We're from Michigan. Our kids are 14, 12, and 8.
We wanted to go someplace warm for spring break for a week in April. My 12 year old mentioned that he wanted to, "Go someplace different and do something different." Ok......not much to go on, but we decided to eliminate a beach vacation. We beach it all summer long on beautiful beaches here in Michigan.
We settled on New Orleans with stops on the way down and back up. We both work, the kids are all in school. We had 9 days to travel a total of 2800 miles round trip.
We decided to purchase a new Coachmen Catalina this year. It came in 5 days before our departure. Not much time to set up a new trailer on the inside or out, so we rushed.
Day 1: Leave Michigan and head to Huntsville, Alabama. 650 miles, yes we're ambitious. We also only had 9 days to fit in our activities. The kids are great travelers by this point so it was not an issue for us.
There was traffic in Kentucky on our way through, so we hopped off the expressway and stopped into the corvette museum. I was impressed by the sink hole exhibit. This was a perfect stop to break up the drive.
Here's a picture of my 14 year old son in a car he'd like to own. ๐
Our goal on day 2 was to visit the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville before heading further south. I had called 2 weeks prior and their camping area was full. They were kind enough to refer me to the closest campground, Monte Sano State Park. I called and made reservations.
This experience has taught us many lessons. For example, when speaking over the phone, I will now ask the attendant questions such as, "Should I follow GPS? Are you on a mountainside with switchbacks? Are there 2 entrances to the park?"
We followed our GPS, up a mountainside, with switchbacks, at 9pm when it's pitch black. Absolutely the scariest experience of my life.
We arrived to find a lovely site in the middle of the woods. We had no difficulty backing in, but this could cause a problem for some.
The experience made for a great story, but finding out beforehand that there were 2 entrances into the campground would have been helpful. I find it odd that I spoke to 2 separate individuals and neither one mentioned this.
The campground host was shocked to hear we came in the "wrong" way, and told us how to get out of the park. The ride leaving in the morning was uneventful.
Here's our site at Monte Sano State Park.
We backed right up to the kid play area. It was very pretty at night to look down on the city. If anyone goes to this park, I'd recommend getting a site that overlooks the city. Oh, and go into the park the easy way.
We wanted to go someplace warm for spring break for a week in April. My 12 year old mentioned that he wanted to, "Go someplace different and do something different." Ok......not much to go on, but we decided to eliminate a beach vacation. We beach it all summer long on beautiful beaches here in Michigan.
We settled on New Orleans with stops on the way down and back up. We both work, the kids are all in school. We had 9 days to travel a total of 2800 miles round trip.
We decided to purchase a new Coachmen Catalina this year. It came in 5 days before our departure. Not much time to set up a new trailer on the inside or out, so we rushed.
Day 1: Leave Michigan and head to Huntsville, Alabama. 650 miles, yes we're ambitious. We also only had 9 days to fit in our activities. The kids are great travelers by this point so it was not an issue for us.
There was traffic in Kentucky on our way through, so we hopped off the expressway and stopped into the corvette museum. I was impressed by the sink hole exhibit. This was a perfect stop to break up the drive.
Here's a picture of my 14 year old son in a car he'd like to own. ๐
Our goal on day 2 was to visit the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville before heading further south. I had called 2 weeks prior and their camping area was full. They were kind enough to refer me to the closest campground, Monte Sano State Park. I called and made reservations.
This experience has taught us many lessons. For example, when speaking over the phone, I will now ask the attendant questions such as, "Should I follow GPS? Are you on a mountainside with switchbacks? Are there 2 entrances to the park?"
We followed our GPS, up a mountainside, with switchbacks, at 9pm when it's pitch black. Absolutely the scariest experience of my life.
We arrived to find a lovely site in the middle of the woods. We had no difficulty backing in, but this could cause a problem for some.
The experience made for a great story, but finding out beforehand that there were 2 entrances into the campground would have been helpful. I find it odd that I spoke to 2 separate individuals and neither one mentioned this.
The campground host was shocked to hear we came in the "wrong" way, and told us how to get out of the park. The ride leaving in the morning was uneventful.
Here's our site at Monte Sano State Park.
We backed right up to the kid play area. It was very pretty at night to look down on the city. If anyone goes to this park, I'd recommend getting a site that overlooks the city. Oh, and go into the park the easy way.
Day 4:
We decided to start New Orleans off with a bang, so we went on an airboat tour. There were several companies available, so we went with the one that had a certificate of excellence and hundreds of great reviews on trip advisor. Gotta love trip advisor!
We booked a tour with Jean Lafitte Air Boat Tours.
I was more than a little concerned when we showed up, the drive in is not at all welcoming. We basically drove through a very run down area of mobile homes, then passed through a gate on a dirt drive.
We found out quickly that looks are deceiving.
Our tour was wonderful. I think we could have listened to him for hours. He taught us about animal husbandry, ecology, erosion, the War of 1812, and more. Absolutely fabulous experience. We all enjoyed the ride and learned a lot along the way.
The kids even got to hold a baby alligator.
After the tour, we asked where is a good place to eat. This is our standard approach, ask the locals where to eat. We followed directions (Sorry, I can't remember the name). We were not terribly impressed. Overpriced and all fried food.
We went back to the campsite and walked over the boardwalks in the campground.
We were unable to have a fire at our campsite during our stay. The issue was that we couldn't find any wood!In Michigan, we don't move wood or bring wood with us to campsites, to lessen the spread of the emerald ash borer (it's a bug). So local houses close to a campground offer up wood for sale, the park offices have wood, even grocery stores and hardware stores carry wood. We were surprised that we couldn't find any at any of these places.
