Bayou Sengette State Park
Westwego, LA
Bayou Segnette State Park is unusual as it is surrounded by the industrial city of Westwego. Driving here we were thinking, “Are we going to right way?” We chose to come here because of it’s convenient location to New Orleans. The campground is standard but offers some nice amenities like free laundry and a wave pool that is open after Memorial Day. Each site has water and electric hookups for $20/night. The sites are all back in onto a paved driveway. Some sites have a nice wooden patio area with a picnic table. There is plenty of space between you and your neighbor but there are no trees dividing the sites.
Tim and I had one objective – to ingest as much Cajun food as possible. Our first night the ranger at the park recommended Perinos boiling pot as I told her I wanted to try crawfish. The food there seemed to be a little overpriced but it certainly was delicious. The crawfish must have been in season as they were only $13 for 3 lbs but everything else was a little high. We ordered 3 lbs of crawfish and a fried shrimp basket. Both were prepared perfectly. I’m ok with paying a little more for food but it better be worth it!
To get to the French Quarter we drove 20 min to the Ferry in Algiers to take a five minute cruise across the Mighty Mississippi. The prices to park at the marina were inflated (a steep $20, usually only $5) due to the annual French Quarter Festival. Yet we were pleasantly surprised as we hadn’t planned attending the free festival. We enjoyed strolling around and drinking our 32 ounce 190 proof daquari for $13. We ate a Muffaletta at the Central Grocery, who claims to have had invented the delicacy. With a 12 inch diameter, the circular sandwich can feed four people and goes for $18 bucks a pop. It contains salami, ham, Swiss cheese, and the signature olive salad. You can order half a sandwich for $8 which Tim and I fully enjoyed with a bag of Cajun Onion Zapps chips. The French Quarter is beautiful. Three story residential apartments lined with flower beds atop iron ivy gates provide picturesque allies. Bourbon street is alive. Live musicians compete for partiers hooting and hollering while carrying their over-sized daquari “grenades”. You don’t have to go into the bars, street performers are there to entertain for tips. It’s a happy place. People from all over flock here to have a great time. My only qualm is that they allow smoking inside the bars.
We also enjoyed the Taste of New Orleans, a convenient trio of Cajun delicacies – crawfish etoufee, jambalaya, and shrimp creole. This is offered at many restaurants but we choose Cafe Soule for it’s historic charm and moderate priced entrees. Of course we couldn’t leave without having a beignet. A beignet is basically a flat, airy doughnut with a mound of confectioners sugar on top.
I wish we had time to stay a couple more days. I would of liked to have gone out at night when all the wild ones come out. Will definitely return, but when we do we will not take I-10. RV-ers beware of the horrendous road conditions. At times it seemed as though our trailer was about to fly off the hitch into the swamp.
Five Star Rating Scale
Scenery – **
Campground – ****
Campsite – ***
Recreation – **
