Our state parks never cease to amaze us. We will be travelling through about every state we can and since we will probably pay sales tax or park entrance at every park, I guess they are our’s as much as a resident of that state. That said, we did stop at one state park and a German man was there with his wife and was trying to tell the office personnel that the parks in America are too expensive and is leaving him with no money to do things like rent a canoe or boat. His wife kept herself at good distance from him and his bluster seemed a bit too rehearsed for me. If I were a betting man, and I am, I bet he tries this same song and dance at every park to see what a German national can get away with. Back on topic, state parks rock.
We like to think that our 59 National Parks offer the best experiences along with a Ken Burns documentary (Please, no more Peter Coyote voice-overs!) but we are discovering that many State Parks are stunning and offer unique experiences. From Iron foundries in Alabama, to Blue Ridge Escarpment hikes in South Carolina, to bay front and beach access in Florida, to the swamps of Louisiana.
We are on our way to Thanksgiving Dinner with family in Houston and decided to take a detour to Palmetto Island State Park. https://www.crt.state.la.us/louisiana-state-parks/parks/palmetto-island-state-park/index Actually we originally planned to stop at Frenchman’s Wilderness Campground but we didn’t like the vibe and headed further south into Cajun country for a more remote experience. Douglas thinks there is a big difference in motivation between state parks and for profit RV parks. Sometimes the later may be really nice and have access to some wonderful visages, but sometimes its a place where down on their luck folks live out their days in a tin box on wheels.
Stopped in Scott, La for some boudin at Billy’s. There was a line almost out the door, they were broadcasting the LSU pre-game live, and selling a ton of boudin balls and cracklins. I just need to say that Billy’s sucks big time & it gave me a stomach ache. I will never, ever, buy boudin from Billy’s again. I love Ray’s Boudin-https://www.facebook.com/Rays-Grocery-Plus-148091255209412/ you suck Billy’s…(ED: Lisa flying a bit off the handle here. Anyways, one day we will blog on the best boudin in south Louisiana. Neither of us will vote for Billy’s. The Park Ranger spoke highly of ‘The Best” boudin shoppe, so we will have to try that sometime in the future.
Located on the Vermilion River, Palmetto Island State Park offers a south Louisiana outdoors experience. A boat launch provides access to the river for fishing and boating, while the interior lagoons allow canoers and kayakers.
We had a nice site nestled in Palmetto Palms.
One of the surprising perks of waking up in our camper van is having a perfect cup of coffee every morning!
Lisa has developed a palmetto palm obsession…
There is lots to experience at this state park so we hopped on our bikes to explore a bit.
