Author: Emily Gautreaux

Where to Camp in Big Sur

Located along the Pacific Coast Highway in the sunny, effervescent state of California is a scenic paradise in the form of a rugged and mountainous section of the country called Big Sur, and when you’re supplied with this useful guide for the eight best locations to go camping in Big Sur from the writers over at Travel + Leisure, you’ll be able to see the most unforgettable parts of the area.

If you’re interested in seeing the magnificently jagged cliffs, breathtaking coastline, towering redwood trees, and meandering hiking trails that allow you to “take it all in,” then you’ll likely want to check out the several state parks, national forest campsites, and privately owned campgrounds located within Big Sur. The different offerings of the types of camping experiences that you can find at Big Sur all depend on what type of camping you are most interested or comfortable in. No matter which option you select, once you turn off the unforgettable Pacific Coast Highway, you’ll find yourself nestled in the majesty of nature, complete with the ambiance and atmosphere of fresh, pure relaxation.

Appropriately named, the Big Sur Campgrounds and Cabins is an option for those looking for a camping or lodging experience that is all about “back to basics.” A destination that is preferred by families, the Big Sur Campgrounds and Cabins prides itself on providing its guests a spotlessly clean, peacefully quiet, and invitingly friendly environment for all. In order to accomplish this heavenly atmosphere, they mandate a quiet time from 10 pm to 8 am every day, and if you’ve ever spent a weekend hiking in the mountains before, you know that you could be very likely to fill those hours with sleep.

The campgrounds also feature areas for RVs to be parked or tents to be pitched along the forest floor against the towering California Redwood trees. Each tent site is supplied with hot showers, which is certain to help alleviate you after a long day exploring the area, and the RV camping sites offer access to electricity, water, and a dump station. Additionally, they offer rentable inner tubes to help you enjoy the cool river water and several styles of cabins ranging from classically rustic to glamorously modern, and they can be booked here.

One Big Sur campground that is guaranteed to give you one of the best views imaginable is the Kirk Creek Campground located within the ever-sprawling Los Padres National Forest. What sets these campgrounds apart from the test is that each campsite is located on an open bluff that’s 100 feet above the Pacific Ocean. That means there is quite literally nothing standing in your way when you’re trying to take in the scenic views that Big Sur is famous for. Due to the remoteness of the campgrounds, be sure to fill up your water jugs, canteens, and other containers so that you can stay hydrated throughout the day or night.

No matter where you choose to stay in Big Sur, certain rules of common courtesy are expected to be followed by all guests in order to preserve the magnificence, cleanliness, and sanctimony of the area. Among these rules is the golden rule of park visiting that is “leave no trace left behind.” In order to follow this, it is expected that you properly dispose of all trash and plastics throughout your journey. Another guideline is to not feed any wildlife, be that intentionally or unintentionally, so as to keep a safe environment for all. Lastly, it’s important to be knowledgeable of the latest travel alerts for the area that you’re planning to travel to, so be sure to check out the latest CDC guidance.

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BCBS of Louisiana Foundation Awards Nicholls a Disaster Response Grant

Nicholls State University will soon be able to offer need-based scholarships to help students return to campus after having previously left in the wake of Hurricane Ida. According to this news release from the school, a $100,000 disaster response grant will be utilized to create these scholarships, which will be helpful to students wanting to return to their degree plans.

It was announced by the university in May 2022 that a $100,000 disaster response grant was awarded by The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation. It was also announced that the funds would be utilized so that students who had halted their learning due to Hurricane Ida’s detrimental impact on the area would be able to qualify for a needs-based scholarship that would offset the cost of re-enrolling & returning to classes.

Nicholls State University President Dr. Jay Clune commented on BCBSLA’s award by saying, “even though others outside of South Louisiana have long stopped talking about the effects of Hurricane Ida, we are still feeling the impacts every single day. We are grateful for this partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield. I don’t like to think of where we would be without the support of our wonderful industry and community partners.”

In the wake of Hurricane Ida, the destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that made its landfall near Port Fourchon on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, it was reported that an estimated 25% of Lafourche and Terrebonne Parish homes were destroyed or declared uninhabitable. Additionally, approximately two-thirds of the Nicholls community reported that their homes were destroyed or uninhabitable. Once the storm passed, the BCBSLA Foundation had committed $5 million in funds to areas affected by Ida, and other communities across the Gulf Coast also stepped up.

Earlier this year, The Courier reported that Nicholls State’s spring enrollment had dropped 10% from the previous year, attributing the decline to Hurricane Ida as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In August of 2021, Nicholls President Dr. Jay Clune announced that the school would essentially restructure its retention and recruitment strategies. As a result, the university’s decision to have recruitment and retention efforts managed by the Office of Academic Affairs, specifically being led by Sue Westbrook, provost and president for Academic Affairs, and Renee Hicks, assistant vice president of Institutional Effectiveness, Access, and success.

