Friday December 10th

What a beautiful day.  Judy, the dog and I all piled into the Smart Car and headed to the French Quarter for one specific reason....to get a Muffaletta at Central Grocery on Decatur Street.  She got it to go so we could enjoy it later in the day.

Leaving town we headed south to the Jean Lafitte National Park near Baritaria, about 20 miles south of New Orleans.  Unfortunately, the road to the park was closed for levee construction and we were not able to reach our destination.

Undaunted, we got on US 90 west and headed about 50 miles to the town of Houma.  Houma is where 9 different Bayous converge.  A bayou is described as a slow moving body of water with a poorly defined shore line. 

While there, we found a little park that was decorated for the holidays.  We picked out a bench and opened our Muffaletta and the bag of Voodoo Gumbo potato chips.  The sandwich, made by the folks who claim to have originated it, is made on about an 8" round loaf of Sicilian bread covered with sesame seeds.  Inside it is loaded with salami and Swiss cheese.  The sandwich is then dressed with a chopped Italian olive salad.  Quite the tasty treat, and thankfully, it was cut into quarters, because between the two of us, we could only eat half of it.

As good as it was, if I were to try to make it at home, it would have provolone instead of Swiss and it would be toasted instead of cold.  But then, I guess it would be like ordering a Primanti sandwich with no fries or slaw on it.

After our late lunch we headed back to our base camp, and with temperatures nearing 70 degrees, today was the perfect day for a drive.

Tomorrow's forecast is for rain, thunderstorms and winds gusting to nearly 50 MPH.  Don't think we'll be doing much tomorrow.