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.
