It was a very special anniversary. We were celebrating 12 years together and my husband’s birthday as well. I got to check something off my bucket list.
In New Orleans, we have a strong relationship with the Mississippi River. It is always present and we often take walks and get some Verti Marte to go and eat at the river. We buried our dog’s ashes in the river on Mardi Gras day with the St. Anne parade. We scattered the ashes of Mars’ grandfather in the river. I live 5 blocks from the river. In all of my years of the river, I have never been to where the river meets the sea. On this trip, that all changed.
Richie, of Delta Discovery Tours, took us out in his boat from the Venice Marina in Venice, Louisiana, on an all-day trip to the mouth of the river with very cool stops along the way. It was an amazing experience, breathtaking, soulful, beautiful.
We stopped at various barrier islands along the way. We got to tour the old quarantine island where there is an old watchtower to oversee poachers and was full of cattle bones of cattle that once resided there. We got to walk through Pilot Town and climb into the old lighthouse in Port Eads. While at the lighthouse a river otter who was resting in there scared the bejeezus out of me and I scared the poor otter as well. I overcame my fear of heights to at least climb to the middle section for amazing views. Pass-a-loutre translates to “otter pass”. We saw what seemed like a million birds, Ospreys, Eagles, Egrets, Pelicans, and more. It was a dream fulfilled for me to see the mouth of the river that eluded discovery for so long and I could see the days of Iberville and Bienville before me.
It is the river that makes New Orleans. It is also the hurricane gateway to Louisiana. The wetlands below us protect us and we lose a football field of wetlands every hour in South Louisiana. At the mouth of Mississippi, Richie showed us how to take a swatch of a Willow tree and bury it into the sand and how they’re planting hundreds of trees that way onto the barrier islands. He advocates that this could be done en mass if the state would fund it. I suggested we need to hanker back to the days of the Civilian Conservation Corps and public works projects and make this a well-funded, well-staffed plan, planting more trees at the mouth of the river.
I cannot describe in words what this experience meant to me and how I would recommend it to others. I think it’s especially important that more of us city folk, take a moment to be one with the mouth of the river.
If you’d like to see the mouth of the Mississippi, I can highly recommend Delta Discovery Tours. There are various tour packages on Richie’s website and he can customize a trip to your preferences if you reach out to him.
Here are a few things to keep in mind. Our tour was all day. We left Venice Harbor at around 9:30 AM and didn’t return until 6 PM. There are no bathrooms. That means you may be running off to wee on a barrier island. Things to bring while on a boat, sunscreen, hat and I cannot stress this enough, dress in layers. It can be freezing in the wind and warm when drifting in the sun or wandering around. Make sure to wear shoes that are good on the boat and walking around a barrier island. You may get muddy or wet. I would say also that if you want to get on and off the boat, you should be physically able to do so. Also, bring some snacks so you don’t get hangry.
Who: Delta Discovery Tours
https://www.deltadiscoverytours.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delta_discovery_tours/
