NOLA Love
Before this trip, I had only been to New Orleans once. Freshman year of college; playing in a tournament for the Michigan State University girls’ club rugby team (those were the days, let me tell ya.) It was an absolute blast but undoubtedly, 19 year old me is not the same as 43 year old married me with my four little lovelies .
We stayed on the north side of Lake Ponchartrain, as recommended by several people we met along the way. It ended up being a great location, despite the campground being crazy busy on the weekend. It still amazes me, being from the Midwest, that camping is really a year round activity in many other parts of the country. (Like in the South, New Year’s is a MAJOR camping holiday….who knew!?!)
We only went down into the city of New Orleans once while in the area and really, that was enough. We did the obligatory Cafe Du Monde trip for beignets and they did not disappoint. We dined with hundreds of our closest friends and a slew of greedy pigeons while a street band blasted some amazing jazz just outside the cafe. (The beignets were everything I dreamed and I will crave them for years to come.)
We strolled around Jackson Square, bought charming art from a local street artist, stepped in questionable puddles that no doubt contained substances I don’t want to discuss because I had sandals on, visited the most eclectic little art studio, and had lunch at a true NOLA gem (I’ll remember the name at some point).
Near our campground was the Global Wildlife Center. The girls and I visited one day while poor Brendan stayed at the RV to work, and to say it was an INCREDIBLE experience doesn’t do it justice. Per their website,
“The Global Wildlife Center is one of the largest free-roaming wildlife preserves of its kind in the country! We are located in Folsom, Louisiana and are home to over 3,500 exotic, endangered, and threatened animals from all over the world.”
It was AMAZING. We rode a tram that drove through the entire park and you could feed and pet nearly all of the animals. (Except for the zebra because apparently they are territorial about their food and get a little mean with the other animals.) Nearly all the giraffes followed us throughout the park and ate the bulk of our food. (I also got to pet a bison which was a life highlight for sure.) Check it out and book your visit immediately!
We also did a swamp tour while in the area, which was fantastic. The girls got to hold a baby alligator (the tour company raises them up to a certain age and then releases them into the swamp) and feed marshmallows to wild raccoons off the back of the boat (super safe). On our tour we saw full grown alligators and to my surprise, wild pigs! The swamp really is a fascinating place. Our guide was a true blue real life cajun creole kid; that’s not a thing, but you get my gist….he legit grew up “in the swamp.” He told us about hunting the wild pigs and other small animals, like nutria who are invasive to the area and hunting them will get you paid $6/tail. He also shared that Spanish Moss is known as “cajun toiletpaper” in the swamplands. See….we are learning so many good cultural things on this trip! :)
New Orleans is a beautiful city with so much incredible history, beautiful architecture, and amazing opportunities to experience nature. (Just make sure you do your homework on where to go and what to see!)
