Friday, March 31, 2017

Foscue Creek Park ACOE, Demopolis, AL

This past week was spent in yet another awesome Army Corp of Engineer Park just outside of Demopolis, AL.  Would not mind spending more time here some time in the future.

The campground surrounds Foscue Creek, a small arm off the Tombigbee River.  It turns out the Tombigbee River is a water highway for coal barges coming down from the north on the way to the bay.  We were able to watch these barges from the campground about 200 feet from Paradise!  We were also able to watch them go through the lock at the Demopolis Dam just a little further down river.  We had a good view from up on the bank as the barge would go into the lock and "disappear"as the water level lowered it below the dam. Then we could see it come out into the lower river.

There is also a nature trail in the park and just outside the park another trail that will take you down to below the lock.  We easily got 7 miles on one hike from our motorhome, Paradise!



nice pic of an eastern
bluebird first day at the
park
red headed woodpecker

a coast guard station on the river,  strange to see 140 miles "inland"


lovely wooded trail just outside the park within walking distance






wonderful stump carvings everywhere!

the Demopolis lock and dam



love the exposed root
system on this tree
looking downstream below the dam

resting below the dam are hundreds of white pelicans


zebra swallowtail

wax wing



a meadow lark in the
field near the lock



below, he has caught
lunch, a nice
cricket

barge passing by the campground.......

entering the lock........

in the lock being lowered......

......leaving the lock on the lower river

a green heron made an appearance on one of our walks




the ACOE is reintroducing native
wildflowers to the park
red buckeye all over and very pretty!

Paradise with our own wood carving nearby





Mike and Susan of Demopolis own the Spec-tacular Vine and Hoof.  We enjoyed a tasty dinner there one evening.  Nice old building, very charming!






Mike is a musician and used to be the mayor.  We had a very nice conversation with them.  Enjoyed
the evening!





Thursday, March 23, 2017

Roosevelt State Park, Morton, MS

We are on our last day of a lovely week at Roosevelt State Park in Mississippi.  It is located about 35 miles east of Jackson in a forested, hilly area with a large lake in the middle.  I would not mind coming back here again some day...in the early spring, of course:)  Flowering trees are blooming amidst the pines and butterflies are out.  Just nice!

partial view of the lake at Roosevelt State Park



this swallow tail reminds me of a stained glass window

one of several trails at the park








dragon flies are popping up more and more also right now





the small blue heron below hung out  near our site one day



wisteria vines coming into bloom look like grapes hanging from the trees
We drove over to LaFluer State Park in Jackson for a hike and brew.  Very nice hike through the swamp there!
LaFluer State Park



After the hike we went to check out the Lucky Town Brewery....which was supposed to be open but was not;(  They did have this fun mural on their wall though:

Not far from the brewery this huge "statue" outside an artist's studio caught my eye. Pretty cool.
 Before heading back to the park we had to have beer....which led us to the Pig and Pint.  Great find!  Lots of good beers and great BBQ!
Pig and Pint, Jackson, MS


We also checked out the Shockaloe Trail not far from here
Shockaloe Trail

never know what kind of "art work" you will find on a trail:)

back at Roosevelt SP


these two were involved in a mating dance

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Baton Rouge, LA

We spent the past two weeks in Baton Rouge, Louisiana visiting relatives.  We did, however, do a few things we had not done on our last stop here two years ago.  Here are some of those things:

The Baton Rouge "Race for the Cure" happened the day after our arrival so we jumped right on that as my cousin, Sandra, who live there is a 2x survivor.  Great cause, great day!
Race for the Cure walking by the LSU stadium.....



....and by the clock tower at LSU










after the race we enjoyed some jambalaya!

......listened to some good music and watched others line dance;)

My cousin, Sandra, on the left, never give up!!!!!!
we visited the Cohn Arboritum



The Draft House in the old historic area near the levee in Baton Rouge had a good variety of beers to try!
We spent a nice morning at the LSU Ag Center and Windrush Gardens:



 Windrush Gardens has lots of lovely statues and garden settings to wander around:







A trip to a Louisiana winery, Ponchatrain Vineyards, had to happen of course:
Ponchatrain Vineyards, picked up a couple of bottles here, one bottle of a 20 year old Norton grown there!
 ....As well as a trip to Abita Brewery!
Mike and I both like some of their beers!

We enjoyed some live country and bluegrass at the local Saturday, Red Stick Market. (It was raining outside;) Bought some great local meat and baked goods though!

The LSU Museum of Natural Science and attached art gallery were worth a look around with my cousin Donna

Spam Museum, Austin, Minnesota

We were staying just a few miles away in Blooming Prairie and, of course, were going into Austin to a couple of breweries....how could we no...