It was then reported that the university’s fall-to-spring retention rate of first-time freshmen had increased by 7.9 percentage points from the previous year to be listed at 90.5%. This was the first time that this retention rate had surpassed 90% in over a decade, thus signaling that Nicholls’ restructuring was beginning to pay off. Renee Hicks interpreted the data by saying, “when we post retention rates like this, it means our entire campus community has come together to provide extraordinary support for our students during the recovery from a major hurricane on top of a pandemic.”

Dr. Clune commented on the promising data, saying, “in addition to our strong retention rates, we also see applications are up year-to-year. I attribute that to our data-led approach to recruitment and retention by Ms. Hicks and her team. With a new marketing campaign and increased recruitment and retention efforts, we anticipate a return to an upward trend in enrollment.”

Pair this earlier indicator of rising enrollment rates with these new needs-based scholarships established from The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation’s $100,000 disaster response grant, and it’s even clearer to see that not just the campus community of Nicholls is coming together to come out of Hurricane Ida stronger than before, but the surrounding community of Houma, Thibodaux, and the State of Louisiana is banding together as well.

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Businesses, Bridge Side Marina, and more Return to Grand Isle after Ida

Left in the wake of Hurricane Ida’s path, the state of the city of Grand Isle was awfully grim, but as it is outlined in this feature article from Nola.com, nine months after the storm passed, things are starting to look up as anglers and fishermen return to the nine-mile island.

The feature article spoke directly to citizens of Grand Isle to take a reading on how the community was fairing this long after Ida, thus making the account of the island’s comeback reliable and promising to say the least. One local fisherman, Frank Dreher commented on the striking restoration efforts that have taken place in the area in the last few months.

Dreher said “the one thing everyone has to know is the island and the waters certainly do not look like what they did before the storm. Most of the debris has been removed and the demolition of some camps continues. It’s been a long road, and we got a lot of support from our friends, the fishermen we’ve seen for years. It’s exciting to be back and exciting to see our friends come back.”

After Grand Isle was hit particularly hard by the devastating winds, storm surges, and other effects of Hurricane Ida, the outlook wasn’t positive. The community was left without electricity, water, fuel, food, and all other comforts, making many business owners and camp owners begin their processes of rebuilding and reopening the island with heavy hearts. As outlined in the feature, it would be months before these workers would be aided with electricity being restored or support services coming back to the island, but the strong workers put in their best efforts to repair the island.

In October of 2021, charter fishermen like Frank Dreher worked with professional crews to clean up the island using their materials, boats, and wherewithal. These members of the Grand Isle community used their own free time to round up, procure, and supply the necessary materials to build back the island, and thankfully it paid off. When crews began the process of rebuilding the island’s stores, streets, and shores in October, they were joined by the reopening of Grand Isle’s big grocery store Sureway, which was operating on power from a generator. In the coming months, power and water followed, and hope was gradually restored.

One of the largest projects facing the islanders wanting to assist in the restoration efforts was the resurrection of the iconic Grand Isle staple: The Bridge Side Marina. Because it’s the first marina that visitors to Grand Isle see whenever they’re crossing the Caminada Bay bridge, it’s often synonymous with the city itself, thus making it the perfect restoration site for islanders Buggy and Dodie Vegas, who were interviewed by reporters from Nola.com.

Today, Bridge Side Marina is open once again, and it’s supplied with fuel, ice, live shrimp, tackles, minnows, and food. All of this means that enough is in stock to bring life back to the once-vibrant Marina, and there’s enough bait to ensure that enough life will be caught as well.

Community member Dodie Vegas was confident in Grand Isle’s comeback; he reported that the Bridge Side store’s deli is set to reopen in late May. Additionally, he told reporters, “It’s still a work in progress. We’re shooting to have bait boats providing live croakers for Memorial Day weekend. We had to rebuild docks, and we have a barge in the marina building a new dock,” he said. “And, we’ve rebuilt about half our rooms. The RV park is hooked up 100%, and we’re working around the fishermen in the morning and working on the place the rest of the day.”

Though, this Grand Isle comeback isn’t only because of the Marina’s return, because the Blue Dolphin inn and at least a half of a dozen RV parks are currently reopened and operating in the area alongside restaurants.

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Salmon Burgers with Irresistible Roasted Red Pepper Mayo

When you’re outside, enjoying the weather, freedom, and general atmosphere that summertime has to offer, you don’t want to eat anything deemed “too heavy” that’s sure to weigh you down. That’s why this light, flavorful recipe for salmon burgers dressed with roasted red pepper mayonnaise from the chefs over at the Epicurious food blog is the perfect recipe to keep in your back pocket. It’s sure to come in handy for those times you are craving seafood, an irresistible condiment, a hamburger that doesn’t weigh you down, or all of the above!

