With the swamp slightly underwhelming and warning banjos going off in my head, I decided to skip Mississippi, Alabama, and end up in Florida instead. So I began my 4 state 8 hour journey early the next morning.
I never realized how long Louisiana actually was until I found out 6 hours or more of this days journey is Louisiana. Only an hour or so of that are to get you through Mississippi and Alabama.
Louisiana is always a fascinating state both good and bad. While it does seem quite backwoods, it's culture is fascinating and distinct. Case in point, while driving in no mans land between Lake Charles and Baton Rouge I heard a political ad completely in Cajun. Not a cheap gimmick, but a full blown 30 seconds of political rambling in Cajun. Adam later would tell me he believes they are the nations most unknown repressed peoples. I don't know if I believe that much, but it definitely is more than just a stereotype that movies grab on to.
By the way, when I called it a no mans land between Lake Charles and Baton Rouge, I meant it. Somewhere in the middle there exists a 20 mile swamp, so uninhabitable that Louisiana just put a bridge over it with only 2 exits on or off of it.
So uninhabitable they didn't let me exit to take pictures of it. Lame
Quick note on Louisiana, while I left it fairly quickly I do want to spend more time there. Maybe with friends or someone close to me.
By the time I landed in Mississippi, I was quite ready to get out of the car, and decided to stop at Mississippi Sandhill National Wildlife Refuge. This was the refuge Adam previously worked at, and as he loves Mississippi because of that job, I thought it would turn out to be a good experience. Instead I kept wondering if I was missing the rest of the refuge. The main visitors center was free, but the refuge itself only contained a ¾ mile trail, and an overly excited volunteer trying way to hard get me to watch the video of Mississippi Sandhill Cranes.
These cranes are ESA listed and sub-species of the unlisted Sandhill Crane. Mississippi's have slight morphological differences from their father species and never migrate. This warrants them special treatment from the federal government. It's rarity is such that this refuge maintains the population mainly by rearing the young and keeping a close eye on the population.
The habitat is Pine Savanna, a common site in protected areas of the gulf coast. Like most savannas, including our very own in central Texas, Pine Savannas are fire controlled, and require it for the health of the habitat.
Here are the few photos I took while walking the trail.
These pitcher plants are native to the region. The poor soil leaves them seeking another outlet for many of the nutrients they require. They solve this by trapping insects in their funnel like extension. Once at the bottom they secretes enzymes to break down and absorb the bug.
The pine savanna. This habitat runs mostly along the gulf coast through the panhandle of Florida. Fire runs through it regularly, keeping the non-fire resistant trees from overtaking the pines.
After excruciating amount of hours in the car, I finally arrived in Florida. I exited quickly into the Florida Vistors center to check out my camping options for the night. I know Florida as a retirement community is a cliché joke, and should be left to terrible comedians, but is it sad the visitors center felt like it catered to old people passing through? The center contained an over abundance of the same 20 brouchers, spread confusingly throughout the huge center. In the middle of the center was 4 or 5 couches done in a tacky bright blue and flowery pattern. The lady at the counter was serving orange juice and cranberry juice for everybody. Now I get that Florida is a sub-tropical area that prides itself on orange's and apparently cranberries, but really? Old people resting on badly patterned couches, while drinking orange and cranberry juice? Maybe that's not the visitor centers fault but actually why Florida is a favorite of seniors.
The visitor center desk lady was very kind and pointed me to a good park only 20 minutes away: Big Lagoon State Park. Let me tell you, Big Lagoon definitely delivered. The campsites were private, and it sat right on a marsh between the mainland and barrier island. Not only that, it had nice hot showers and a real water spigot at my site. What luxuries.
I set up my camp as quickly as I could and went for a hike around the park. The only trails they had were two trails heading to the water, but the habitat offered was well worth it. Being the mainland and not the barrier island, there was no beach at the park, instead flooded marshes with beautiful inlets and shallow sandy coves. The park clearly new what beautiful scenery they owned, and set up benches, pavilions, and even observation towers all over the tiny park.
Here are many of the photos I took along the way.
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I arrived so late, and enjoyed it so much, that by the time I started home it was night time. With my headlight on, I started back in the dark. When suddenly. I heard the beautiful sound of owls in the distance. I followed towards them, and luckily ran into them on either sides of the road. There sitting on two snags, out in the open, silhouetted against the just setted sun, were two Great-horned Owls. Great-horned Owls are staples of many neighborhoods around the nation including Central Texas, heard. These are giant birds that contain a heart wrenching stare and gorgeous face. To see one is like seeing the most beautiful part of the night. While I don't have pictures for you, I did manage to get a nice recording of them. In this clip you'll hear them respond to each other. While it is a territorial call, these two are a pair and regularly play off of each other. It's very anthropocentric of me, but I think it's kind of romantic and cute. (this will be up when I figure out how to do it)
Florida had one more surprise for me. After dinner I went off to the bathhouse to brush my teeth before bed. As I sat there brushing my teeth,
I looked down, and saw two eyes starring back at me through the overflow hole in the sink. And with that ladies and gentleman, I give you the cute picture of the day:
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The birds in the area were a little scarce. There were a few egrets, mainly Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets. The most exciting for me was getting a good look at a Brown Thrasher. Which was a life bird for me.
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