Another picture of the Bayou behind the RV. It's just so pretty!

Those Bald Cypress trees you see there ( the state tree of Louisiana) are quite interesting trees. Growing slowly, they will get taller and taller for roughly 200 years, reaching heights of up to 150 feet and than will usually go on living for 600 years, though some specimens are said to have survived for more than 1,000 years!

Mardi Gras which means "Fat Tuesday" in French and is the day right before Ash Wednesday. If you're Catholic, you know what's it's like to fast on Ash Wednesday so we tend to fill up Tuesday or "fatten up" the day before thus "Fat  Tuesday". In New Orleans, they take it to a whole other level by running parades for two weeks straight through "Fat Tuesday" and everything completely stops at midnight before Ash Wednesday. The schools even shut down for a four day weekend. No joke. - See more at: http://www.letsplayoc.com/2013/01/tour-of-new-orleanss-mardi-gras-world.html#sthash.oHpeuqvn.dpuf

Mardi Gras which means "Fat Tuesday" in French and is the day right before Ash Wednesday. If you're Catholic, you know what's it's like to fast on Ash Wednesday so we tend to fill up Tuesday or "fatten up" the day before thus "Fat  Tuesday". In New Orleans, they take it to a whole other level by running parades for two weeks straight through "Fat Tuesday" and everything completely stops at midnight before Ash Wednesday. The schools even shut down for a four day weekend. No joke. - See more at: http://www.letsplayoc.com/2013/01/tour-of-new-orleanss-mardi-gras-world.html#sthash.oHpeuqvn.dpu

The bald cypress also has a particularly unique feature in the form of "knees," knobby segments of the tree's roots that protrude from the water. 
Known by the scientific name pneumatophores, these growths are thought to allow the tree access to oxygen during floods or help it remain stable in soggy swamps.

Unlike most other species in the family Cupressaceae, it is deciduous, losing its leaves in the winter months, hence the name 'bald'.
It's often found in swampy settings, particularly in the eastern half of the United States.

If I walk very quietly, I might get lucky, as in the following picture, and sneak up on some sun-bathing turtles. 

I think these are River Cooters because my guide-book says: 'activity mainly by day, basks on logs, very wary', which is spot-on!

This Red-Bellied Woodpecker is only one of the many woodpeckers I see (and hear) around here. I'll be hunting them down in the coming weeks!

On December 4th, we drove over to the small town of Ponchatoula, where we attended a Tree Lighting Ceremony.

There was the mandatory musical performance by the High School and Junior High Band, Christmas carols were sung by all and the Mayor counted down to the official lighting of the tree.

There was (free) traditional hot chocolate and cookies, and, not so traditional, except if you live here in 'the south', delicious seafood and chicken Gumbo!

Yum!

                

Although this weekend after Thanksgiving kicks of the American Christmas season, we sneaked in another (dutch) tradition, the next day (the 5th of December) and celebrated Saint Nicolas (Sinterklaas), with the traditional speculaas I still bake every year.




I'd been out of the special dutch spices and had been winging it last year with my own concoction of cinnamon and nutmeg, but due to our visit to Orange City a couple of weeks back, I now had the 'real' stuff again!

I spent the next week slowly decorating the Hess-mobile for the season:

Probably because of the small space, it's very easy to make it cozy!

The outside lights went up, and with everything done, the baking started ...

 

These Hungarian Butterhorn Cookies are sooooo good!

No Christmas without gingerbread men!

Mary, (from the front office (not THAT Mary) told us not to miss the local Christmas outdoor-theater performance in Hammond. 

Calvary Christian Center Calvary purchased the old southbound rest area along I-55 and converted it into an outdoor theater where they bring 'A night in Bethlehem'. This year already for the 9th time!
It attracts thousands of visitors, 'You have to be there early', Mary said, and so we did, ... and found ourselves at the very front of the line! Too funny!