Ingredients for Salmon Burgers:

  • 18 ounces of canned salmon, drained, picked through, flaked
  • ¼ cup of coarsely chopped, and drained roasted bell peppers (packed)
  • ⅓ cup of drained roasted red bell peppers cut into ¼’ strips
  • 2 teaspoons of drained capers
  • 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, divided
  • ½ cup of plain breadcrumbs
  • 4 hamburger buns
  • 1 cup of mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
  • ¼ teaspoon of kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

  1. You’ll want to begin this delicious recipe by blending together your mayonnaise, bell peppers, chapters, lemon juice, and salt in a standard blender. If needed, be sure to scrape down the interior sides of the blender, until everything is blended smoothly. Once finished, transfer the blender contents into a small bowl. Set your red pepper mayonnaise aside.
  2. Next, you’ll begin the process of cooking and assembling the burgers. At this point, mix the breadcrumbs, pepper, and only about ½ a cup of red pepper mayonnaise into a large bowl. Next, take your flaked salmon and pick through it so that it’s completely drained. You’ll then gently fold your flaked salmon into the breadcrumbs and mayo. Divide this mixture evenly so that you have 4 burger patties. Using your hands, mold the salmon burger patties so that each is about 1/2″ thick and 4″ wide.
  3. At his point, heat about 1 tablespoon of your divided vegetable oil into a large nonstick skillet or a seasoned cast iron skillet. Turn on your oven burner, and heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat until it is shimmering.
  4. While working in batches, cook the underside of the hamburger buns with the cut side facing down. Toast the hamburger buns until they are of a golden brown coloration, which in total should only take approximately two minutes. Afterward, divide the bund among four plates.
  5. Next, you’ll heat the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil in the same skillet you used in the previous step. Place the salmon patties into the skillet one at a time and cook each patty until it is golden brown and heated through. This will take about 2-3 minutes per side of the salmon patties.
  6.  Afterward, transfer the patties to the bottom buns and spread at least 2 teaspoons of red pepper mayonnaiseover the hamburgers. Arrange your bell pepper strips over the salmon patties and top them off with the other bun side to close.
  7. Serve alongside roasted sweet potato fries, a light green salad, and (of course) extra red pepper mayonnaise. Enjoy!

Notes for Salmon Burgers:

This delicious recipe relies on the blended red pepper mayonnaise, so ensure that you are taking great care to prepare it meticulously and using the freshest of ingredients. This isn’t the best recipe to use pre-frozen bell peppers for. Plus, if you plan ahead, the red pepper mayo can be made up to 5 days ahead of time. If you’re preparing it early, be sure that you store the mayo in a resealable container and chill it. Additionally, the salmon patties may be formed one day ahead of cooking, if they are covered and chilled beforehand.

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UL Lafayette Announced Project to Increase Oyster Resilience

It was recently announced that The University of Louisiana at Lafayette will be spearheading a $14 million research initiative over a three year period to develop a resilient oyster broodstock that will have the ability to live in environments with low salinity, according to a press release from the university and an article from The Acadiana Advocate. The project to create oyster resilience, which is being funded by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, is called LO-SPAT or “Leveraging Opportunities and Strategic Partnerships to Advance Tolerant Oysters for Restoration. It’s designed to help sustain populations of shellfish and at the same time support the seafood industry.

The project’s principal investigator Dr. Beth Stauffe, commented on the project’s objective by saying, “the objective is to examine low-salinity tolerant populations of oysters. We’re researching how low salinity – and other environmental stressors – factor in, and identifying heritable traits that make some oysters hardier than others.”

Outside of being LO-SPAT’s principal investigator, Dr. Stauffe is an associate professor in the Department of Biologyat UL Lafayette as well as a phytoplankton ecologist. Alongside Dr. Stauffe, the project will be worked on by other researchers from UL Lafayette, scientists from the LSU Agricultural Center, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The project’s partner from the private sector is the Mississippi-based oyster aquaculture company Spat-Tech.

One of the principal efforts the project team focused on was the collective examination of the entire oyster life cycle– from larvae to broodstock to juveniles- at which point they can be deployed into nurseries and restored reef sites. In order to observe the entire life cycle, the team of researchers must both pool together its multiple sources of expertise in oyster husbandry, molecular biology, coastal ecology, restoration ecology, environmental monitoring, economics, and organismal biology.

The process to begin the creation of better oyster resilience and sustainable breeding operations for the oysters starts with the collecting of wild oysters, introducing them to what’s known as stressors, and using molecular tools to determine which oysters prove capable in unfavorable conditions. The resilient oysters that will emerge from this project will be incredibly impactful due to the fact that Louisiana is one of the nation’s major oyster-producing states.

