MWTW: Rambles

Hi knitters! It has been a great week!

Thank you all so very much for your wonderful support of Glenwood which was released on Wednesday. It was so great to see it move upward on Ravelry’s Hot Right Now to position 2! (Just so you don’t miss out, there is a special discount on Glenwood in my Ravelry shop just for blog readers through Wednesday, April 22. Use the coupon code BGLEN at checkout for a 30% discount.)

So, what have I been up to this week? Well, lots of knitting of course, but it’s virtually all been swatch knitting. I’ll be writing a bit more about that later. In the meantime, I’ve been doing a LOT of walking. You may know that about 3 weeks ago, I decided to start longer walks, 6-8 miles or so, on Sundays. So far, I’ve enjoyed long walks to the Lakefront, Demourelle Island, and this week, City Park. I’ve had it in my mind to start a new series of blog posts specifically about these rambles but, of course, haven’t gotten around to it on a Sunday afternoon or Monday morning. Hand to heart, I’m going to start writing those posts this Sunday as soon as I get home! Today, I’m going to look back on the rambles and share a few of my photos.

Week 1: The Lakefront

My Lakefront ramble was about 8 miles. I took the Wisner Trail from Bayou St. John in Mid-City to the London Avenue Canal where Miss Laura picked me up.

This walk wound through parkland, asphalt trails, neighborhoods and over bridges on a variety of surfaces from grass to gravel to concrete.

I saw a lot of the bayou with its indigenous plants, trees and animals and got a bird’s eye view of romantic Pitot House, one of the very first houses along this stretch of the bayou. It took a little over two hours to get to the canal, but I took a lot of little detours along the way.

Week 2: Demourelles Island

In the mid-1800’s, plans were made to straighten out a bend in the Bayou St. John. Known as the “devil’s elbow”, this bend was often clogged and impassable and made the journey to the Mississippi longer and more challenging. So, they dug a new straight section of bayou piling up the dredgings in the crook of the elbow. Huzzah! An island was created!

Park Island (or Demourelles Island as it is now known) is tiny, about 6 acres in area, and has been home to a mayor, a supreme court justice and everything in between. It lies midway between the foot of the bayou (very close to where I live) and the lake.

There’s one road in and out. The streets on the island itself, mostly made of sand, are heaved and broken, yet they are home to some very interesting architecture from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. This house, designed by Albert Ledner and once the home of mayor Ray Nagin, is decorated with 1,200 ashtrays.

The bayou views are lovely and rare and it is very quiet, but it is a little smelly and I bet the mosquitoes are vicious!

Week 3: City Park

If we hadn’t been expecting wild weather, I’d have stayed all day! What a beautiful place. City Park features live bayou with Spanish moss, waterfowl and the occasional gator and is punctuated with gorgeous man-built follies, pavilions and bridges.

Can you spot the Canadian ex-pat in the bayou? There is a lovely winding paved path that weaves around Bayou Metarie and Big Lake.

This amazing little Folly was designed by Emile Weil in the style of the ancient Greeks. I was obsessed by the ceiling and the floor.

This leonine pavilion hosts our annual Church Picnic and outdoor Mass. Sadly, not this year!

In The Neighborhood

Though I’m loving those long Sunday walks, I’m also really enjoy my daily walks, usually 1-4 miles in length, in and around Mid-City and the Bayou St. John. Yesterday, my path led around St. Louis Cemetary #3.