We still had a 45 minute wait, but than we were the first to enter the grounds and to come upon a Roman marketplace in the ancient town of Bethlehem, complete with traditional vendors, Roman soldiers and Jewish dancers to create the historical setting.

We had to register at the first booth, the Census, as ... 'In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world'...

Bonfires kept us warm and dancers entertained us while we were sipping on hot chocolate, checked out the booths and waited for the start of the 'show'.

We were among the first group to board a seated wagon, pulled by a freight-liner, after which we were taken along a drive around the grounds and stopped in front of various scenes that came 'alive', while performing and telling us the nativity story.

Every scene had its own actors, including adults, children and even live animals!

The 'story' ended with a 'nowadays' scene, in which a stressed out family seemed to have forgotten what Christmas is all about ....

After which the minister of the local church 'set us straight', ... oh well ... it's a cute story ...

Anyways, it kind of got us in 'the spirit' so we were glad we went!


Since we only got to see a small part of all that New Orleans has to offer last time we went, we decided to go back for another day and do some more sight seeing.

 
We bought tickets for the Hop-On-Hop-Off City Tour and used the open-top double-decker bus to see the different neighborhoods at the outskirts of the city that are a little too far of a walk otherwise.
The tickets are good for 3 days and allow you unlimited hop-on and off privileges at numerous stops throughout the city.

During the ride a guide talks about the history of New Orleans and the sights you see as you make your way through town.

The weather was gorgeous so we enjoyed sitting outside on the top deck where you had a great view.Although we'd already been to the French Quarter we got off there again since we just HAD to get some coffee and, most importantly, more of those delicious beignets!

 

This time we went for the Cafe Beignet in the Legends Park, a small courtyard right in the middle of the Quarter. 
 
We were lucky enough to snatch up a table, it's a popular place on a sunny Sunday morning, and enjoyed the morning sunshine, the coffee and the great pastries while listening to some smooth jazz by the Steamboat Willie jazz band.
O yeah, life is good! 

We 'hopped' back on the bus....

..... and got off at the Garden District, where we met with a guide for a (included in the ticket) tour through this beautiful neighborhood.

The area was originally developed between 1832 and 1900 and is considered one of the best-preserved collections of historic mansions in the Southern United States.
This whole area was once a number of plantations, including the Livaudais Plantation. It was sold off in parcels to mainly wealthy Americans who did not want to live in the French Quarter with the Creoles.

The Garden District is where you’ll find the homes and former homes of stars like Nicholas Cage, Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey and more. 
Lined with oak trees and brimming with mansions, you feel like you stepped into a movie.



Needles to say, these are all multi-million dollar houses!

         

                                          Corn-stalk fence on the Colonel Short Villa

This is Sandra Bullocks house!

A famous landmark in this area is the Commander's Palace, one of the city's most famous restaurants.


 
Established in 1890, and owned by the Brennan family, it has long been one of the best regarded upscale restaurants in the city. Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse are two of its alumni.
(Reservations, and proper attire, only!)

The tour ended at the 'Lafayette Cemetery No.1', also known as 'The City of the Dead', because of it's many 'mansion'-like tombs, and it's aisles that have street names.

The Cemetery is a favorite setting in many movies made here in New Orleans, and was first shown in Season Four of The Vampire Diaries.

Walking through it's gate is like walking through a portal into the past.
It is the oldest of the seven municipal, city-operated cemeteries in New Orleans and is a non-segregated, non-denominational cemetery.

Built in what was once the City of Lafayette, the cemetery was officially established in 1833, formerly part of the Livaudais plantation, where that square had been used for burials since 1824. 

 

The cemetery was laid out with two center aisles, a cruciform (cross) pattern, lined with trees giving it a park, and city-like, appearance, and divided the cemetery into four sections.
It's a common belief that tombs were build due to the high water contents of the soil (and floods) which caused buried bodies to float.

