Today I had an early demonstration but the rest of the day was free. I took the opportunity to drive the Creole Nature Trail which is not just a scenic byway but an All American Road. I started in Sulphur, LA and headed down to Holly Beach, LA.

Here is an helpful travel tip. When you are somewhere new read the magazines that are in the hotel room. These are often put there by the travel and tourism offices of the area in which you are staying. I picked up the one in my room because the cover caught my eyer. They have Contraband Days – Pirate Festival in this area, unfortunately that isn’t until May. There is also a bike rally called The Blazin’ Bikes Rally and I won’t be around for that either.

What I did notice in the magazine was a description of the Creole Nature Trail. There was a website associated with it so I called up http://www.creolenaturetrail.org/, this was a very sophisticated site with an interactive map and some very well presented information. There were also some MP3’s for a driving tour of the trail available for download. I downloaded them to my iPod and since I brought my Monster iCarPlay Plus Wireless FM Transmitter/Charger for iPod I was all set to have a driving adventure.

The MP3s were nicely narrated by a local so I got the Cajun sound to accompany my tour. I learned a good deal about the wildlife and the history of the area. Unfortunately in 2005 hurricane Rita devastated the area and rebuilding is still under way so there were no trails I could walk on to see the wildlife up close. Regardless, I enjoyed my audio tour and driving down to the coast. The little beach front town of Holly Beach was decimated. I took the Photo-A-Day of a car that was in the marshes. Marshes ran along the mainland side of the road for miles.

I drove down towards Oak Grove but decided against the ferry ride. I turned around and came back. Along the way I noticed that there were many cows out in the marshes. The audio tour did say that the cows were free roaming and there was no need for fences because of the natural barriers of the marshes. I stopped and took a few shots of the cows in the mist.

I also took a picture of the sign where I stopped to take the Photo-A-Day picture.

I then went to the beach but it was very desolate with a lot of trash and whatnot strewn about, there was even a fridge washed up on shore. The waves came in with brown water and sand churned up. It was depressing. But fortunately there is some rebuilding happening and there are also some structures still standing.

I headed towards the Texas border and decided to turn around on a little street to the beach. On the left side there was a marsh and I saw an alligator. I rolled down the window and got this picture before it totally submerged out of view.

On the way back to Sulphur, LA I went back over the Intercoastal Waterway. I snapped a picture of this bridge as I was about to go over it.

I then stopped for a late lunch at Carlyss (not a typo, at least not mine if any) BBQ & Mini Storage. I added this to my Google Map. The food was very good but my order was not quite right. I ordered three ribs and that was what I was charged, so that was cool. But I was supposed to get cole slaw and instead got a chicken leg (cool) and extra potato salad (not cool). I unfortunately don’t like potato salad. Carlyss was an interesting place. It is a drive through were you drive around the back of the building to pick up the food after you order at the front window. Everything was written on a white wipe board. They also make homemade donuts in the mornings. It was the type of place that you need to stop at and get BBQ. You just have to because you know it will be authentic and tasty. I was not disappointed. Here is what the Carlyss looks like from the front. There was nothing to take a picture of ’round back.

Then I headed back to the hotel. I shot this picture of some more cows while I was at a stoplight.

I had a nice drive and a pleasant afternoon. Wish it was a brighter day and the trails were open There were tons of birds and it is hard to take pictures of them at 55MPH.