Kicking Back at the Beach, Grand Isle State Park LA (March 20 – 24. 2014)

The Place 

On our 15^th day on the road we finally reached the beach.  Grand Isle State Park is a quiet, natural place with an absolutely huge expanse of beach.  We heard it referred to as the “brown” beach, which is true, the sand is light brown in color.  Off in the distance in the Gulf of Mexico you can see the silhouettes of oil well structures.  What is most remarkable is that almost no one uses the beach.  Perhaps in warmer weather we would see other people out there.

 

Grand Isle is a fishing community, and the State Park is used by fishermen with RVs and tents.  In the morning we see them driving off with their fishing gear loaded in the back of their trucks.  The town of Grand Isle has street after street of the fishing “camps” on stilts like we saw in Cocodrie.  The nutrient rich water from the bayous and Mississippi River, provide a fertile environment for shrimp, crabs and small fish, and all this lovely food for larger fish washes out into the Gulf around this island.  So, the fishin’ is good in Grand Isle. 

In the 3+ days that we have been here we have seen many kinds of weather:  hot, bright sunshine; rain; fog; and overcast skies.  We are in a thunderstorm right now.   This has been a perfect spot to kayak, bicycle, walk, read, sit on the beach, watch pelicans, do laundry, clean (a constant challenge when 2 people and a dog live in a tiny space), and (most importantly) relax. 

Today we took Tiki to the town beach to swim.  Grand Isle State Park would be perfect except that they don’t allow dogs on the beach.  Speaking of swimming.  The water was warm enough for Russ to go in for a dip.  It is pretty shallow right off the beach, and he enjoyed the swim.