New Orleans, LA to College Station, TX

Today was going to be spent largely out in nature, checking out the swamps of the deep south which I'd never been in and around and I wanted to see a gator!  We left New Orleans and headed to our first stop which was the Joyce Wildlife Area.  There was a short boardwalk through a cypress swamp which ended at a nice viewpoint, but there wasn't enough water for gators.  Looked like great snake habitat, however, and we did see a large fishing spider which gave me the heebie-jeebies.  We didn't stay too long.

fishing spider about the size of the palm of my hand

bald cypress swamp at Joyce Wildlife Area and cypress "knees" below

From there, we drove to the Achafalya (pronounced Atch-a-fly) National Wildlife Refuge.  Most of this stop was driving along the Big Alabama Bayou, but we did stop at a couple spots looking for gators and I did find one!  It was a bit distant and was anticlimactic since it just looked like a log, but it was there, slowly moving around.  Also saw a turtle.

Big Alabama Bayou and my first gator!

After that, we drove to Cypress Island Preserve, which was disappointing.  This place was supposed to be the best chance at finding gators, but the boardwalk was out of commission.  We headed out for a late lunch (early dinner?) right across the Texas State Line in Beaumont at Patillo's Barbeque.  I had picked this spot out because it's the oldest black-owned BBQ place in Texas and is totally unassuming.  And oh my goodness, the food was amazing!  You could tell it was a popular, locals only sorta place by the number of people coming and taking food to go, but as far as dining in, we had the place mostly to ourselves.  When we arrived, it was sunny.  But in the time it took to eat our meal, it completely clouded over and our phones notified us that there was a tornado watch.

live oak covered in resurrection Fern at Cypress Island Preserve

We left, heading a bit northwest and right into the storm cell which was putting off lots of lightning and tons of rain, but no tornado.  We had headed this way to visit one more stop, but also to avoid driving through Houston.  Shortly enough, we arrived at Big Thicket National Preserve and went on a short walk in the tapering rain just as the last light faded away.  After that, it was on to College Station, Texas where we spent the night.  The last couple hours of driving, in the dark, was interesting because of the recent rainstorm: about a zillion frogs were actively out and about and crossing the road.  Sadly, a bunch likely ended up in the grill of the car.

live oak at Big Thicket National Preserve (above) and Patillo's Barbeque (below)

the storm cell that spawned a tornado watch just north of Beaumont, Texas