  

Most common among the different styles of tombs are the Family and Society tombs, where whole families or members of various organizations are buried in one large tomb.
While practical and economical it also took up less real estate.

We learned that the expression 'not to be touched by a 10 foot pole' originated from the fact that after months in the tomb, which would work like an oven in the hot, subtropical climate, the body was sort of naturally cremated by the high heat.
After a year, the remains were pushed to the rear of the vault by a '10 foot pole', or placed in a bottom vault, thus making room for many more.

After the tour we had lunch at one of the outside terraces on Magazine Street. I know, I guess even cemeteries don't make us give up food ...

Magazine Street is a major thoroughfare in New Orleans. 
It follows the curving course of the Mississippi River for over six (!) miles and took its name from an ammunition magazine located in this vicinity during the 18th-century colonial period.

Most of the street is a mix of residential and commercial buildings, generally older houses from the later nineteenth century and similarly aged commercial stretches consisting of antique shops, clothing boutiques, restaurants, and bars.

It is well known for being a popular, funky, shopping district for interested tourists.

Next stop: Mardi Gras World.

Mardi Gras World (also known as Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World, MGW) is a tourist attraction in the warehouse district where floats are made for Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans.

It was created in 1984 as a tourist attraction to show visitors a behind-the-scenes look at float building.
OK, time for a little 'Mardi Gras' education here!

Mardi Gras, which means 'Fat Tuesday' in French, is the day right before Ash Wednesday. If you're Catholic, you fast on Ash Wednesday so you tend to fill up, or 'fatten up', on Tuesday, thus 'Fat Tuesday'. 
In New Orleans, they take it to a whole other level by running parades for two weeks straight from the feast of Epifany (or Kings Day, on the 6th of January) through "Fat Tuesday".
Everything than completely stops at midnight, before Ash Wednesday. The schools even shut down for a four day weekend. No joke.

Mardi Gras which means "Fat Tuesday" in French and is the day right before Ash Wednesday. If you're Catholic, you know what's it's like to fast on Ash Wednesday so we tend to fill up Tuesday or "fatten up" the day before thus "Fat  Tuesday". In New Orleans, they take it to a whole other level by running parades for two weeks straight through "Fat Tuesday" and everything completely stops at midnight before Ash Wednesday. The schools even shut down for a four day weekend. No joke. - See more at: http://www.letsplayoc.com/2013/01/tour-of-new-orleanss-mardi-gras-world.html#sthash.oHpeuqvn.dpuf

 

Mardi Gras which means "Fat Tuesday" in French and is the day right before Ash Wednesday. If you're Catholic, you know what's it's like to fast on Ash Wednesday so we tend to fill up Tuesday or "fatten up" the day before thus "Fat  Tuesday". In New Orleans, they take it to a whole other level by running parades for two weeks straight through "Fat Tuesday" and everything completely stops at midnight before Ash Wednesday. The schools even shut down for a four day weekend. No joke. - See more at: http://www.letsplayoc.com/2013/01/tour-of-new-orleanss-mardi-gras-world.html#sthash.oHpeuqvn.dpuf

There are 54 parades that run throughout the Mardi Gras Carnival Season until midnight on Mardi Gras.
Each parade is put on by a different krewe (pronounced in the same way as "crew") which is a private organization or social club that puts on a parade and ball for the Carnival season. The parade consist of minimal 12 floats (mandatory) and has a different theme each year.

Mardi Gras which means "Fat Tuesday" in French and is the day right before Ash Wednesday. If you're Catholic, you know what's it's like to fast on Ash Wednesday so we tend to fill up Tuesday or "fatten up" the day before thus "Fat  Tuesday". In New Orleans, they take it to a whole other level by running parades for two weeks straight through "Fat Tuesday" and everything completely stops at midnight before Ash Wednesday. The schools even shut down for a four day weekend. No joke. - See more at: http://www.letsplayoc.com/2013/01/tour-of-new-orleanss-mardi-gras-world.html#sthash.oHpeuqvn.dpuf

Once outside, we walked around to see people working on the floats and getting them ready for the parade. There are 54 parades that run throughout Mardi Gras Season and ends at midnight on Mardi Gras aka Fat Tuesday. - See more at: http://www.letsplayoc.com/2013/01/tour-of-new-orleanss-mardi-gras-world.html#sthash.oHpeuqvn.dpuf

 

The floats that are made in this facility are on order by the larger and more expensive krewes that can afford having them professionally made. Lots of the smaller krewes are making them themselves.

