Fountainbleau State Park Update

Across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans lies St. Tammany Parish.

I have called the eastern part of the Parish home for over 30 years. While I adore all that New Orleans has to offer, I prefer the quiet of the northshore. A truely beautiful attraction in St. Tammany is Fontainebleau State Park .

Located about an hour from the city, Fontainebleau is a world apart from the music, food, unique individuals and wonderful ambiance of the Crescent City.

This past Friday hubby and I headed out to the park to check out the health of the area since Katrina and the BP Oil Spill. Good news: all is well at Fontainebleau. The following pictures should give you an idea how nicely things are going.


The Visitors' Center is newly completed and has some fascinating items from the park's past. It also offers picnic tables and bathrooms.




This sign used to be hung out on Highway 190. If you look closely you will see that where it says "Cold Beer" it looks a little scratched out. Our host told us that the sign originally said "sandwiches" until they realized that cold beer would bring more people into the park. :)


The Center is located right behind what used to be a sugar mill.



The Visitors' Center itself is fascinating. It gives one the opportunity to learn about the geology and ecology of our region




This display shows all of the different areas of activity at the park: from camping to swimming.


There are miles of hiking/biking trails.


On the far eastern edge of the park are about a dozen cabins ready to be rented for about $120/nite. In these days of high gas prices, we are considering renting one instead of taking a road trip for vacation this year.


We spent a week in a cabin in 2008 and loved it.




It was very peaceful and close enough to restaurants and stores AND home. The perfect spot. But I digress......



Leaving the Visitors' Center the road curves around. In the middle of the curve this is the first sight you see



This row of magnificent live oak trees marches towards the lake. There were many more oaks before Katrina, but these are all that survived the flooding.


I could still see the beauty in these oaks




As you get closer to the lake, there is a trailhead off to your left. This will lead you in three different directions. We were headed towards the boardwalk that brings you out into the wetlands.







It is out here that Katrina's destruction is still visible.





But nature is resilient. These wetlands hold so much life! While out here on the boardwalk, the only sound you hear is the wind and the very lovely call of the redwing blackbird.








This little crab was trying to bury himself in the mud.


There had to be a reason why this sign was put up. :)

The beachfront of the park has been expanded and is really very nice.




The fishing pier is alway busy.




This picture of New Orleans was taken from the pier.


This little weather vane sits atop the building that houses bathrooms and dates back to the 20's.


To the east of the beach is a trail that follows what used to be a line of cypress trees. It is inside this area where you can find a quiet piece of beach and a little shade to enjoy the day.

Here are some other things we captured during our visit















Here is a link to my album containing all my pictures from this wonderful place
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v217/judyb54/FOUNTAINBLEAU/

Hunting for Oil

Very interesting video. Check it out. I get daily emails from Paul Orr at Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper and never realized how young he is. (or how old I'm getting, LOL)

Watch more free documentaries

Strange burglary

HANCOCK COUNTY -- A Jourdan River Shores resident stopped a robbery at a home here Thursday, saving his neighbor’s power tools and sausage, authorities said.

Deputies responding to a burglary report found Paul Boswell had blocked two Louisiana men inside the residence, investigator Matthew Carver said.

Joshua Alexander Johnson, 24, of Covington, and Jake Vincent Ruffino, 18, of Slidell, were arrested. Items found in the men’s vehicle included a drill press, a professional battery charger, a pellet rifle and several pounds of sausage and other meat, Carver said.

Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2011/04/22/3049767/2-men-arrested-in-robbery-of-power.html#ixzz1KXSGh9f0 

 

Now this is recycling!

 The first artificial reef constructed from the old Interstate 10 Twin Spans is now in place. The four-acre reef is located between the new I-10 bridge and Highway 11 (Latitude 30° 10.169' Longitude 89° 50.744'). The corners of the reef are marked by four yellow illuminated marker buoys. Sixty spans were dismantled, processed and deployed as reef material. In addition to providing hard-bottom habitat for bottom-dwelling organisms, the reef will create a valuable fish habitat for popular recreational species, including redfish, speckled trout, croakers, sheepshead and drum. The project was a cooperative effort among the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Department of Transportation and Development, Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana and NOAA Office of Coast Survey. Since its creation in 1986, the department's Artificial Reef Program has developed 28 reefs in Louisiana's inshore waters.

 

Lake Catherine's Rebirth

About 15 minutes from downtown New Orleans lies the little slip of land known as Lake Catherine.



Highway 90 is the road that traverses through Lake Catherine and Venetian Isles. For the past month I've been using this route to travel to work due to the heavy road construction taking place on Highway 11 and the twin spans. The commute is a little bit longer, but it allows me to relax while driving rather than dodge those huge deadly dump trucks.

Lake Catherine was literally flattened by Katrina. Before the storm this little community consisted of camps and small waterfront homes for fishermen weekend getaways for people living in the city. In the last three years Lake Catherine has seen a building boom of new camps and huge homes. Click here for a sampling of the various homes in the area.

What I enjoy the most about travelling through Lake Catherine are the signs the residents create for their homes/camps. You can see how people feel about their abodes by their signs. One Saturday hubby and I drove through Lake Catherine and took pictures of most of the signs and here they are. Enjoy!

Click on the photos for larger versions.



























































Here's another reason I enjoy riding through Lake Catherine

Remembering the Deepwater Horizon 11

This breaks my heart.

American Zombie: Atlas flexes

NOW THIS is how the Gulf Coast REALLY feels about Kenneth Feinberg and the mysterious $20 billion dollar oilspill fund: American Zombie: Atlas flexes

In Memorium

One year later - BP Oilspill

84 bills were introduced in Congress related to the BP oilspill. Two passed the house. None passed the Senate. None

from PewEnvironment.org/OffshoreEnergyReform

Total barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico by the Deepwater Horizon blowout: 4,900,000

Equivalent of that in Exxon Valdez oil spills: 19

Barrels of oil per day BP claimed in its 2009 emergency response plan it could
skim and store in response to a spill in the Gulf: 491,721

Average barrels per day BP actually captured, burned and chemically “dispersed”: 19,251

Gallons of chemical dispersant dumped into the Gulf to try to break down the oil: 1,843,786

Projected three-year loss of tourism revenue for Gulf Coast communities as a result of the spill: $22,700,000,000

Number of active offshore oil platforms in the Gulf: 3,395

Number of them in deepwater (more than 1,000 feet): 64

Underwater depth of the Deepwater Horizon well, in feet: 4,994

Number of Gulf oil platforms in water deeper than that: 11


Underwater depth of the deepest of those, in feet: 8,062
Number of U.S. offshore oil well “incidents” (including fatalities, injuries, fires, and spills)

reported by federal regulators from 2006 through 2009: 3,282

Number of those that included “a loss of well control”: 23

Ratio of government inspectors to oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico: 1 to 54

Percentage of those inspectors who believe they did not receive adequate training: 50

Percent of increase in U.S. offshore oil and gas leasing since 1982: 200

Percent of decrease in staffing resources for federal offshore regulation since 1983: 36

Number of bills introduced in Congress since the Deepwater Horizon blowout that
would reform offshore drilling and/or improve spill response: 84

Number of those bills that have passed the House: 2

Number that have passed the Senate: 0

Figures are the most recently available as of October 26, 2010. Sources at this link