7 Jan 2019 - Goodbye Mississippi, Hello 'Big Easy' - New Orleans!

7 Jan 2019

This morning we said goodbye to Keesler Air Force Base FamCamp and headed westbound on I-10 to Louisiana, specifically the Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) New Orleans, which is located in Belle Chasse LA, south of New Orleans.  This route took us over the I-10 twin span bridge that traverses Lake Pontchartrain, which is quite a view. 

With a bit of maneuvering we made our way through New Orleans and then south to Belle Chasse, which is where the FamCamp is.  The research I did before we departed paid off as we avoided a potential height issue with Belle Chasse tunnel that goes under the Mississippi River.  It's height clearance is 13.58 ft.  My RV is 13 ft 4-1/2 in - way too close for comfort!!

We arrived at NAS JRB New Orleans and quickly found the FamCamp. They were expecting our arrival and we set-up without issues.  With a few exceptions, all of the sites are back-in but there is plenty of room to maneuver the big fiver.  The sites are all paved and wide enough so you have a large paved patio area.  The grass is pretty soggy so I am assuming they've had significant rain here.  Today we arrived with temps at about 70F and a bit overcast.  Interesting they warn you when you check in about the gators in the RV park and there are signs posted as well.  

One of the documents in our welcome packet!

Signs along side of the road

One of the locals checking us out!

After we got settled we made our way to the NEX (Naval Exchange, Navy's equivalent of a BX or PX), looked around a bit and then drove around the base to get our bearings. 

Beautiful Spanish moss hanging from the trees here

Both the Commissary (grocery store) and MWR office (the place we go to get deals on trips, tickets, tours etc) are closed on Mondays, so we will be at MWR when they open tomorrow and then figure out our best routes or methods of getting into downtown New Orleans.  Our big truck is usually always a limiting factor as it is wide, long, tall, difficult to maneuver in narrow city streets and difficult to find adequate parking.  We will sort it out and leverage mass transit as much as we can. 

We are here for seven nights, and have a list of sites on our radar:

- National World War II Museum

- Mardi Gras venue

- The various sites in the French Quarter area

- Hurricane Katrina tour (extensive)

- Hop on-Hop off City tour (extensive)

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Oklahoma will be filled in before we return home on May 3rd.  The east coast will be visited later this year.

It's nice to be in N'awlens.  I gaw-ron-tee it!  R.I.P Chef Justin Wilson, the Cajun 'Gordon Ramsay' back in the day!! We used to watch Chef Justin Wilson cooking Cajun cuisine on TV.  He was very entertaining.   Chef Justin Wilson video clip