Unfortunately, we visited this facility on a Sunday so nobody was actually working on the floats, but we did get to tour the workshops ...

Most of the figurines for the floats are made either out of fiberglass or Styrofoam.

This float was almost done

The tour includes a short video and guide who is quite knowledgeable about Mardi Gras history and customs. They even let you try some of these customs on. so you can take a picture of yourself as a krewe member.

And for a taste of Mardi Gras, king cake was served!

King cake is an incredible sweet cinnamon-type pastry, official served first on King's Day, but eaten all through the carnival season!

We even got our first beaded necklace 'throw'! (items that krewe members on floats throw to parade-goers as the floats pass by!) Yeah!
All in all, not a bad place to visit although we thought the price ($20/pp) was way too steep. Fortunately, we had a $2 off coupon, but still!

I think that was about it for New Orleans for us, we might be back for one of the Mardi Gras parades in February, but we're not sure about it yet.
It's going to be something crazy, with lots of rowdy people and parking being one of the biggest problems. We might just pick one of the smaller parades at the North Shore and watch the New Orleans one's on TV!

After watching Hallmark Christmas movies for 3 weeks in a row now (yes, we do that), Christmas finally was upon us for real!




Christmas Eve arrived quite literary with a, small, bang, more a 'pang', because all of a sudden the electricity on one side of the RV went kaputski!
James made everything working again with several extension cords, but I guess he'll have something to do in the days to come!

On Christmas Day we went over to James boss' house for lunch. When his wife had learned we would be celebrating with just the two of us, in the RV, she insisted that we would come over and have dinner with her family!
(I guess we sounded pitiful ..pathetic ..?)

Anyways, we went, and it was great! The food was delicious (gumbo and prime rib) and the company a lot of fun (especially Pam's Mom, who is a real 'southern belle', sort of a la Blanche in the Golden girls).

A couple of days later, people started to arrive for the campground's famous, and busiest, event of the year .... the New Year's  Party!                       

Apparently, the place sells out every year for this party, and although there were some cancellations due to the rainy, and cold, weather, there were enough die-hards who didn't have a problem with that!

A huge bonfire was prepared:

 

And on New Years Eve the Aaron Foret Band started off the festivities at 8 o'clock .... wow, these people know how to party ... and drink!!!
I can see the reason why everybody likes to come here to party, you can drink as much as you want because you don't have to drive home, the party is free, (and with that, the live band is free), it's very safe and kid-friendly, there's fireworks, a bonfire, champagne at midnight and you don't have to clean up!

Soon everybody was dancing the night away ...
At midnight, champagne, provided by the campground owners, was brought out, and the bonfire lit!

We knew beforehand, and were prepared, for the music to be loud loud, and it was, but I was very surprised (and relieved) that around one o'clock the music stopped and within half an hour everything was quiet!
I'd not anticipated much sleep for that night but we were just fine! Yeah, works for me!




The next morning we celebrated the New Year as usual with that good-old, and yummie, dutch tradition ... the baking of oliebollen!
For some reason, the batter rose like crazy this year, and we had some of the best oliebollen ever!

We watched the Rose Parade (from Pasadena, California) on TV, as we always do, went golfing afterwards and had lobster for dinner, which we realized, is also becoming a tradition ... I know, it's all about food, but if you're a Hess, it's in your genes ...

Anyhoo, not a bad start of 2016, I think it's going to be a great year!