Louisiana Here We Come!

 On Saturday, May 4th, my brother, Steve, and I began our trip to the State of Louisiana to visit our sister, Cathy and her husband Clay, serving in the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission. We flew into New Orleans. One of our first stops was to check on Delores, one of their New Orleans' students they encourage, inspire, nurture and minister to.  This cute grandson was well acquainted with these missionary servants.

Here is  one of the dikes that helps protect the city from constant flooding.

 It was fascinating to see the stately old trees that are prominent throughout the state.

These long narrow houses were designed so the breeze would blow through them and help cool them.  They are called "shotgun" houses. 

After seeing some of the impoverished areas of the city, Clay drove us to the famous French Quarter where we were fortunate to find a parking place near Jackson Square in the historic heart of the city. 

In this picture of my brother, Steve, notice one of the famous New Orleans bridges in the background and also one of the Natchez riverboats used to take tourists on dinner cruises.

 The St. Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square is currently under renovation so we took pictures from a distance.

We finally picked a restaurant to sample famous New Orleans food and satisfy our hunger.  Steve and I shared an almond crusted catfish with yummy veggies and rice.  It wasn't terribly spicy so we happy about that.

 After walking around a bit more, we allowed Clay to stand in the take out line at the popular DuMonde eatery.  We needed to try the famous beignets, a fried French pastry liberally covered with powdered sugar.

 Beignets are sweet, tasty and chewy.  We all decided they aren't our favorite sweet treat.

We left New Orleans before the streets were crowded, noisy and raucous.  We avoided Bourbon Street altogether and loved seeing so many beautiful balconied homes in parts of the city.

We drove by the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on our way to cross Lake Pontchartrain on the causeway towards Hammond, LA where Stringhams live.

 We were very comfortable staying in their immaculate 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment in Hammond.

 We really enjoyed attending the Hammond Ward and could easily see that Cathy and Clay do much to serve these members and they are well beloved.  After church we helped to cut up veggies for Hawaiian haystacks to be served at a YSA dinner and devotional broadcast to be held in the Slidell Ward that evening. We sat at a table with these long-time Louisiana residents, Bruce and Cheryl Jackson.  Bruce is the high counselor over YSA.  I asked if they knew Kathi and Dick Anderson, our Minnesota friends, who served as missionaries at the Bishop's Storehouse a few years ago and attended the Slidell Ward.  It turned out that they are very close friends.  It was so fun to connect with this energetic couple.

Most mornings Clay and Cathy work out at a local gym.  Steve and I took walks around a nearby park early in the day before the heat became too oppressive.

As Steve and I hoped to go on a swamp ride, they willingly took us to a swamp park on Monday, their P-Day.  Fortunately, it wasn't too hot as we rode through the swamp and I was surprised there weren't more mosquitos and bugs to torment us.

 We loved seeing the wildlife in their natural habitat and some of the sites like this cabin used in movies and NCI New Orleans.

Towards the end of the cruise, the guide brought out this 4-year old alligator and showed us how to hold him.  He taped his jaws shut then allowed the guests to pass him around and everyone who wanted got to hold him.  He said he named him "Tinkle."

He demonstrated his name at the exact time it was my turn to hold him.  As I began holding him with one hand, he began to "tinkle".  Everyone was yelling that I wasn't holding him properly with two hands.  I had a firm hold with one hand but purposely didn't grab him with the second hand until he finished.  It was hilarious and added a fun dimension to the experience. Ha!

 My friend, Shirin, from San Diego was very entertained by my alligator experience.

                                   This is a picture of New Orleans from the bridge.

That evening we had a delicious dinner at Cate Street Seafood Station, a fun former train station that is popular with locals but was new to our missionaries.

 We really enjoyed our entres and these crab cakes, a local specialty.  We didn't love the locally popular bread pudding, however.

On our way home, we stopped at a Save A Lot grocery store.  I often shopped at this chain in Missouri so it brought back many memories.  We needed a few items to complete our haystacks for the institute class and dinner the next night.

Both Steve and I slept on blow up mattresses.  He kindly gave me the one in the bedroom, near the bathroom.  His lost air during the night.  Mine did not.  He is always offering the best to others.

We enjoyed the delicious breakfasts Clay prepared each morning.

 On Tuesday, Clay spent the morning at a court hearing assisting a new member with custody issues. When he returned, we went to a local seafood market and restaurant called B & J Seafood.

You will note the interesting items for sale in the coolers and freezers.

We ordered some "boiled" crawfish and seafood platters.  The seafood was fried, as is the Lousiana custom.

Steve and I continued to share our platter which included friend oysters.  I have never tasted these before.  They tasted like livers.  I was happy to taste but won't order again.

That evening, we helped serve the lovely haystack dinner that Cathy had prepared.  After the dinner, Cathy and Clay gave a very inspirational and uplifting spiritual presentation from the Old Testament.  Tuesday night is the night they teach at the Hammond Ward so we had met a few of the students at church.  There were many students including a couple of non-members.  It was fun joining the missionaries as they served people.

Wednesday morning, we said goodbye to Hammond and put our suitcases in the car.  We were off to visit a plantation and then be dropped off at the airport while they proceed to prepare, serve and teach at the New Orleans institute that evening.

These houses are built along the bayou. I tried to get photos as we drove along.

The Houmas House Plantation and Gardens were beautiful and we enjoyed our tour with a Southern Belle tour guide.  This plantation was called the Sugar Palace, the crown jewel of Louisiana's River Road.

These murals were painted on the walls of the foyer.

The house was full of many historically significant items like this clock that once belonged to Marie Antoinette.

My personal favorite was this 68 lb. solid silver statue of Abraham Lincoln sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, the creator of Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota.

Here is one more look at the Mississippi River on our way to the airport.  Louisiana, called by some locals, Lousy Anna, was beautiful and green, hot and muggy and it wasn't even summer yet.  Steve and I felt privileged to tag along with Cathy and Clay as they served.  They made our visit delightful and memorable.