A DAY AT THE WORLD BIRDING CENTER ON SOUTH PADRE ISLAND

South Padre Island World Birding Center

Great Egert fishing ~ ~ Whoosh, got it!

Pelicans ~ everywhere you look on the Island

An alligator skimming through the water at the Birding Center. 



A disappointing beach~garbage up and down the beach, dead fish and dead jellyfish, the smell was so uninviting! Wonder why they don't clean the beaches up? We couldn't even walk near the water! 

Turtles catching the rays  ~   Stilt Sandpiper fishing

We ate at D PIZZA JOINT, had all you can eat spaghetti, Joe had two plates, he's into quantity!

 Went over the Queen Isabella Bridge to return to Brownsville.  Welcome to Port Isabel ~ on the right.

VALENTINE'S DAY 2010

"What do you need?"  "Try the pineapple, it's yummy."  "What can I help you with today?"

A few things heard as we passed the booths

today at the largest flea market in the area.

                                                   

THE DON-WES FLEA MARKET HAS IT ALL!

The flea market draws hordes of people each week-end. Highway 83 runs between two flea markets in Donna. The cars are so used to the crowds, they stop on the highway and wait for people to cross--going from one flea market to the other.
Our  meager purchases included a pineapple, a watermelon, cilantro and veggies to make salsa, a press for limes and a magnetic bracelet (it might not work, but then again it might!)
We don't have many needs--we don't have a ton of room to keep "stuff"! We did enjoy the country music and the great hamburgers found at the "in house" restaurant. We also tried a Frito Pie. Joe loved it!
People told us they were good here, but better at the local restaurants. I've seen them on menus but never thought about ordering one. Might have to try one--Joe will eat anything!  
(Just like Mikey! Remember that commercial?)

A wonderful Valentine's Day~~75' and sunny. Tomorrow high of 55' and very windy!  From one day to the next--the weather changes are dramatic. Coldest winter Texas has had in years!

SEA TURTLES ON SOUTH PADRE ISLAND

Geri and I toured the Sea Turtle Rescue Center on South Padre Island. We didn't know what to expect and were pleasantly surprised. Upon entering the Center we saw several large tanks. There were also various posters and displays to be read for information about sea turtles. We listened to the tour guide and viewed different species of turtles in the large tanks. Visit one of these sites for more information:
http://www.seaturtleinc.org/
http://www.texasturtles.org/

The turtle to the right is handicapped. Usually turtles that are severely hurt are euthanized. This turtle caught the hearts of several volunteers, so they figured out a devise mounted on top of a small jacket, which is strapped to the turtle's back. The turtle has learned to use the flippers he has left along with the rutter on the jacket to maneuver around it's tank. Most turtles are healed and released, but this one will stay in the tank as an educational aid.
On the left is a very large turtle named Gerry. His name used to be Geraldine, until someone discovered she was a male turtle.  My sister, Geri, is taking a picture of Gerry. He could live to be 100 years old and get to weigh as much as 600 pounds!  Gerry was very large and seemed to enjoy watching the people watching him. His eyes were right on me below!

On Tuesday night, to our surprise and delight, the Winter Texan Meeting had a display about the Sea Turtles in Texas and a speaker that was very informative.  She talked about how the turtles are protected and told us it is illegal to use the shells to make decorative items, boots, purses or anything else. If items are discovered they will be confiscated, as the boots she had on display.

Her display also had an example of what a nest might look like. There are people that go out looking for nests, digging them up and protecting them until the turtles start to hatch. They are then released, in hopes that many make it into adulthood. This is a very large project on South Padre Island, in which dozens of volunteers participate in.  There is also a volunteer that has trained his dog to hunt for turtle nests!

It was a great day at the Turtle Center and an informative evening at the Winter Texan Meeting.

Baby swimming over the mother, in one of the tanks.

~ A MIXTURE OF PICTURES ~

The last post about our Biloxi/New Orleans trip.

Another solar home in New Orleans, the area Brad Pitt is helping out.             
Painting on the pillars under the
overpass in New Orleans.

Fats and his musical buddies.  A beloved pet in front of his owner's establishment on Bourbon Street.

CAFE DU MONDE    

Established in 1862 in the New Orleans French Market the Cafe is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Closing only on Christmas Day and if a hurricance passes close to the area. 
The Cafe Du Monde Coffee and Chicory is traditionally served Au Lait, mixed half and half with hot milk. Of course, people have preferences and you can put your order in, for how you prefer your coffee--I had hot cocoa.  Geri and I also had beignets, which are fried fritters drenched in powdered sugar. They are served in orders of three, so we split one of them!  YUMMY~~~~nice afternoon break from shopping the funky stores and much lower priced market, which was just down the street.

