I haven’t set many deadlines in this RV journey but did have one for New Orleans; my kids were flying in for a weekend trip that would include a football game at the SuperDome. I found a great state park which could provide my motorhome base for the days leading up to and following the weekend, and was also convenient to an old friend from high school who lives in the area with his wife. So after many 300 mile drive days and 1 night stays, I arrived in Mandeville and pulled in to Fontainebleau State Park for a 7 night stay. It is 40 miles from downtown New Orleans but adjacent to the Lake Pontchartrain bypass, a 24 mile bridge leading directly into the Big Easy.
I have been fortunate to have made friends accumulated across a lifetime of school and different jobs who live scattered around the country. I like to plan my trips to be in their general vicinity so we can meet and catch-up on our respective lives to date. My pal Erik is a high school friend, and, though we’ve been in phone and email contact, I hadn’t actually seen him in over 20 years. Despite that, we fell right in synch with conversation, continuing our dialog about life, work, relationships, art and any other number of topics that matched much of the same energy we had as teenagers. In return for a wonderful dinner they hosted, I invited he and his wife Shannon to my motorhome for dinner, a sit down in front of the BioLite fire, the ‘you pick a song and I’ll pick a song to play’ game and spirited conversation. They asked many questions about the RV lifestyle, the machinations of the vehicle itself and then brought up John Steinbeck’s ‘Travels With Charley’. I remember the title but had never read it, and a few days later before pulling up stakes and heading to Florida, they presented it to me as a gift.
In to the Garden District of New Orleans to check-in to an airbnb prior to my kids arrival. Staying in the proverbial ‘sticks and bricks’ of an apartment was a nice break: I don’t see myself bringing the motorhome in to big cities, preferring to park on the outskirts and use my Honda to nimbly get around towns. After the airport duty, my kids and I enjoyed the first of many excellent restaurants that make up this incredible city. The next day we spend in the French Quarter soaking up the carnival, magic and musical atmosphere that pulse through all of New Orleans. It’s such a soulful, spirited place filled with incredible people who make you feel at home even when you’re a tourist.
While walking down by the Mississippi river we came across this beautiful statue:
The Monument to the Immigrant. Being the son of immigrants it struck me in many ways that the Statue of Liberty does: the concept of America being the dream, the hope, the option to a better life as it had been for my parents in post World War II England and Ireland. The way the leading figure’s gown flows over the family behind is striking: they are looking back to the homeland abandoned with a touch of stoic remorse while their angel points forward to the new land of infinite possibility. Even in cynical, hotly political, build-a-wall times, the Monument to the Immigrant’s statement is an invigorating and hopeful artifice to behold.
I have been to many football games but never one held in an enclosed dome. The Superdome is the loudest, liveliest and most party atmosphere of any game I have ever been too; each play, each first down, each touchdown is orchestrated with punching music that drives the Saints fans to even higher celebratory decibels. My team lost, and the kids and I were eager to remove our fan gear and get to a nice dinner to renew our spirit with fresh oysters, trout, shrimp, pasta, wine and beer. The next day I took them to the Waffle House for the first time (a must for a well-rounded Southern experience:) and then off to the airport.
I am quite sure that I will return to Mandeville again, and hope to add stops to Baton Rouge and Lafayette in the near future. Louisiana is just too good for a single visit….
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