A Sunday on the Bayou

Have you ever heard that old saying about people who have "never met a stranger"?  Well, that’s just a way of life in southeast Louisiana.  Strangers become acquaintances, acquaintances become friends and friends become family.  We have a tendency to celebrate for any reason, or sometimes for no reason at all.  We live every day with joie de vivre (joy for life) and when there is a special occasion, we love to gather and rejoice in it.

Today was such a day.  Some very dear friends of the family have a son who just graduated from Tulane University.  In just 5 years, he earned both a bachelors and master degrees, all the while playing on the football team.  Soon, he’ll be heading off to explore Europe for a few weeks and then moving to Washington D.C. to start his career. This is definitely cause for celebration!

So early this afternoon, we packed the lawn chairs in the car and headed south to Crown Point, Louisiana.  Even though it’s just 30 minutes from our home in Algiers, it feels like a world away from the suburban lifestyle we live every day.  We drove through the Barataria Preserve and came out on the banks of the Intracoastal Canal, taking in the views of some of the spectacular homes hugging the opposite bank in Lafitte, LA and passing swamp tour operations along the way.

But, we had no need to stop for a tour…we were heading to a little piece of paradise tucked away at the end of a road.  Wouldn’t you like to sit on your back porch and take in this view?

It wouldn’t be a true Louisiana celebration without food and there was plenty!   The burners were blazing away, boiling the crawfish, crabs and shrimp.  The grill was fired up for the hot dogs and hamburgers.  The dessert table was groaning under the weight of brownies, cakes, muffins and bread pudding.  A pirogue was pulled into use to ice down the drinks for all of the guests.

Once the kids had a chance to eat, it was time for their own, private swamp tour as they piled into the boat and headed down the bayou…passing other boats along the way.

One of the highlights of the paid swamp tours is when the alligators swim up to the boats.  They do this because the tour operators feed them and why hunt for food when someone will bring it to you?  Well, this little guy must have been hungry, because he showed up to snack on the leftover crawfish tails and shrimp shells…

It was a terrific Sunday afternoon on the bayou.  I wonder what next weekend will bring?

When buying or selling a home on the West Bank of New Orleans or relocating to the New Orleans West Bank, you deserve local expertise and advice. Lisa Heindel provides full time, professional real estate services to buyers, sellers and military transferees in Algiers, Algiers Point, Belle Chasse, Gretna, Terrytown, Harvey, Marrero, Westwego and more.

Here’s the disclaimer part:  The opinions expressed here are strictly those of the author, but you are free to share yours in the comments.  All information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed,

Copyright 2008.  Lisa Heindel, All rights reserved.