Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve

Imagine a pirate, a privateer, a smuggler, a thief, a scammer, and such. Imagine such a man wanted by U.S. Authorities for performing many of these dastardly deeds against American ships or cities. How does such a person end up with a National Historical Park named after him? Simple. Blow off the British request for assistance in the War of 1812 and offer your sailors to aid Andrew Jackson in defense of New Orleans. Receive a pardon from the government and then go fade into history.

The Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve brings together several widely dispersed units, most with almost nothing in common with the others other than being in southern Louisiana. It seems like the Park Service simply did not want to create 4-5 separate units, so it just lumped them all together and named it after the pirate who fought for Andrew Jackson.

There are six units to the park: The French Quarter, taking in that famous region of New Orleans, the Barataria Preserve located south of New Orleans, the Chalmette Battlefield and Cemetery located on the east side of the city, and three Acadian Cultural Centers (prairie, wetlands, and general) located far to the west of the city, with Prairie Acadian Cultural Center being over 160 miles away.

I will make a separate blog entry for Chalmette Battlefield, site of the Battle of New Orleans, as it was a fascinating story and much different from what was taught in schools.

Of the three Acadian Cultural Centers, two were closed during my visit, and I decided I did not want to drive out to the third, given that I was barely able to walk at this point. I will include them in a future revisit to the area.

I visited the French Quarter Visitor’s Center after using public transportation to get right to the front door. The center provides a lot of history both painted on the walls and through interactive displays. New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park shares the Visitor’s Center, and in a similar fashion, Jean Lafitte NHP simply provides some information about the French Quarter and invites visitors to go explore. I wanted to explore, but could not (the spirit is willing…and all that), so I will return one day soon when I can.

On my second day in New Orleans, I headed south over the Mississippi River to the Barataria Preserve. This 26,000-acre area of wetlands, hardwood, swamps, and bayous offers a chance to see relatively undisturbed natural habitats. Undisturbed by man, that is, but frequently disturbed by mother nature. A small Visitor’s Center sits next to the parking lot, with a boardwalk leading into the preserve to the rear. The boardwalk offers a raised surface that runs just under two miles to an overlook at the Upper Kenta Canal.

The Visitor’s Center offers pamphlets about the Preserve and the trails within. There is, of course, the small gift store present at all centers no matter their size!

Across the main access road is the Barataria Environmental Education Complex. From here, several dirt trails offer loops of 1.5 to 2 miles along with picnic areas and water access points for canoers and anyone wanting to swim with the gators.

I walked a short distance on the boardwalk, frustrated at not being able to go further. Still, I enjoyed the brief solitude of the woods and the pleasing scents of nature around me. Again, I will be back to walk further once my back is fixed.

Steve