The hubby and I have been super busy lately with wedding-related activities (we just had 2 weddings, and have 5 more planned before the end of next April!). So when we discovered a free weekend back in early April, we … Continue reading
This past weekend, I decided to head to my hometown of Baton Rouge and spend the weekend with my mom, sans hubby. I made her promise to cook me some roast with rice and gravy, which is one of my FAVORITES, so, of course, I had to go. 🙂 We also made plans for the rest of the weekend, but RICE AND GRAVY!
Anyway.
Our first stop Saturday morning (before it got entirely too hot) was the Bluebonnet Swamp! I hadn’t been in probably 20 years, and my mom had never been. We’ve been talking about going for a while, so we decided this would be the weekend to do it! My sister and her boyfriend met us there as well, so we had a nice little group.
For those that have never been, it’s a pretty cool place. There are three different trails you can take (a small loop, big loop which goes out over the swamp, or the Library trail, which leads to… the library…). It had been raining a lot leading up to Saturday, so there were some muddy spots and some mosquitoes, but it wasn’t too bad.
You really have to be patient and focused to see any wildlife though. Or, at least, have someone in your group who’s patient and focused. I took my camera and really wanted to take pictures, so I stayed at the back of the group and took my time. That’s how we found a snake sunning on a log, some banana spiders, and a skink (not skank, Mom!) that sister and her boyfriend almost stepped on without seeing.
You should also stop at the pond by the parking lot on your way in/out with something to feed the turtles. They start swimming towards you out of nowhere. It got a little scary after a while…. a guy near us had some old goldfish crackers and the turtles were battling it out trying to get to them.
We spent the whole morning in the swamp, and were starving by the time we left. And hot. Another piece of advice: Bring water with you.
After a beer and burger at BJ’s Brewhouse for lunch, Mom and I went back to her house for a nap. Because I had to get up early to get to BR for the swamp that morning. And I’m lazy and like to sleep.
For dinner, we had SUSHI!! Mom, Sister, her boyfriend and I went to Tsunami and had a ginormous plate of deliciousness. I planned on taking a picture but we ate it all first. I’m not good with the whole picture-of-food thing. We finished it off with a drink at a bar on 3rd Street, Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s. It was still pretty early, so we had the balcony to ourselves.
Mom and I spent pretty much the rest of the night drinking wine and watching Youtube videos of the Try Guys. Seriously, everyone needs to watch their video of Fifty Shades of Gray/trying BDSM. We were in tears.
Sunday morning, I finally got my rice and gravy!! It was awesome. I even brought some home that I plan to eat for dinner tonight. And mom showed me an easier way to cook it, so I maaaaay have to cook some this weekend. We also got snowballs from a new place near her house, Snoman Snowballs. I had a clear bubblegum, which made me oh-so-happy. Bubblegum flavor without the blue mouth.
So, anyway, here are some of my favorite pictures from the Swamp:
The hubby and I are friends with a couple who just moved to New Orleans about two years ago. Unfortunately, they are moving away again in a few months. In an effort to stuff as much New Orleans in their faces as possible, we went to the Audubon Zoo.
I’ve been so many times, and have taken pictures of the same animals over and over again, but I still love going. These are some of my favorites from that day!
We may have gotten a little too close… he squawked at us after this picture!
It’s hard to see, but the momma is hugging her baby after another monkey yelled at him. She looks so protective!
I love the colors in a swampy setting, but I’m scared to bring my camera out on a boat so this is as close as I’m gonna get for a while!
If you have any interest, you can see more of my pictures on my Flickr Account.
Miscellaneous Wifey 