LOUISIANA .... Arkansas ... LOUISIANA

Within 10 minutes after leaving Vicksburg, we crossed the Mississippi River and entered Louisiana.  (Did you know that the Mississippi River is not exactly in the same spot as it was in 1863?)  Our goal in this state was CROCKS and CRAWDADS ... and to set foot into Arkansas!

First, we found a seafood restaurant ... but no crawdads.  Instead, we saw this:

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT ???????

Being a retired military family and living overseas, I shouldn't have been surprised.

 It is REALLY on the menu ... look here:

Now, look here ... nobody ate any:

At least they all ate Cajun seafood ... I had Cajun pasta!  :)


After lunch, we trekked to Arkansas.  It was less than an hour, so we visited Junction City just to say we were there.  What did we do in Arkansas?  Look here:

Then we headed back to Louisiana, traveled through Kitachie National Forest (glimpsed some swampy areas, a bayou, and a "bear crossing" sign along the way), camped the night in Natchitoches, and headed to see alligators .  Knowing they were confined, I was just as eager as the boys to check out these amazing creatures in this environment instead of near an open swamp. 

 

 

We were surprised at the albino alligator's constant pose ... until we read the sign above the window that states that Edgar died and that they wanted to keep him for all to enjoy.  They brought him to the taxidermist, and here he stands.

Besides alligators, this park has other animals that we all enjoyed feeding.

The alligator feeding show was fun.  A boat docked in front of the audience, and the alligators were given meat on the end of a pole.  Then the alligators "jumped" up and tried to grab the grub as the man bobbed the meat on the end of the pole. 

After the show, we visited the Cafe for lunch.   
In the spirit of cultural experimenting, WE ALL ORDERED "ALLIGATOR BITES" FOR LUNCH.  Everybody liked them except for me and the youngest child.  (It was a tad too rubbery for my liking, especially since I don't eat meat often.)

The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed our time in this state.  

Time to head on to Texas!  

See ya'll later!