Fontainebleau SP and Hattiesburg MS…

We packed up the RV and headed east to our next stop near Mandeville LA at Fontainebleau State Park. Fontainebleau SP is one of our favorite parks to stay at in Louisiana. The park offers nice sized sites in the woods with hiking and biking opportunities.

We hiked the trails in the park that meander through the Pine-Hardwood forest and lead to the picturesque pier at the end of the trail. The pier is one of the highlights of this park as it sits over the northern end of Lake Pontchartrain. At Happy Hour it is always fun to stop in Mandeville at the Old Rail Brewery for a cold one.

Our next stop after Fontainebleau SP was a stop in a new (for us) town in Mississippi. We will spend a few nights in Hattiesburg MS at the Forrest County Multi-Purpose Park which is basically your typical fairgrounds site but this one does have sewer hookups as well.

As many full-timers know securing weekend spots while traveling is getting harder and harder so stopping at off the beaten path places like fairgrounds can fill the need for weekend campsites. Here we are able to have full hookups, just outside of town  for only $20 per night which is pretty hard to beat.

Adjacent to the campground is Forrest County Lake which allows fishing and hiking within its confines. Better yet there is a boardwalk/pier bisecting the lake making for some fun gazing into the water, watching sunsets or simply enjoying nature’s reflections.

We walked into the woods on the other side of the boardwalk several times and there were numerous (unmarked) trails scattered all over the place. It would be easy to get confused of your whereabouts if you aren’t paying attention. Each day as we walked back and forth on the boardwalk we would engage in conversation with the local fishermen. They admit to catching fish here but we didn’t see a single fish caught in  the three days we were there.

Hattiesburg MS is an interesting town as it has a mixture of areas that look like they are on the upswing yet there are many other areas that look impoverished. We did find a nice disc golf course that was heavily wooded and quite challenging. It was here we found our first freely suspended basket which made for an interesting challenge.

The downtown area is reflective of the town as a whole. Some nice, and some not so nice areas can be found. We were looking for a brewery downtown but the building was so poorly marked we nearly missed it. We were certainly glad we found the place (Southern Prohibition Brewery) because their beer was both exceptional and very affordable.

We didn’t have a single beer that we were disappointed in and we met some nice people at the bar. Sharon was chatting with one fellow who was delighted to learn we were fulltime RV’ers as his mom was about to undertake such an adventure. We gave tons of tips for his mom and he was so appreciative that he gifted us four different beers from a mixed case he had bought. Wow, it really pays to be nice to people…

Lafayette LA treats, Disc Golf and a Betty Visit!

Waking up in Vidor Texas to witness the sunrise over the large pond at the RV park while enjoying my cup of coffee was a great way to start this travel day.After breakfast we packed up and tested everything before leaving. Our towed vehicle lights are still not working properly so I had to re-wire the 7-way plug and clean it up. I got them working but I am going to need to replace that 7-way plug with a new end.

We hit the road and a few hours later pulled into Duson, Louisiana at Frog City RV Park. This was yet another good Passport America park honoring 50% off their regular price. We have stayed here before and after setting up I had to walk over to the truck stop nearby and buy some Pepperjack Boudin Balls. Man were they good. We love being back in Louisiana because the food is awesome.

Our first day we drove over to play some disc golf.at ‘Pa” Davis Park. We had never played at this park even though we have spent a lot of time in the Lafayette, LA area. The course was really nice and best of all it had a lot of shade making for a great disc golf day in the heat with temperatures in the upper 90’s.

After disc golf we stopped at our favorite wine store in Lafayette called Marcello's. The owner has a few restaurants in Louisiana and sells all of his “leftover” wines here resulting in some great bargains. This is the only wine store we stop at where we always have to use a grocery basket to load all of our finds. This trip was no exception…

We also stopped at Rouse’s Grocery store which is a Louisiana specialty stop and tends to have all of the Cajun delectables. I love their homemade sausages and Cajun prepared meats. This trip we found some fantastic looking bacon wrapped chicken thighs stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos all spiced with a Cajun seasoning. We bought these and cooked them in the air fryer for dinner. They were so good we bought more before we left the state.

Normally we stop at Betty’s RV Park when coming through this part of Louisiana but since we had to stay in College Station TX for two months we weren’t able to stay our normal month with her as she is officially closed until September. However, since we were close to the park we called Betty to arrange to meet her at happy hour. What fun we had!! It was so great to see and chat with Betty again even though we weren’t staying at her park.She is as lively as ever and seemed really excited about her summer vacation plans.

Before leaving this area we had to stop in at the Old Thyme Grocery and get, in our opinion, the best shrimp po’ boy in the USA. This po’ boy was no disappointment as we enjoyed each and every bite while washing it down with Envie craft beer made by Parish Brewing in Louisiana.

We love this area but it’s time to go once again…