Some of the alleys were spiffed up with plants and hanging pieces of art.  You really need to walk slowly, trying to take it all in. I'm sure we missed wonderful streets, great art, and fantastic music, but that gives us a reason to return to this fun city of New Orleans!

We saw a lot of "Wildlife" near Bourbon St. but not of the kind in the above sign!  We saw this sign several times along the road going into the National Park, near Biloxi, Mississippi.  We did not see turtles, or any other life at the park.  The volunteer on duty, the day we were there, explained how the Nature Center was 5 feet under water.  Five feet of water basically destroyed the displays and the building needed to be renovated.  If the building was under 5ft. of water the surrounding preserve, where the birds and animals lived, was 15 feet under water. The building being on the highest ground in the park.

With all the flooding, from Katrina, the park is just coming back from the destruction.  The birds and animals have all but disappeared. It will take time for the plants to return--so the birds and animals will return when the plants are there for food and shelter.

It certainly wakes you up to realize that not only the people but every living thing was affected by the destruction of such a major hurricane.

SAD ~ BUT SEEING IMPROVEMENTS

We saw Katrina's destruction everywhere we went along the coast. After five years...we also saw some progress. Not as much as one would think after that period of time, but we didn't see the entire area. We did see where the water came into town and how they have built the concrete wall back up, also adding a system across the road to help hold the water back. 

So many people have stepped up to help the people that lost houses in Katrina. On our tour the area we were taken to was the one Brad Pitt is helping to build green/solar homes. There were several homes, a few are shown below.

A memorial to Katrina has been erected on the neutral land strip between the streets. A house wall, a couple of chairs (representing the homes lost), and graduated posts to show the water levels that buried the town.

Many, many homes are boarded up, falling down, and left as reminders of the destruction. We saw numerous homes marked with symbols telling if they were checked for people, animals, gas leaks, etc. It was very eerie--watching it on TV five years ago--seeing it in person now.
We also saw Fats Dominos house/recording studio, which still needs to be cleaned up before he moves back in. On the cast iron fence we could see the letters F-A-T-S, see them?

It was a somber, sobbering tour. I kept thinking of all the people that were displaced. Where did that many people go?  We did meet two brothers, that left to live with relatives in Georgia and went back to NewOrleans a couple of years ago. They now live in a different area- they said -where the water didn't reach. Coincidently, they also lived in Brookfield, WI through their high school years. Small world.

WHO DAT COUNTRY

             NEW ORLEANS WAS THE

We arrived in New Orleans and hit Bourbon Street within an hour of checking into our hotel. Talk about visual overload ~ Bourbon St. ~ the place to be in New Orleans. The balconies are the first thing we noticed. My sister and I have pictures of so many balconies ~

the pictures really do not do them justice.

The balconies are everywhere you looked and they are beautiful!    ENJOY

Besides balconies there were funky stores to browse through, Tarot Readers to visit, and characters on the street. Bands played jazz, people transformed themselves into street statues, clowns and dancers.  We ate local food at a retaurant on Bourbon Street, and listened to bands in several locations. 

The great street cars still travel through several streets in New Orleans.  Desire Street is found in New Orleans ~ thus the movie ~

A STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE

The best part of the street cars is that they travel from one end of the line to the other. There is no place to turn around - so they flip the seats around, the driver goes to the other end of the car and presto===it goes in the other direction! We had a great tour guide on the Katrina/City Tour we took. He filled us in on little 'secrets' of the city.

JAZZ FUNERAL STORE ~ PEOPLE ARE JUST DYING TO GET IN  

   HIPPIE GYPSY STORE ~ WHERE THE PAST COMES TO LIFE                       

The two guys above played guitar and the drum

(a cardboard box.)

They didn't know the words to a single song we asked for, but they were hauling in the money!

Jambalaya is what Joe chose. He didn't care for it much. He expected various meats in the dish and it turned out to be mostly RICE! His dish was pretty, but pretty doesn't make it for a hungry man!

I chose red beans with rice, sausage and chicken. I gave the sausage and chicken to Joe.

The beans and rice were excellent!

So many street preformers were out, day and night. Some sang, some played instruments, some did tricks, some were silver or gold statues - standing still - in strange positions for a long time.

The paint that some of them used really bothered me. I'm not sure what kind of paint it was, but it just seems that painting your face and hands everyday is not a healthy way to go.

The best was the man dressed in the white suit walking the dog. The dog was just a toy, but looked real. He stood like that for a very long time.

Cars actually slowed down for him, and he was going nowhere!

This guy must've been living on the same jambalaya that Joe ordered. Not enough food for any man!

Nancy and Geri enjoying themselves on Bourbon Street ~~~  New Orleans, LA