On Tuesday, we rolled into New Orleans after driving for five days from St. Paul. Since we still had 2 hours before we could check into our lodging, we headed to the Cafe du Monde in City Park for beignets! A few days before we set out on the trip, my sister’s husband decided to join us. Years ago, he had sailed down the river with a friend from Hamburg, IL to Memphis, so he had a special interest in our adventure.
But even though Highway 61 ends in New Orleans, the Mississippi River still has a ways to go before reaching the Gulf. We studied our maps and realized that there is another highway that follows the river, ending near where the river spills into the Gulf. It’s an interesting route that winds through suburbs, tiny towns, bayous, shipping docks, sport fishing hamlets, and petroleum processing plants.
And then the road ends.
And the river ends.
We did it — drove as close to the Mississippi River as we could from St. Paul to the Gulf. It was an unforgettable drive!
Great stuff, Jo! I wanted to read much more. Lisa and I drove a bit of that road when we visited you on Our Big Trip in ‘21, and talked about doing more of it. It might be time to start talking about that again.
Thanks for the read.