States – Page 33 – Wandering Dawgs

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Louisiana

March 6, 2017April 17, 2017Posted in Birds, Louisiana, RVing, Tourist Attractions, Wandering around AmericaTagged Cafe du Monde, Cajun, Chef Paul Prudhomme, Duck Dynasty, Lake Bistineau, New Orleans, Poche's, Tabasco18 Comments

State 16:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Louisiana

Louisiana became the 18th state on April 30, 1812 and the capital is Baton Rouge.

Ever since I started working on this post about Louisiana the following lyrics from the Hank Williams song “Jambalaya (on the Bayou)” have been going through my head.

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo
‘Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun we’ll have big fun on the bayou

Each time we visited Louisiana we tried as much of the delicious local food as we could get. We sampled everything – boudin, crawfish etoufee, gumbo, dirty rice, cracklins, shrimp po’ boys and more! Chef Paul Prudhomme’s K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans served up one of the most amazing meals I’ve ever had. Is your mouth watering yet?

Acme Oyster House in New Orleans

Poche’s Meat Market and Smokehouse

Ralph and Kacoo’s in Bosier City

Lunch was delicious Boudin from the Tabasco food truck

Our meal at Poche’s – Crawfish Etoufee, Dirty Rice and Slaw – Sooooo good!

We’ve visited New Orleans three times – twice to watch our Georgia Bulldogs play in the Sugar Bowl and once to take our children when they were young. We wandered around the French Quarter, attended a performance of New Orleans Jazz at Preservation Hall, rode a streetcar to the Garden District, took a riverboat ride on the Mississippi River, chowed down on amazing Cajun food, and of course had coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

There is so much more to Louisiana than food and music. Our lake front campsite at Lake Bistineau State Park was perfect for watching the wading birds search for food among the huge cypress trees on the banks of the lake.

The rain didn’t stop us from enjoying our campsite on one of the ponds at Poche’s Fish N Camp. After a delicious meal at Poche’s Meat Market and Smokehouse I stocked up on Cajun goodies like homemade boudin, Andouille sausage and tasso ham to take home.

Pavilion at Poche's Fish N Camp — Poche’s Fish N Camp

We are one of the families who always has a bottle of Tabasco sauce on the table along with the salt and pepper. A visit to the Tabasco Factory on Avery Island was a must for us.

The world's best known hot sauce — The world’s best known hot sauce

We even took a tour of the Duck Commander headquarters in West Monroe.

Duck Commander Headquarters, about 3 blocks south of I-20 in West Monroe, LA

I started writing this post right before Mardi Gras and have been hungry for Cajun food ever since. On Fat Tuesday I made a big pot of Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo using Alton Brown’s recipe (I added okra ). Yesterday I made Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Jambalaya (I left out the oysters). Now if I could just find some crawfish tails I’ll make that crawfish pie.!

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky

Having Fun touring Vintage Trailers

March 2, 2017July 27, 2018Posted in GeorgiaTagged camping, photo essay, Sisters on the Fly, vintage trailers20 Comments

“We have more fun than anyone.” – Sisters on the Fly® motto

Some members of Sisters on the Fly® recently gathered together at River’s End Campground on Tybee Island, GA. A quote from their website says:

“ “Sisters on the Fly®” is the largest outdoor women’s group in the United States with currently over 8,100 “Sisters.” This membership-based community supports women in their journey to get up, get out and become more adventurous!”

When they visited River’s End campground they opened up their campers for a tour. I had too much fun looking at all the unique trailers and talking to some of the “Sisters”. They shared their stories, answered questions, and everyone laughed a lot.

Sisters on the Fly Serendipity — Serendipity

Sisters on the Fly Run-A-Muk — Run-A-Muk

Sisters on the Fly Happy Trails — Happy Trails

They came from as far away as Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina. Many were dressed to match the theme of their trailer and some were decked out in Mardi Gras colors to march in the Tybee Mardi Gras Parade later that afternoon.

When the “Sisters” have an event, the husbands and kids stay home. If someone has trouble backing up their trailer, another Sister is always there to take over and do the backing for them. One member said you can laugh away 10 pounds at one of their events.

The “Sisters” often travel in caravans and stop to help each other out if there are any problems. If you ever see any of these campers in a campground, be sure to stop and say hello. I guarantee you will have fun.

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Kentucky

February 27, 2017July 13, 2017Posted in Kentucky, National Parks, RVing, Tourist Attractions, Wandering around America, WildlifeTagged Bison, Bourbon, Kentucky Horse Park, Land Between the Lakes, Mammoth Cave, Wild Turkey Distillery14 Comments

State 15:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is the Bluegrass State –

Kentucky

Kentucky became the 15th state on June 1, 1792 and the capital is Frankfort.

When I think of the Bluegrass state I think of horses, bourbon, and Colonel Sanders famous Kentucky Fried Chicken. We never got a chance to visit the original Kentucky Fried Chicken but we did get to experience horses and bourbon and a whole lot more.

Late one fall we set up camp at the Kentucky Horse Park State Park near Lexington. Seeing these magnificent horses was the highlight of our visit to the area.

