New Orleans Day Two: Carter Plantation

On Thursday, my Dad and I played the Carter Plantation golf course, designed by David Toms, and boy did we make a mess of it. We were both quite inconsistent and only managed six pars between the two of us. The course made for a good starting point of our three-day golf adventure though, because it wasn't overly difficult and allowed us to get rid of some of the rust that had built up all winter. I ended up scoring a 98 (50-48) while Dad carded a 103 (50-53). We saw some snapping turtles in most of the watery areas but the majority of the course was pretty dry. This picture above on the left was a great hole; nothing spectacular about the score I made but the view was fantastic and Dad took an amazing action shot here. After the round, I was able to talk to the pro and his wife about how Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected golf courses in the area. It was great meeting them and they gave me some staggering statistics that I'll use for the article I have to write for class once I return. Overall, Carter Plantation was an excellent course with some great people working to help us and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to play golf around New Orleans.

So, after adding a coat of lotion to our fresh sunburns, Dad and I took off to explore our surroundings. We walked down to Riverwalk, a famous shopping area alongside the Mississippi River, and strolled through and around the mall. On the way back we passed by Harrah's Casino, the largest casino in the southern region. The age to even go inside and look however, is 21, so that idea was shot down right away. We also wandered down Canal Boulevard, which led us past various shops and restaurants and eventually, to a nice place where we stopped for dinner. The food was tremendous, as usual, and we tried Boudin (Boo-dan) Balls, which is a sausage and rice concoction rolled into a ball and deep-fried. They were delicious. We also had hush puppies (little deep-fried cornbread balls) and gumbo and jambalaya. Now I can understand why southern states have such high obesity levels...the food is irresistible but high in just about every bad nutritional category. I'm just glad I don't live down here...the temptation for such delicious cuisine would surely destroy any self-discipline I have now.

Well, that's about all that happened during our second day in Louisiana but it was sunny and warm and best of all, full of golf. Until next time, so long from the Big Easy!