Despite their popularity, the recent years haven’t been kind to the Louisiana shellfish, as production has declined due to the increases seen in rainfall and flooding in the state and along the Gulf Coast in recent years. This has created massive ecological and economic consequences because the increase in rainwater has introduced high amounts of freshwater into reefs and oyster habitats, which is disrupting the amount of salt that they need to survive, grow, and reproduce, therefore decreasing our oyster resilience.

The secretary of the LO-SPAT project’s funding partner, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, is Jack Montoucet. Montoucet commented on the impact of the project by saying, “A comprehensive approach to addressing a state, regional and national problem, and we’re excited to play a role in that. Developing an oyster that can tolerate low salinity for an extended period of time – which we don’t have now – is important to maintaining the industry as we know it. And with all of the research capabilities that exist today, we should be able to do that.

In order for a coastal ecosystem to be considered healthy, a resilient supply of oysters are absolutely essential, as they both build reefs that provide a habitat for fish and other marine life and filter massive volumes of water. The Gulf of Mexico produces approximately 46% of the United States’s oysters with the regional oyster industry producing an annual value of $66 million. Therefore, LO-SPAT and other similar initiatives are ever-more vital to a healthy economy and sealife.

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The Greatest Florida Islands for Your Vacation

There’s a simple reason as to why images of palm leaves, clear blue waters, and white sandy beaches enter the mind when one attempts to picture the perfect island vacation. It’s because the iconography of the over 4,500 Florida islands located in Florida’s archipelago is akin to the idyllic summertime retreat, and thanks to this useful article detailing the best islands that the Sunshine State has to offer from Southern Living Magazine, you’re one step closer to making that unforgettable island vacation yours in the near future.

The Sunshine State doesn’t necessarily need an overabundant amount of help when it comes to attracting tourists to make their way down to Florida in the summer months for some rest and relaxation. Not only is Florida the country’s fourth most populous state, but it also has a long-standing history of alluring an enormous amount of visitors in the summer months to its wide selection of vacation spots, welcoming beaches, and amusement parks such as Walt Disney World and Universal Studios. 

In fact, in 2021 the state’s tourism industry was responsible for welcoming 122.4 million visitors, which was a decrease from the record 131.4 million visitors in  2019, and with early recent statistics indicating that “Florida had 30.8 million tourist visits between last October and December, a slight increase over the fourth quarter in 2019,” this upcoming summer is looking to be just as promising for the domestic tourism magnet.

Because there’s such a proclivity for vacationers to automatically have palm trees and destinations like Orlando or Pensacola enter their minds when they’re beginning to plan out a summer retreat, it’s all the more alluring to escape to an isle off the coast of Florida so that you can enjoy the scenery, personality, and natural majesty of the state without all of the crowds. Luckily, Southern Living’s Betsy Cribb has compiled this list of the seven best Florida islands in the state for your next trip. These locations range from barrier islands such as Amelia Island, which is located only a less-than-an-hour drive away from Jacksonville, Florida, while still toting a State Park that invites you to peruse its “over 200 acres of unspoiled wilderness along the southern tip of Amelia Island.” Seriously, if you’re looking for a destination that is straight out of an idyllic beach read or cathartic third act in a romantic drama, make it a point to book a trip to Amelia Island, as it’s “the only Florida State Park that offers horseback riding on its beaches” thanks to Kelly Seahorse Ranch.

Another stand-out island from the list is one that prides itself on offering its visitors “all of the modern conveniences that most vacationers have come to expect, but [also] has tempered its growth by clearly placing quality offerings above quantity.” Such is life on the barrier islands that blends both a relaxing and family-friendly atmosphere, Sanibel Island. Located only two and a half hours from Tampa, this fish hook-shaped island treasure is indicative of a bygone era when it comes to American vacation spots. This is because it’s filled with 17,000 acres of lush, picturesque landscape that’s framed by the San Carlos Bay and the Gulf of Mexico while also having no stoplights, high-rise buildings, nightclubs, or big-chain grocery stores.

Because of these carefully-implemented regulations when it comes to city planning, Sanibel Island offers its guests a comfortable, memorable experience where they feel transported to another world entirely. In fact, this attention to detail in the experience is most present in the fact that Sanibel Island is most known for its outrageous abundance of pastel-colored seashells that are quite literally calling out for tourists to bring home with them to remember the times they had on the island.

Additionally, the island features the world-famous J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge and its approximately  “6,000 acres of mangrove jungles and wetlands [that] encompass a large portion of the island.”  Nearly 70% of the island’s total 17,000 acres are protected, ensuring that the magic of Sanibel Island will be preserved for your next trip to its sandy shores and many years afterward.

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