NOLA 💛💜💚

We spent 4 nights in the New Orleans area on the outskirts of town in St Bernard State Park. This was a great spot to hop into the city but also to take advantage of the green lush swamp area of Louisiana. The kids especially loved the playground that was basically on our doorstep!
Our first day we couldn't wait to head into the city. We found a parking spot and headed up to the French Quarter. It wasn't hard to miss all the bars and souvenir shops even early in the morning! We stopped at the NPS visitor center to get another stamp on our JR books. We needed to visit 4 of the 6 sites to get the Jean Lafitte patch! From there it was on to Jackson Square to see the park and cathedral. This is a popular stopping place for visitors. We snapped a few pics, Willow did some gymnastics and then we decided it was time to eat. The natural choice when in NOLA is obviously beignets. We headed to the famous Cafe Du Monde. It's clear this place hasn't changed much over the last few decades, cash only and no frills service but the result is perfect, flaky, sugary beignets and amazing coffee! After our bellies were full we walked around the French Quarter and then headed down to the Mississippi to board our scenic steamboat tour on The Natchez. This was indeed a special boat with beautiful river views, interesting tour facts, engine room tour and a live jazz band. The Natchez is one of the last fully powdered steam boats on the Mississippi. We spent a lot of time watching the paddle power us through the Mississippi. One of our favorite parts was watching Willow dance to the band! She didn't stop, the whole time, each number more enthusiastic than the last. She even took the house at the end of the performance by getting more applause then than the band 😅
Day two we did a nature walk around the campground and hung out at the playground for the morning. In the afternoon we headed over to the Chalmette battlefield to learn about the battle of New Orleans during the war of 1812. We met a really cool ranger who shared her badge collection with us. She also led an educational talk about the battle under a big old oak tree on the grounds where the battle took place. We all learned a lot and enjoyed the visit.
Our last day we visited the last NPS site,Barataria Preserve. The visitor center offered great displays of the local animals and we joined a ranger on a walk of the swamp. We were delighted to see a Mama alligator with her babies inches from the boardwalk. We all just quietly watched the Mama soak up the sun while her babies jumped on her back and through the grass. The ranger shared lots of gator facts and we enjoyed the beautiful landscape that the swap had to offer. At the end of the visit the kids earned their Jean Lafitte Park badges and special patch for visiting 4 sites. To end our New Orleans stay we had a fire and watched an outdoor screening of Princess and the Frog, the perfect bayou film!Baca lagi