Biloxi, Mississippi-Gateway To NOLA

At the entry gate to our campground in Biloxi the Coach wouldn’t restart. We had to jump it with the Fusion and it started. Quite the grand entrance.

Who knew Biloxi had all these casinos. Not us! We toured them all. Brad had fun playing blackjack while Kathy on the other hand was a bit board watching. They had a beautiful beach along the strip, but Biloxi had a cold spell while we were there so we had to pass. Brad paced the gambling nicely. Four seatings and three wins In three days. He walked away with the money he was comfortable in losing plus a couple hundy. Yay Team! Next stop…New Orleans…

What do you do in Nola? Eat, drink and be merry! Tis the season. The first day we got there we had a late lunch at High Hat Cafe. The fried chicken was one of the best we ever had. Brad had an Oyster PoBoy that he inhaled. The potato salad was made with sweet potatoes and out of this world delicious. The waitress talked us into a homemade fried glazed donut with vanilla ice cream that had to be homemade for dessert. Great first foodie day. Thank you Rick and Jan Menitti for recommending it.

Our campground in New Orleans was also a marina. We had a spot along the docks. Great place for breakfast outside and relaxing. They had a fitness center, so Brad didn’t have to hang from a tree or hug a pole to do his workout regiment for a change. The bottom two pics were from our bedroom Windows. We dug this place.

Day two, yep eating and drinking again. We went to Bourbon St and stopped at Pat O’Brien’s for a Hurricane and a Sazarac. Kathy’s brother JP suggested we buy their Bloody Mary mix, which we did. For lunch we ate at Mambos Restaurant and had a dozen oysters, 1/2 Rockefeller and 1/2 Mambo ( a Cajun) sauce. Yum! Brad had a Cajun pasta with shrimp, crawfish and alligator sausage and Kathy had crawfish and shrimp Alfredo with a mambo sauce. We walked around Jackson Square, The Port of New Orleans and Moonwalk. Tried to get a coffee and a beignet at Café Du Monde (twice) but the line was too long. It was a little chilly the first two days…In the fifties we think. Then it warmed back up into the seventies the next three.

The next day we went on a jazz cruise down the Mississippi River with lunch. We realized after we got there that we did the same thing last time we were in New Orleans, haha, minus the lunch. The joke was on us but we had a good second time doing it and the food was better than expected.

Christmas Eve day we went to the Jean Lafite Historic National Park where there was a battlefield and cemetery. The battlefield was where the last confrontation happened in the war of 1812 between us and the British. The US kicked some British ass. The old military cemetery was the burial home to 60,000 veterans who served and died protecting our motherland. We took our bikes around the entire battlefield stopping to read facts about the events of the battle along the way. The house below was left standing to honor the plantation owner that donated the land and the monument for those that served in the battle of New Orleans. At the end, we stopped in the visitor center to get our National Park stamp and sticker for our passport book and realized what an awesome museum was inside too.

Then we drove to Tulane and Loyola Universities and took a bike tour of the two campuses. Audubon Park was across the street from both Universities. It was a pretty addition to our bike tour.

Christmas Eve Dinner at Landry’s Seafood restaurant to complete the busy day. Brad tried really hard to make the day and evening nice for Kathy to help her celebrate the Christmas Eve. She said we’ll be going home for the Christmas celebration next year. Brad tried……

Christmas Day we hung by the Coach. Kathy made her family famous lasagna for lunch and we had a cute little two-pound ham for dinner. Ohh, and we did try that Pat O’Brien Bloody Mary mix for breakfast. Not as good as Brad’s homemade mix...just say'n. It was a nice day but reinforced Kathy’s hankering for heading home next year to celebrate with family. Off to Baton Rouge tomorrow. Thanks for reading down this far. We wish you a very healthy and a very happy new year, surrounded with much love!

Peace, Kathy and Brad