Mississippi Gulf Coast and Louisiana

Camping on the Gulf coast- Buccaneer State Park, Mississippi

Happy dog, happy man

Lafayette Square, New Orleans

Charlie and Mike at the Spotted Cat

St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square, New Orleans

Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge

From the observation deck with the Mississippi River in the background

Mike finally got a chance to camp for a couple of nights. We stayed at a state park on the Gulf Coast in Western Mississippi- Buccaneer State Park. Beautiful clear weather while we were there although a little chilly during the night. The beach there is nice but the water cold and muddy looking. The locals call the town we stayed in "ground zero" during Hurricane Katrina, and you can see evidence of damage everywhere. Mostly empty lots and new construction. We saw in the forecast that rain was coming so we packed up and headed west to Louisiana. 

We stayed in New Orleans for a few days where we got to hear some music and eat a lot of amazing seafood- dozens of raw oysters and pounds of boiled shrimp and crawfish. We bought a couple pounds of boiled crawfish for a picnic and the young man who sold them to us gave me a lesson- twist the head off the body, suck the juice out of the head, then peel the tail and eat the meat inside. It's a really messy affair. Also, don't make the mistake of calling them crayfish- the guy selling them to you will roll his eyes and shake his head at you.

We were fortunate to see one of Mike's former students in New Orleans, Charlie LaVoy. It was fun to catch up with him and he was a great tour guide.

After New Orleans we went to check out the state capitol in Baton Rouge. It's an art deco-style behemoth built by Governor Huey P. Long--who was also assassinated there. No rotunda or dome but you can take an elevator to the observation deck on the 27th floor and see nice views of the city and Mississippi River.