Linden's 9th Trip Report

January 31, 2013  -  Heading east we stopped at the DeQuincy Railroad Museum in DeQuincy, LA. It's a nice museum with displays rail road related things which were used when I was a kid.  That took me back to my childhood.  All very interesting.

     We arrived at the Coushatta Casino in Kinder, LA.  First things first, so we checked on our players card points.  Sure enough we had enough points for two free nights of camping.  The campground is very nice with concrete pads, picnic table, full hook ups, cable, WiFi and shuttle service to the casino.

     I donated to the cause but true to form Beryl won so we ate at casino restaurant.

     We were at the craps table and watched a black guy pull two $100 bills from his wallet.  I noticed that there were more $100s in his wallet.  Then a white couple stepped up to the table on our other side and the guy pulled out two $100 bills.  I didn't see how many more were in his  wallet.  Both guys looked to be in their 30s.  They had no trouble dropping their hundreds on the table.  Don't know what I'm doing wrong but I'm sticking to the penny machines.

February 2nd  -  Continued east to meet Ed and Sandy Miller at Wallmart in Hammond, LA.  We

stayed one night at Wallmart and the next day we moved to a campground.

February 5th  -  We went to the Fantasy Tours campground, registered and went to the orientation.  After Katrina, FEMA constructed a temporary trailer park with full hook ups on the university campus.

The university convinced FEMA to leave the trailer park intact.  Now it is used as a full hook up campground during events such as Mardi Gras and football games.

     At 7:00 PM we went to the cocktail hour and dinner, music, dancing and selection of a Mardi Gras King and Queen for our group.  They were selected the traditional way. Everyone gets a piece of cake and one peace has a little baby (trinket) baked inside.  The man and woman that finds the baby in their piece of cake becomes the king and queen.

February 6th  -  Busses picked us up at 8:00 AM for a tour of New Orleans.  We learned a lot about the history of the city and  about the effects of hurricane Katrina.  We were shown the levees that failed and the new flood gates and pumps that were installed.

     We than went to one of the cities biggest cemeteries and learned how and why the cemeteries are designed the way the are.  It was explained how and why several generations are buried in the same vault and why they must be buried above ground.

     The tour continued through residential areas and into the French Quarter with a stop at the "Court of Two Sisters" restaurant for a brunch buffet.  Food was great.

     At 6:00 PM the busses returned to take us to the first parades for the 2013 Mardi Gras.  As the first parade started so did the rain.  By the time the second parade was over we were drenched to the skin. But it was worth it.

Walt Linden