St Andrew's State Park

Our next stop in Florida (March 2-4) was at St Andrew's State Park near Panama City.

There was a variety of wildlife between our campsite and the boat launch and near Gator Lake in the park.

Pelicans

Great Blue Herons

Snowy Egrets

Nesting Great Egrets

Osprey

Loon

A couple of Alligators

While we were near Panama City, we stopped by a bead shop recommended by our housesitters.

"A kid in a candy store"

Navarre Beach

We finally made it into Florida.  Our first campground was Navarre Beach Campground a few miles east of Pensacola.

All along the Gulf Coast we had seen evidence of damage from past hurricanes.  Often we could see the remains of destroyed docks and piers.

At least the RV park's pier was in good repair and available for sunset strolls.

Alabama

After leaving Louisiana, we drove through Mississippi and on to Dauphin Island, Alabama.  Dauphin Island is a small barrier island south of Mobile, Alabama. Mississippi only has about 44 miles of gulf coastline and Alabama only has about 53. 

A view of the beach next to the campground

There were many oil and gas production platforms visible off the coast.

The interesting remains of a tree stump being eroded away by the ocean

 

Adjoining the campground is the Dauphin Island Audubon Bird Sanctuary.  Even thought we were too early for the spring migrants, we had a nice stroll through part of the sanctuary.

Turtles

 

Osprey

A posing Mockingbird

This Great-horned Owl had taken over an Osprey nest platform.

We drove to the west end of the island for one of the sunsets.

A Pelican illuminated by sunset light

There were several dolphin feeding off the beach

 

NOLA

After Baton Rouge, we wanted to visit the famous French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.  Even though it was getting well into the parade season for Mardi Gras, we had been told to visit in the morning to miss the crowds.

We decided to camp at St Bernard State Park just a few miles outside New Orleans.

Even though the campground was pretty quiet, we discovered potentially loud neighbors very close to us.

St. Louis Cathedral  behind Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter

We had considered having coffee and beignets at the famous Cafe Du Monde, but the waiting line caused us to sample the beignets at a much less crowded nearby cafe.

It seems like it must be hard to find an apartment in the French Quarter without spectral roommates.

Some "truth-in-advertising" about the tourist prices

The appearance of Preservation Hall doesn't seem to match the fame of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.