We decided to start New Orleans off with a bang, so we went on an airboat tour. There were several companies available, so we went with the one that had a certificate of excellence and hundreds of great reviews on trip advisor. Gotta love trip advisor!
We booked a tour with Jean Lafitte Air Boat Tours.
I was more than a little concerned when we showed up, the drive in is not at all welcoming. We basically drove through a very run down area of mobile homes, then passed through a gate on a dirt drive.
We found out quickly that looks are deceiving.
Our tour was wonderful. I think we could have listened to him for hours. He taught us about animal husbandry, ecology, erosion, the War of 1812, and more. Absolutely fabulous experience. We all enjoyed the ride and learned a lot along the way.
The kids even got to hold a baby alligator.
After the tour, we asked where is a good place to eat. This is our standard approach, ask the locals where to eat. We followed directions (Sorry, I can't remember the name). We were not terribly impressed. Overpriced and all fried food.
We went back to the campsite and walked over the boardwalks in the campground.
We were unable to have a fire at our campsite during our stay. The issue was that we couldn't find any wood!In Michigan, we don't move wood or bring wood with us to campsites, to lessen the spread of the emerald ash borer (it's a bug). So local houses close to a campground offer up wood for sale, the park offices have wood, even grocery stores and hardware stores carry wood. We were surprised that we couldn't find any at any of these places.
Day 3: We had to leave lovely Tishomingo in Mississippi and drive to New Orleans. We all felt validated about skipping the stop on the Gulf as we saw quite a bit of flooding on the way down. It was a smart decision to avoid that area the day before.
It was a long drive south and we had some issues with sway along the route. After we returned, we complained to the RV company where we purchased the camper, and they upgraded our hitch to the Husky Centerline free of charge. This is already working out nicely.
We arrived in Louisiana about 8pm at Bayou Segnette State Park. The office was closed so a police officer checked us in. That impressed us.
The sites at Bayou Segnette were very nice. Large grassy sites.
Not only were the sites nice, but there was a ton of wildlife. We saw alligators and all types of birds on at the picnic area in the park.
It was a long drive south and we had some issues with sway along the route. After we returned, we complained to the RV company where we purchased the camper, and they upgraded our hitch to the Husky Centerline free of charge. This is already working out nicely.
We arrived in Louisiana about 8pm at Bayou Segnette State Park. The office was closed so a police officer checked us in. That impressed us.
The sites at Bayou Segnette were very nice. Large grassy sites.
Not only were the sites nice, but there was a ton of wildlife. We saw alligators and all types of birds on at the picnic area in the park.
Day 2:
We left Monte Sano and headed to the US Space and Rocket Center.
This was a nice place, but I'm not sure if we appreciated the facility to it's full potential. I guess we've been there, done that, with this type of center. We spent a total of 3 hours, and were completely done with it by the end. The kids really enjoyed the rock climbing wall.
Our original plan was to go to Buccaneer State Park in Mississippi and spend a day on the Gulf of Mexico, (I knew ahead of time to avoid the railroad tracks to this campground, lol). Unfortunately, there were really bad storms and tornadoes coming through the area. It just wasn't safe to go there and we had to make alternate plans. We left the Space and Rocket center not knowing where we were headed. We were close to Mississippi, and I have a goal to take the kids to as many states as possible, so as we were walking out to the truck, I googled, "Top rated state parks in Mississippi" and found that we were close to Tishomingo State Park. I called ahead and asked, "Are you on a mountaintop, are there 2 entrances to the park, can I follow gps?"
Everything seemed to line up and we made an impromptu visit to Tishomingo State Park.
Absolutely fabulous park. Some of the best hiking trails. As we pulled into the campground, my 12 year old son said, "We need to come here every spring break."
Another bonus to Tishomingo is that it's on the Natchez Trace Parkway. We'd never been on it, but what a beautiful drive! We're also national park junkies and we were able to stop at the visitor center, watch a brief show about the Natchez Trace, and get our passport cancellation stamps.
A+ for our stop in Mississippi. These unexpected trips usually yield the best results.
We left Monte Sano and headed to the US Space and Rocket Center.
This was a nice place, but I'm not sure if we appreciated the facility to it's full potential. I guess we've been there, done that, with this type of center. We spent a total of 3 hours, and were completely done with it by the end. The kids really enjoyed the rock climbing wall.
Our original plan was to go to Buccaneer State Park in Mississippi and spend a day on the Gulf of Mexico, (I knew ahead of time to avoid the railroad tracks to this campground, lol). Unfortunately, there were really bad storms and tornadoes coming through the area. It just wasn't safe to go there and we had to make alternate plans. We left the Space and Rocket center not knowing where we were headed. We were close to Mississippi, and I have a goal to take the kids to as many states as possible, so as we were walking out to the truck, I googled, "Top rated state parks in Mississippi" and found that we were close to Tishomingo State Park. I called ahead and asked, "Are you on a mountaintop, are there 2 entrances to the park, can I follow gps?"
Everything seemed to line up and we made an impromptu visit to Tishomingo State Park.
Absolutely fabulous park. Some of the best hiking trails. As we pulled into the campground, my 12 year old son said, "We need to come here every spring break."
Another bonus to Tishomingo is that it's on the Natchez Trace Parkway. We'd never been on it, but what a beautiful drive! We're also national park junkies and we were able to stop at the visitor center, watch a brief show about the Natchez Trace, and get our passport cancellation stamps.
A+ for our stop in Mississippi. These unexpected trips usually yield the best results.
