The Best Laid Plans

The plan was to head to Louisiana after our stay on the panhandle of Florida for a two week stay in Bayou Segnette State Park. The park is located just south of New Orleans and is an excellent base for exploring the wonders of the city.

We met up with our friend Kim, a fellow traveler who we met in Texas four years ago.

We had planned to attend a number of events- the St. Patrick’s Day parades, Mardi Gras Indian Super Sunday Parades and Second Line Parade as well as the Wednesday in the Square concerts. All of these events were canceled due to the Covid19 outbreak. On top of this we had to vacate the park after one night. The State authorities took over the park for a staging area for first responders who will have to deal with the coming pandemic. Fortunately, we secured a spot northwest of NOLA along the Mississippi River in Vidalia, LA across the River from Natchez, MS.

The park offers a paved walking/bike path along the River and is a great place to watch the barge traffic.

We booked ten days at this park while we tried to figure out what to do, continue on or return back to Buffalo. After going back and forth and agonizing over our decision we decided to pull the plug on the rest of the trip and slowly work our way north.

The weather was accommodating which allowed us to take in some sights while keeping our distance from potential infection. 

We took a drive on a short section of the Natchez Trace.

One stop on the Trace is the second largest Mississippian mound north of Mexico. Construction of the mound began in 1350 AD. It covers about 8 acres.

We also took to the woods to explore the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge. We saw no one.

On the way back to camp we passed Mammy’s Cupboard. Not really sure what to say about this.

In antebellum Mississippi, Natchez was home to one of the largest slave markets in the United States. The spot is marked by a slab of concrete with slave shackles embedded.

Other than these short forays away from camp, we spent most of the week like everyone else: reading, binge watching streaming services and walking or biking the River pathway.