After a late 8 am sleep in, we were off on a search for alligators. On our quest we happened by a hopping Saturday morning seafood market full of crabs, shrimp, oysters and yes, alligator - but not live, wild ones, farmed alligator meat. We bought five pounds of fresh local shrimp for $20 and some frozen alligator meat that Seamus was adamant that he wanted to try. There were loads of blue crabs at the market but we’re going crab fishing later in the trip so we opted out of those this time.
We did not have to look any further for live alligators than Jean Lafitte’s Swamp Tour. We puttered around the canals (artificial channels) and bayous (natural channels) for just over an hour with Captain Brent. He had the thickest Louisiana accent (though he probably thought that we had accents too).
We saw at least a dozen North American alligators, from small ones to an absolute giant named Elvis Jr. We also saw a leatherback turtle, giant heron, egrets, a snakebird, water spiders, a scarlet coloured dragonfly, the teeniest frogs that could hop along the surface of the water, and very hungry catfish. Captain Brent fed the catfish Gravy Train dog food pellets, which all the animals seemed to find delicious. In terms of wildlife viewing opportunities for time spent, this was a winning excursion. We saw a ton of interesting animals, birds and insects. The Louisiana swamps and marshes are teeming with biodiversity.
In the afternoon we headed out for haircuts. It was time. Everyone was pretty scruffy. We selected Ricouard’s Barber Shop where three lovely Louisiana gentlemen, Mr. Jimmy, Mr. John and Mr. Donny, took great care of Ian and the boys. They got fantastic haircuts and the boys even got their necks cleaned up with shaving cream and a straight razor like big men.
For lunch we stopped in for a New Orleans traditional muffuletta sandwich. This is four sandwiches in one! It is crusty white bread, spread with olive salad and filled with mozzarella, ham, salami and mortadella.
We devoured this enormous (and enormously delicious) sandwich and then headed off to find the ferry to St. Bernard County. Luck was on our side today and the ferry was running on time. We drove on last and got off first. It felt weird sitting in the truck while it was positioned perpendicular to the direction the ferry was travelling. It was a bit disorienting, though the trip across the Mississippi River only lasted five minutes. We thought of it was a short but sweet river cruise that got us on our way. Alistair proudly requested to pay our $2 fare with his tooth fairy money. It was very generous of him.
As we drove off the ferry, we passed houses built on incredibly tall stilts. Many stilts were two full stories tall - crazy high - before the floor of the actual house even started. We then passed through a concrete levy that had the ability to close (blocking the highway) during hurricanes to protect the homes inside the levied community of St. Bernard County (half of them elaborate mansions and the other half mobile homes) from flooding. The houses inside the levy were all built on ground level; no stilts here. We subsequently drove through a second concrete levy, exiting the community, and the stilts began again. We asked Google how often this areas floods and the answer was OFTEN, lol, specifically, 1915, 1927, 1947, 1965, and 2005, 2012 and 2026. Good grief. No wonder they need levies or stilts.
We are sleeping tonight at Sweetwater Marina in advance of our fishing trip tomorrow. It will be an early morning so we’re turning in early tonight.
