Up the big creek without a paddle

On reflection, we were sad to leave New Orleans. It had a special magnetism. To really fit into the culture each day should start at midday. Not only that, each day must start with a Bloody Mary; sometime during the day you need to eat shrimp-and-grits, po-boy and beignet; walk around the streets holding a beer or a coffee; act like every day is mardi gras; wear cheap iridescent beads; believe in voodoo rituals; and party until almost daybreak!! Also,........ rhythm must be in the DNA. These boys created a fantastic beat out of upturned paint buckets!

So right now we are chugging up the Mississippi in a 'paddlesteamer' with a fake paddle and no steam. This big floating barge was only launched this year and is super-comfortable. Only 185 passengers on board. All very low key as far as cruises go but we are being thoroughly looked after. Doug and I are possibly amongst the youngest (and thinnest!!) on board so there is no competition for the gym equipment.

The Mississippi is a pretty confusing waterway full of crazy bends. Now we know why they call it 'the artery of USA'. The huge amount of shipping makes it one of the busiest commercial waterways in the world. These powerful little towboats exert their pistons pushing up to forty barges of cargo (mainly grain in this area). Apparently they take the load of over 70 artic, trucks.

The entertainment on board is also very low key,....usually around jazz and Southern comedy. These girls sang the old favourite Andrews Sisters songs. They were brilliant and gave many of the old vets on board heart flutters!!

I guess we could sum up this trip as reliving the Southern history of grandeur and ruin,........grandeur in the form of the wealth of the cotton plantation owners, and ruin from the Civil War days. Here is an example of one of the many stunning plantation mansions.

And here are the slave's quarters. This plantation once had around 230 slaves. This room possibly squeezed about ten of them in!

One of our favourite side trips was to Atchafalaya Swamp to see how the local people (cajuns) eke a living in their stilt houses, either by fishing or hunting alligator. This little fella showed an interest in us!

A great trip to watch the wildlife, particularly a bald eagle do a fly by after raiding some sort of food source. Like many waterways the Asian carp are a nuisance. We got more than we bargained for by having two big 'mothers' jump into the boat. One landed on a lady's lap!! Now this was no herring, - it must have weighed around 5kg. The boat owner was quick to grab it for 'gater bait.

So, before we left the 'real' South on our way to Memphis we were fortunate to meet with the Governor of Louisiana in person!

Y'all come back now!!