One very overcast day we left the horse park for a scenic drive by many beautiful horse farms and a tour of the Wild Turkey Distillery located right beside the Kentucky River.

Bridge over Kentucky River at the Wild Turkey Distillery

Wild Turkey Bourbon is aged these barrels

Until we visited the Elk and Bison Prairie in the Land Between the Lakes I never knew that bison once roamed in this area of the United States.

The Land Between the Lakes has been a perfect stop over for us several times in our wandering. It doesn’t get much better than camping near a body of water and Canal Campground in the Land Between the Lakes is one of our favorite Corps of Engineers park.

Sunrise over Lake Barkley, Kentucky from Canal COE — Sunrise over Lake Barkley, Kentucky from Canal Corps of Engineers Campground

Located in central Kentucky, Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system known in the world. There are many options for guided tours of the cave. Above ground the scenery is beautiful with hiking, biking, and equestrian trails.

Mammoth Cave National Park, KY

Mammoth Cave National Park

Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Kansas

February 22, 2017Posted in Kansas, RVing, Wandering around AmericaTagged corn, sunflowers14 Comments

State 14:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Kansas

Kansas became the 34th state on January 29, 1861 and the capital is Topeka.

We’ve wandered through Kansas on our travels and camped there twice. Both times we camped there it was only for one night. Both times we arrived late after a long driving day and left early the next morning for another day of hard driving. Both stays were pleasant and a cornfield bordered the campground. Both times as we drove through Kansas we passed by pastures filled with grazing cattle and many farms with fields of corn, wheat, and other grains. Wild sunflowers beside the highway added a splash of yellow to the landscape.

The last time we drove through Kansas was in the summer of 2013. We fought a head wind all day as we drove east on I-70 and stopped for the night in an RV park near the interstate. I took a few photos of the fields surrounding the park but unfortunately, I lost my Kansas photos after my computer’s hard drive crashed last year.

To read previous posts about the states featured in this series just click on the state name: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa

Wandering Around America One State at a Time – Iowa

February 20, 2017July 16, 2017Posted in Historic Sites, Iowa, RVing, Wandering around AmericaTagged America the Beautiful, Bridges of Madison County, Coralville, covered bridge, Delvonian Fossil Gorge, Field of Dreams, Iowa 80, John Wayne Birthplace, movie locations, Winterset10 Comments

State 13:

Welcome to the next post in my series highlighting states we have visited throughout the years. I hope you will enjoy coming along for the ride!

I will be featuring the states alphabetically. The next state is

Iowa

Iowa became the 29th state on December 28, 1846 and the capital is Des Moines.

Iowa is another state we have driven through numerous times while wandering around America. On one of our trips we planned our journey through Iowa around two bucket list destinations.

Our first bucket list destination was the Field of Dreams Movie Site near Dyersville. (We actually camped across the Mississippi River in Wisconsin but that is for another post).

As we walked around the bases I couldn’t help but think of the famous line from the 1989 movie “Field of Dreams” starring Kevin Costner and Amy Madigan:

“If you build it he will come.”

The corn was high when we were there, just like in the movie. I could just imagine the ghosts of famous baseball players walking out of the cornfield onto the baseball diamond to play. Another famous line went through my head the entire time we were there.

“Is this heaven?”

“No. It’s Iowa”

Kids were batting and running around the bases

It was easy to imagine the players coming out of the corn to play ball

View from behind home plate – If you build it he will come

Field of Dreams Farm House

The next Iowa destination was Winterset and it also had a movie theme. We fell in love with the town with it’s six covered bridges, John Wayne’s birthplace (and a street named after him), movie locations from “The Bridges of Madison County” starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep, and a pizza place that delivered to our campsite in the City of Winterset campground.

Driving along the gravel country roads in search of the six covered bridges was a wonderful way to spend the day. As we went from one bridge to the next we passed by acres and acres of cornfields.

Cutler-Donahoe Bridge, built in 1870

Hogback Covered Bridge, Madison County, Iowa

Cedar Covered Bridge, Madison County, Iowa

Holliwell Covered Bridge, Madison County, Iowa

Imes Covered Bridge, Madison County, Iowa

Roseman Covered Bridge, Madison County, Iowa

The stone bridge located in the park next to the city campground was featured in one of the movie scenes. Another scene was filmed inside the Northside Cafe where the walls were covered with photographs of scenes from the movie.

Stone Bridge in Winterset, Iowa

We enjoyed breakfast at the Northside Cafe – over 100 years old and featured in “The Bridges of Madison County”

John Wayne was born in Winterset and The John Wayne Home is filled with memorabilia.

John Wayne’s birthplace in Winterset, Iowa

Winterset, IA – Birthplace of John Wayne

A few years later as we traveled through Iowa we decided on the spur of the moment to take a break from driving to explore around Coralville Dam. Before we got there, we crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa and stopped at the Iowa 80, the world’s largest truck stop.

The World's Largest Truck Stop — The World’s Largest Truck Stop

A little later that day we set up camp at the Dam Complex, a Corps of Engineers Park on Coralville Lake near Iowa City. In addition to taking a look at the Coralville Dam, we discovered fossils at the Delvonian Fossil Gorge and later took a walk on a nature trail for a view of Coralville Lake.