelf up a bit, so our rice maker would fit:
Partially populated; it’s normally packed full of food:
Much tidier plate and bowl cupboard:
We also got them to add dividers to Jenn’s clothing drawers:
And an extra shelf in my bathroom cupboard:
Nice improvements that really help us organize our storage!
Meridian East / Toomsuba KOA Journey
We stayed at Meridian East / Toomsuba KOA Journey in Toomsuba, Mississippi. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Just a one night stay to break up an otherwise too-long drive.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-11-18
- Check out: 2023-11-19
- 1 night
Weather:
- Partly cloudy
- High temp 70°F, low 42°F
- Negligible wind
Noise:
- A little local road noise, no freeway noise
- Occasional train noise
- Negligible neighbor noise
Site:
- #45, pull-through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t
- Level; used air leveling, since only one night
- Gravel driveway about 70 feet long by about 12 feet wide
- Grass between sites about 12 feet wide
- Picnic table on grass
- No fire pit
- Clean site
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- Didn’t use water or sewer, but conveniently located
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Campground Wi-Fi: 22-27 Mbps down, 11-23 Mbps up, 65 ms ping
- T-Mobile: 2-5 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
- AT&T: 16-20 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
- Verizon: 3-8 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 125 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster
- Seasonally closed pool and water slide
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Sketchy road, nice trees
This campground is conveniently located off I-20, just far enough away that you don’t get road from the Interstate. Still, there are downsides: 1) the narrow country road to get there is very narrow with lots of low-hanging trees, 2) the “recycling” yard you drive by does not give a great impression, and 3) the local residents go way too fast down this road, and there is a lot of local road noise. The park roads are also a bit narrow, with some tight turns. We had a pull-through site that was just long enough for our 40′ motorhome and tow vehicle. We didn’t have to disconnect, but we took up pretty much the entire length. If the 5th wheel next to us hadn’t left before we did, I wasn’t sure if we would’ve had enough room to turn onto the road. But the site was clean and the trees were pleasant, so this was a good spot for a one-night stay. We camped at Meridian East / Toomsuba KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Other nearby sites:
The office:
Inside, a piano:
This was a perfectly fine place to stay for a night, though the road to it was a bit narrow, so we’d probably look for somewhere more convenient if we come this way again in the future.
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:
An interactive map:
Leaving the Red Bay Acres RV park:
“Welcome to Mississippi”:
Highway 76:
Exit to I-22:
I-22:
Tombigbee River:
A momentary loss of visibility from farm dust:
The speed limit signs also have a minimum speed, unusually:
Exit to Tupelo:
We stopped for lunch at Tin Lizzie Cafe in West Point, Mississippi:
BLT (without the tomato) and “tater babies” wedges:
The highway had frequent turnaround lanes:
Paladin asleep next to the passenger chair:
Highway 45:
Exit to I-20:
I-20:
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):
The slowest DEF pump; it took 10 minutes to pump five gallons:
$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):
A narrow road to our destination:
And a narrower road:
Our destination, a KOA Journey:
Our site:
Unfortunately no travel video today; my dashcam had filled up and failed to record.
Natchez Trace Parkway
We drove along about 140 miles of the 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. A weird park barely wider than the road, with thousands of years of history.
Though we drove both ways on that portion, so a total of about 280 miles, plus some detours, over two days.
We also drove past Elvis Presley’s birthplace and Tupelo National Battlefield, and visited Meriwether Lewis National Monument.
An interactive map (see the NPS site for the full route map):
Tupelo:
Back to the Parkway:
Alabama state line:
Tennessee River:
Tennessee State Line:
Meriwether Lewis National Monument, where Lewis of Lewis & Clark died and was buried:
Laurel Hill Road:
Sunset:
A nice scenic drive, with some interesting stops.
Video: Red Bay Acres and Davidson RV timelapse
A timelapse of driving our coach between the Red Bay Acres RV park and Davidson RV for services.