It's been about six hours since Tom, Laurie and I ate breakfast in the French Quarter late last night at the Clover Grill. But here we are at Elizabeth's to start our day. (for Christy & I, it's the third straight day we had a meal here. Yes the food is that good.)
There's fruit so this counts as a healthy breakfast for me. We are heading out of New Orleans today. Tom & Laurie rented a car and we are road tripping through Cajun country down to Grand Isle. It is the first stop for birds migrating north across the Gulf of Mexico.
Here we are at Grand Isle. As you can see these flamingos are very hungry after their long trip across the Gulf. They didn't even mind me getting a close up shot.
OK, now we are really driving through the bayou to Grand Isle. This is a perfect day for me because I am sitting in the back seat. I have nothing to do except relax and enjoy a beautiful day through an area that I've never visited. As long as I don't make Tom & Laurie crazy enough to kick me out of the car, I'm golden.
Somehow this song got in my head while driving through the bayou, The Road To Nowhere by the Talking Heads.
Well we know where we're going
But we don't know where we've been
And we know what we're knowing
But we can't say what we've seen
And we're not little children
And we know what we want
And the future is certain
Give us time to work it out
Yeah
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Taking that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
I'm feeling okay this morning
And you know
We're on the road to paradise
Here we go, here we go
We're on a ride to nowhere
Come on inside
Taking that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
Maybe you wonder where you are
I don't care
Here is where time is on our side
Take you there, take you there
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
There's a city in my mind
Come along and take that ride
And it's alright, baby, it's all right
And it's very far away
But it's growing day by day and it's all right
Baby, it's all right
Would you like to come along
You can help me sing the song
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
They can tell you what to do
But they'll make a fool of you
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
We started seeing birds as we got closer to Grand Isle.
All the buildings on Grand Isle are raised off the ground. The Gulf of Mexico is just over the ridge behind this house.
We finally made it to Grand Isle State Park.
Since we are not familiar with this area, I appreciated this Important Notice.
More information for visitors to this state park.
We walked out on this boardwalk / pier to take a look around.
A local in new Orleans told me this is the only sandy beach in Louisiana.
Laurie checking out the birds all around us.
A picture perfect day to be on a beach.
A flock of Black Skimmers flying below us.
Three people walking around the island caused all these birds to take off. I found out later that area is off limits to the public. They were doing research out that way.
But I got a few decent photographs as the Black Skimmers flew by us.
So did a few brown pelicans.
From the signage, this might be the most dangerous beach I have ever visited.
Only two warning flags today...
...so we decided to risk a walk on the beach.
As soon as I am walking barefoot on the beach, feel the warmth of the sun and hear the sound of the surf, I am asking myself is this heaven?
If you have lived through our miserable Chicago weather for the past six months, then you know why I feel like I am in heaven. I was in total bliss on this beach for the next couple of hours. I needed this more than I knew at the time.
I enjoyed walking along the shoreline, watching and listening to the birds.
It felt great to be here and have the place to ourselves.
Not sure what Tom is doing but Laurie was enjoying all the birds around us.
Eventually, I just sat down and watched the birds fly around me. I also hoped none of them shit on me. But back to how wonderful it felt to be surrounded but nothing but nature and natural sounds.
I believe this is a reddish heron. This bird was very entertaining. It was like watching a crazy homeless person talking to himself then chase imaginary things.
Each of us enjoyed some solitude on the beach.
Eventually we left this little slice of heaven...
...and found another heavenly place in Thibodaux and enjoyed a delicious dinner.
After a long day, Tom & Christy decided to stay at the house so Laurie & I walked to Frenchmen Street to see some music. We settled on Walter 'Wolfman' Washington & The Roadmasters. Ending our day in heavenly fashion with cold beers and hot blues.
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