April 7 - Day 22: Thomasville Georgia

Late last night in Panama City, it began to rain. We awoke this morning to solid, pouring rain. The breakfast buffet is worse than sub-optimal, so we just head out. We are leaving the Gulf Shore today for a brief foray into Georgia. Bidding farewell to Panama City, to the Ocean Breeze by the Sea, and most especially, to the Spring Break crowd.

The rain continues for the entire two and a half hour drive to our next site, Pebble Hill Plantation:

Pebble Hill Plantation

Thomasville, Georgia (not the Furniture city - that is in North Carolina) was the southern terminus of the railway line until Florida was opened up in the early 20th century. For the time between the Civil War and the availability of a ride further south, this was the place  that the Barons of Northern Industry flocked to escape the cold winters. It is famed for hunting and other outdoor activities of the 1% of the day. Pebble Hill Plantation had modest roots as mostly a self-sustaining farm, but also a cotton and tobacco plantation (southwestern Georgia was pretty much off the beaten path). In 1896 it was purchased by Thomas Melville Hanna, a Cleveland-based industrialist. He transformed it into a hunting estate. After the main house burned down in 1934, it was rebuilt into a 31,000 square foot mansion, used to entertain visitors. The last owner, having no heirs, endowed the Pebble Hill Foundation to preserve the estate for the enjoyment of all.

We arrived with perfect timing to see a short video, then tour the house. It was raining most of the time we were there, so there were very few other visitors on this day. We had a private tour. We did have to "share" the house with a bridal party that was taking pictures in the mansion prior to the wedding in an unattached structure (lucky Bride to be getting married on such a day). The Mansion is fabulous and well worth seeing. It was also informative: the owners hired a teacher and opened a school for all of the children present on the estate (staff included). All such children were expected to graduate high school and the most promising students were sent to college at the owner's expense.

We finished the tour with a short walk around the grounds, but it was still raining so we got back to the car and headed into town in search of lunch. We found Jonah's where we shared the Broiled Fish Platter. Very tasty! We then checked into our lodgings for the night.

Paxton House 1884

Since 1884, Paxton House has been welcoming guests, and we felt very welcome, indeed. There is a cocktail hour every afternoon, with a fine selection of Bourbon. We stayed in the Peach Suite, which is absolutely lovely. After a short rest in our rooms, we took advantage of the "hour" and had a nicde chat with some sisters visiting from Tampa and Tallahasee.

After cocktails, we walked to the downtown (6 or 8 blocks) for dinner at Liam's. We shared the Hangar Steak (which was a little salty), and the 3 cheese & 3 meat platter. The place is very lively with lots of loud conversation nearby. The food was generally good. We headed back to our Suite to the usual refrain: stuffed again.

April 6 - Day 21: Panama City

We awake to a fine, clear day. Amy goes for a run while I try to wake up. When she returns, we head for the breakfast area on the first floor. The place is packed. It might be due to the rest of the ground floor common areas being under renovation. It might also be due to the hotel being packed. After a short meal, we decide to take one more walk on the beach, this time to the west instead of yesterday's walk east. It is a fine morning and the beach is not yet very crowded. We do notice that a "beach patrol" is driving along the beach making visitors move any over-large tent structures farther away from the water. (There is a line of cement blocks on the beach at least 50 meters from the water; any big structures must be behind that line.) The patrol also get a family group to fill in a very large hole they have dug in the sand. Seems they are very particular about making sure the entire beach stays usable for all.

After our walk, we bid adieu to Orange Beach. Our next stop is Panama City, Florida. The drive along the Gulf Coast is very pretty. The sand is so white. We don't have too long a distance to travel, so we decide to take the slow road through Santa Rosa Island. It is a two-lane road that goes through an area with lots of nesting birds. The speed limit is 25 MPH. The water is a deeper shade of blue than we have seen so far. And the speed limit seems to dissuade other travelers from this route. It is slow, but very enjoyable.

Returning to the mainland, we enter Fort Walton Beach, Florida and stop for lunch at the Original Crab Shack. The seafood meets the high standard set by most of the establishments we have eaten at in the last couple of weeks. It is so very fresh and tasty. Satisfied, we leave the nice restaurant and its great view of the lagoon in front of Okaloosa Island.

