July 21st to 24th New Orleans to Grayton Beach

Upon leaving New Orleans, we crossed Lake Pontchartrain on a 30 mile bridge. It was somewhat like being in the ocean in your car as the lake is huge.

From there we crossed into Alabama, and proceeded along the coast to Biloxi, where we learned all about shrimp fishing on a shrimp boat. We spent the night in Daphne, Alabama. Steve and Sheila stayed at the hotel to work on the blog, and Richard and Linde went to see the American battleship, the USS Alabama, which served in WWII.

Grayton Beach - We are here because Steve has been in contact with Scott Provow through the MG Enthusiast site for several months. Scott (Matt as he is called by his family) kindly offered us a place to stay for a couple of days. Imagine our surprise when we drive up to find he is a 19 year old, soon on his way to college! He arranged for us to stay in a luxurious guest house of one of the mansions in this resort area, complete with swimming pool. We met his grandfather, Gap Daddy, who has lots of interesting stories to tell, as his was the second family to settle here. He was a pilot in the Navy and used to fly over his house here and drop parachutes with treats for his children. Matt's parents, Leslie and Scott Sr. were also pilots in the Navy and then commercial pilots on long distance flights. Leslie was a leading force in saving the dunes from being bulldozed, keeping this beautiful area undeveloped. The beach won the "Best Beach in the World' award so many years running that it had to be taken out of the running to give other beaches a chance. We also met Matt's sister and aunts. What an amazing family! Southern Hospitality is not a myth! 



Oil changes and Car washes in the driveway of our guest house. Brady on the right is a guest of the big house.

We had dinner at the famous Red Barn, where people come for many miles around and don't mind waiting for 2 hours or more for a table. Their crab cakes are the best I've tasted. To top it all off, some of us saw the longest and most amazing shooting star. Because of the lack of light here, the milky way is fully visable.



Provow Family

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July 18,19, & 20th New Orleans

Once we were settled in the hotel, we did a walking tour of Bourbon Street and the waterfront in the French Quarter. The architecture of the buildings and wrought iron work is very striking. The doors open directly on the street, and though wrought iron gates you can view lovely landscaped courtyards. Plaques through out the area explain the history of many of the buildings. The sidewalks are ancient and very broken up. You have to be very careful not to trip into holes or over raised edges. Bourbon Street is very loud, and somewhat of a disappointment as much of the extremely loud music is not Jazz.  We did find a fun club where the band was playing Bayou music, washboard and all.

 

The next day we took a tour on the paddle boat, Natchez, and saw views of the Mississippi river port, as well as various historical sites and some Katrina damage. We had a drink in a Jazz Club that had a very good band, but they had to play their music too loud to be heard over the cacophony across the street.



Cafe du Monde is a must for any visit to New Orleans, all they've served for generations is coffee or milk and biegnets. They are open 24 hours and are always busy.



Cemetery at Chalmette



 





Wednesday we headed out to  Chalmette Battlefield, where the battle of New Orleans took place in 1812, between the British and the Americans.

We were told that the locals went to Frenchman Street to listen to Jazz, so we headed down there and found a great Italian restaurant for dinner and a Jazz club, called the Spotted Cat.  A fine evening to end our stay in New Orleans.