A Swamp Tour

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

From Betty's, Abbeville, La

Monday afternoon after getting set up at Betty's several of the group decided to get a little cajun lunch.  So, off we went down a bunch of back roads to Suirie's restaurant and grocery, an old place that has been in business for over 80 years.   A great selection of cajun dishes.

 
Donna and Molly posing with a little art work.

Back at Betty's, we all gathered up on Betty's outside porch for the daily Happy Hour hosted by Betty.

 
 Donna asking Betty about her life as owner of Betty's RV Park.

On Tuesday the 16 of us in our group had reservation at 12 noon for a two hour swamp tour on Lake Martin near Breaux Bridge.  We got loaded up in the big flat bottom boat and off we went.

 
Donna and Molly as the final loading is done.

The boat was actually very comfortable with swivel seats, giving us plenty room to turn around and see the sights.

 
 Brian Champayne (pronounced 'Chompin'), the owner of the guide service and our personal guide was a great guy, with that great cajun accent, and very knowledgeable about the lake, swamp, and wildlife.

We saw lots of wildlife including:

 

Cranes in flight...

 
Alligators sunning...

 
Yellow Belly Turtles sunning on a log...

As we moved out the main part of the lake and into the bird sanctuary, we were in a very beautiful area of the swamp.

 

 

Brian reached out of the boat and got a baby turtle to pass around to all on board.

 
Chuck seemed to think this might gonna be his lunch.
 

It was a great tour and everybody had a grand time.  Since we had not eaten and it was 2pm, we all headed into Breaux Bridge for lunch...

 

at Crazy Bout Crawfish, a neat little cajun restaurant. 

Comments

[Sandra Merrikin]

I have great memories of that area. Of course, we weren't at Betty's. We stayed at Poche's but we spent a lot of time at Lake Martin.

[Randy & Terry]

We really enjoyed Brian's swamp tour, too! I had no idea that it would as beautiful as it was. Glad you guys went. Say hey to all for us!