D is for Down on the Bayou

We stopped over for one night at Palmetto Island State Park on our way from Houston, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana. The drive took us as deep as you can go Down into the Bayou. Eventually we were driving on roads through coastal wetlands - marshes where the level of water was even with the level of the road. Houses were few and far between and they were all built on stilts.

The sky blackened with ferocious-looking thunderclouds and just as we arrived at the park, a torrential downpour hit.  The first thing we saw upon entering the park were wild pigs running across the road. Vegetation was dense and seemed freakishly oversized - flowers on the trees were HUGE and the sounds of birds and who-knows-what else were tropical and eerie. There was almost no one else there, so needless to say between the rain and the pigs and the rainforest environment, we were a little freaked out! The place reminded us of the island in the TV show LOST.

Freakishly huge blossom

A nice ranger manned the entrance, which made us feel better because there was at least someone else there and she seemed very normal - not like a serial killer pretending to be a park ranger. We set up at our site and before long, the rain stopped and we went to explore the park. 

It turned out to be a very new park with good, flat spaces with nice privacy between them - not that it mattered since no one else was there! Then we found a couple of large pavilions bordering a beautiful lagoon, so we spent a lovely afternoon relaxing there. Within an hour we felt a whole lot better about the place.

One of the pavilions by the lagoon

The park had excellent laundry facilities - new, clean and large with great big folding tables - and use of the laundry was free! That was a first! There is also a water park and research facilities, but they weren't open during our short stay. I think on a sunny day when the water park is open, Palmetto Island would be a happening place!

This park is very different, but in retrospect we have to say that it was really cool and I hope a lot of RVers and campers are discovering it. I think kids would love it!

View across the lagoon to another pavilion where some guys were fishing

Recovering from our harrowing drive into the bayou. Total serenity and relaxation.

What????

Wild piggies