Month: October 2021

Jean Lafitte Swamp Tour — June 1, 2020

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Good Deals and Gators

I found a great deal for the Jean Lafitte Swamp Tour on Groupon, and got us all tickets. It also helped that I had some leftover credits/Groupon Bucks! In all I think I paid $4.00 for the whole family, so it was an easy decision to go. Although we can see alligators in Florida, it has been very interesting seeing them on this trip, too, so we were very excited to go.

Amazed at ourselves we actually got there early! We registered and looked around the property for a few minutes before it was time to get on the pontoon boat. When ordering tickets we had already decided that we would enjoy that over a noisy/windy airboat tour, and once we got on and started chatting with others aboard we knew we had made the right choice. Joe broke the ice by asking where everyone was from, and after that there were a lot of conversations going around us. We even found a few people from Iowa!

After tooling down the access canal, we got into the Carpes Swamp area and started seeing more wildlife. I won’t go crazy with pictures of gators, but here are a few of the larger ones we saw on our tour.

We also went by a cabin that was used in the filming of several movies, so I took a picture of it if anyone recognizes it!

One of the movies filmed here was with Nicolas Cage, and so out pops an album with photos. See if you know any of these people (hint: one is Nicoas Cage!):

Getting even Closer to Nature

Now it was time to head back, and also time to get closer with nature. After looking at alligators for so long, Captain Jamie thought we should see one up close. First he showed us all how to hold it, and then we got to pass it around. Joe declined a turn with the baby because he thought it might pee on him. For the record, the baby alligator did not pee on anyone! Jamie also passed around a large preserved alligator head. Much to their delight, the boys got two turns with the baby alligator!

If you like alligators, bayous, and corny jokes, we highly recommend our Captain, Jamie Beasley!

Goofy Lunch Break!

Viewing and playing with alligators will work up the appetite! We found an amazing gem of a restaurant near our campground in Westwego. The Little Kitchen had all of our favorites, a fun atmosphere, and great low prices! If we had gone there sooner during our stay we definitely would have gone there often!!

Back to Camp

Flocks of birds, busy armadillos, fuzzy caterpillars, turtles, and more tiny sticky frogs were just a few of the things we enjoyed around the campground on our last night at Bayou Segnette. The boys enjoyed the playground and riding their bikes while Joe and I went for a walk. I also finished a an urban sketch of our day at Cedar Key.

Memorial Day at the WWII Museum

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We thought that one of the best ways to celebrate Memorial Day was to spend it learning more about WWII History witha tour of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

Entering the space we got oriented to the museum layout. The first activity is a train exhibit–always up the Liddy alley! We did the road to war and home front sections, and moved on the the Campaigns of Courage: European and Pacific Theters. After that we went to the amazing movie experience, Beyond All Boundaries. Narrated by Tom Hanks, there were also props and special effects that made it even more dramatic. After the movie and lunch, we spent a long time in the section with the most airplanes, the US Freedom Pavilion: the Boeing Center. The boys had challenge pages with the silhouettes of different planes, along with brief descriptions. Their task was to match them with the planes on display, so we took some extra time for them to finish their worksheets. For the final few hours we rushed through the two different campaign sections: The Road to Berlin, and the Road to Tokyo. We spent all day, but did not see it all!

Road to War

Fire Direction Tower model

Uniforms and Equipment

From the Leaders

By Air and By Sea

US Freedom Pavillion: the Boeing Center

The Road to Berlin

We had the opportunity to follow a service person with the Dog Tag Project. Clayton’s was Doris “Dorie” Miller, and we found some of his story in this section. The boys also loved the large equipment, and the “hole” in the ceiling with the planes going by. The museum was about to close, so we did have to rush through these.

Back to the Bayou!

A quick drive through town, and it was back to Bayou Segnette! We enjoyed some different views on our walk; the boys thought that the line-up of boats in the auxillary parking lot were pretty funny! We watched some tour and fishing boats go by, considered buying an island, and laughed at al of the large birds roosting in the power tower. All-in-all a great day!

Sunday in the City Park, May 30

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After hanging out at Bayou Segnette a few days, Sunday came and we ventured out into the city again.

We chose First Baptist of New Orleans, which is near Metairie Cemetery. The teaching was very good, and I especially loved their lobby walls with the murals depicting their local and international missions.

After church we went over to City Park. We saw some people with crazy Mardi Gras outfits walking through the parking lot!

We walked over to the Children’s Museum, and discovered these “weeble-wobble” chairs on their front porch:

Then we headed inside and found out that they had just reopened the day before for the first time since Covid started. This museum has an amazing outdoor area, so we headed there first. After having fun with a parachute and some balls, we moved on to their little garden, where the boys could help water the plants as they learned more about them.

After the herb and vegetable garden there was more outdoor space with a lake and flowers for additional learning opportunities.

Then we went back inside for a quick tour of some of their play spaces. We enjoyed the ball conveyors, and the art and music spaces.

On our way out, we found the bubble station, and gave giant bubbles a whirl!

Lastly, after fun at the Children’s Museum, we decided to go for a “Sunday Drive” in a 4-person Surrey Cycle! We enjoyed riding around the lake, and each boy got a turn at driving.