New Orleans City Park- Big Lake and Ducks, ducks, ducks

New Orleans City Park is making a comeback from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina still, but it is one of our favorite places in the city for a day of family fun!

You have NOMA (see my post from Wednesday re the Disney exhibit), the gorgeous sculpture gardens, the carousel gardens amusement parkand storyland (including the city park train,co-host for the Christmas in the Oaks annual exhibit), botanical gardens (primary host of Christmas in the Oaks), gorgeous park areas and now the new Boat launch and walking area at Big Lake. Click here for a map of the entire park!

There is a new dock and boat house on the north side of Big Lake, off Friedrichs Avenue and on the weekends you can rent a paddle boat or a small row boat (oar driven) and cruise the lake and the botanical gardens! Keeping you company will be the numerous ducks, geese and swans, that reside at the lake!

The boats will be available for rental on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am- 5pm, as long as the weather is above 60 degrees!  The boats are available on a first come first serve basis and cost $10 per half hour. Pedal boats seat 4; Row boats seat 3. No reservations are taken.One passenger on each boat must be a minimum of 21 years of age. Life preservers must be worn at all times.


We had fun bringing over some leftover food and letting daughter feed a couple of ducks over by the boat launch. She had a blast as you can see! We also got dad to take a picture of her and I (for a change!!) for our new profile shot on the blog! The lake is GORGEOUS - it may have taken a long time to redo, but oh how worth it! If you want to take some fabulous family portraits-come down to the lake! The row boats in the background make for some super shots!

There is also a wonderful walking track around the lake that is perfect for humans and doggies alike!


So if you've got a free afternoon, come on down to City Park and see it anew! The ducks say they miss you too!
QUACK!




Disclosure: I was not given any compensation by NOMA, City Park, or Disney for this review. This was an activity that my family enjoyed and we wished to share with all of you!


Check out Update travel gems for more reviews on City Park!