Westwego

Because of the trouble on Wednesday, on Thursday we made a big push to get to New Orleans, over 250 miles! we pulled into The Bayou Segnette State Park by about 4.00, it is situated just by the little township of Westwego, which is to the Southwest of New Orleans, on the East Bank of the Mississippi. It has well spaced sites, good basic facilities and is quiet during the week, but book for a weekend. Also has free laundry. Boat ramp nearby, also water park in the state park with wave machine. $20 per night. Westwego is squeezed onto a strip of land about one mile wide between the Mississippi to the north and Bayous (swampland) to the south.

It is not a well to do sort of a place. However it does have a small fishing fleet and a fish market. Friday was a rest day, but in the afternoon we took a short trip to see the fish market. Fortunately, our friends, Jimmy and Kathy, who are travelling with us, are experts on all things to do with fish. Jimmy actually worked on a shrimp boat and both he and Kathy did a lot of big game fishing when they were younger - I mean serious competition stuff, they had their own team, big boat everything. (their policy was strictly catch and return).

So we wandered round the little circle of huts which made up the Fish market, stopping to cast an expert eye over the fish for sale. This was mostly shrimp and crab. The shrimp are huge (about 3-4 inches long), the crabs are blue and small (3-4 inches long). Jimmy and Kathy were excited by the prices, as we were able to buy shrimp for $2.75 per pound, which is about 1/3 the price they are in Florida.

While we were in the fish market, we stopped at a little cafe and had what they called 'Shrimp plate' which was just fresh deep fried small shrimp in seasoning and French Fries. Simple but delicious. The cafe was full of all sorts of fishy type foods and seasonings, I have never seen so many different types of seasoning. After our meal we returned to the fresh shrimp stall and Jimmy collected a bag of fresh shrimp to take home.
When we returned to the trailer Jimmy showed me how to prepare the shrimp, by removing the heads and freezing them in water, in freezer bags, ready to take back home to Florida. Then how to de-vein them, to make sure they have no grit in them. We plan to buy more shrimp tomorrow and then we will be instructed on how to cook shrimp on a BBQ. There did not seem to be so many mosquito's tonight.