It is all going well as we enter the town of Panama City. We get within 5 miles of our hotel for the night, and the going turns south. We now understand why Orange Beach was so crowded: it is the Friday of Spring Break! The traffic is bumper to bumper until we get to our hotel. There is construction on the road, as well, but we finally get into the parking lot.

We patiently queue up to check into our room, but when we finally talk with the one front desk clerk, we find out that our room is not yet ready. We do get a small discount at the Bar & Grill across the street (just inland from the beach), so we park the car and head across the highway to kill some time with a walk and then some Daiquiris. Much later than we expected, we finally get to check in to our room. All the while, cars and college kids are touring up and down the highway. They are having a great time, but it is going to be a long night.

After moving into our barely acceptable room, we cross the highway again for dinner at the place we were previously killing time, the "Barefoot on the Beach Bar & Grill". It is an acceptable meal with some good people watching. The less said about our accommodations, the better. Every Road Trip has to have a worst hotel, and this is ours (we hope).

(Apologies for no pictures. I thought I had some good ones from the slow section of our drive, but I was mistaken. And no pictures worth taking in Panama City!)

April 5 - Day 20: Mobile Bay's Eastern Shore

We have a nice night's sleep and awake to a sunny day, not too warm. We get organized and check-out, skipping breakfast at the Hotel for coffee and pastry at a nearby Starbuck's.

The sky is completely clear as we head southeast out of Mobile. Our major activity for today is exploring the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. First up is the town of Fairhope. Founded in 1894 under the banner of "Single-Tax", Fairhope was an idealistic experiment in a new form of capitalism. The goal was to provide equality for all without the possibility of monopoly. The experiment did not exactly succeed, but there is still some remnant of the dream carried in the corporation that owns much of the land in the city.

Regardless of the ownership structure, the drive to the town is lovely and walking around shows Fairhope to be vibrant. We spend an hour in the museum, very interesting, then drive down the long avenue to the Pier and take a walk to the end of it. We see Pelicans galore.

View of Fairhope's Waterfront from the Pier

The 1,000 Places book and our Nav System tells us that there is a good restaurant down the road (south along the shore) at Point Clear. When we arrive, the restaurant is closed up tight. It doesn't serve lunch or is closed today. Ah, well, we continue on our journey of southern Alabama back roads and stumble upon the Magnolia Bar & Grill on US 98.

We immediately question whether we have made a mistake as the bar is overwhelmingly smoky from cigarettes, but it is late and we are hungry. We order our lunch, Amy has a hamburger and I choose the Chicken and Dumplings. While we await our food, we join the 4 or 5 locals and the barkeeper in conversation. This is a really quaint, local establishment. We tell the bartender about our Road Trip and that we are on our way to Florida. She says that she has never been anywhere. She finishes cooking our food and brings it to us at the bar (she is Barkeep, Cook, Waitress and, presumably, everything else here). The food is OK. My chicken and dumplings remind me of the food my mother cooked when I was growing up.

We are eager to get back on the road and to our destination of Orange Beach. Another half hour of driving through rural roads and strip malls finds us at our destination. The hotel is undergoing restoration and most of the common areas of the first floor are not accessible, so after check-in and dropping bags in our room, we get to the beach through the outside pool side entrance. Ah well, at least the beach is beautiful.

Orange Beach, Alabama

It is around this time that we learn of the passing of Dear Aunt Frances, Amy's 97 year old aunt, Ike's sister. We are very sad, but are quite grateful to have seen her three different times in the last 8 months.

We take a stroll on the beach. It is crowded with revellers; everyone is having a good time. Back to the room for a short rest, we drive about a mile down the road to a nice restaurant called "Gilbey's". A gentleman is playing his guitar and singing, making a very nice atmosphere. We share the New York Strip Steak.

Once again, we are stuffed. We head back to the hotel for night.

April 4 - Day 19: Bellingrath Gardens

We awoke to a cool, windy day in Long Beach, Mississippi. We decided to skip breakfast and head to our next destination: Bellingrath Gardens. Mr. Bellingrath was one of the first Coca-Cola bottlers in the Southeast, owning the distribution franchise for southern Mississippi. Having no children, he and his wife developed a campground property south of Mobile into a lavish estate. Realizing they had something very nice to share, they opened the gardens to neighbors for one Saturday in 1934. They had 4,700 visitors and the response was overwhelmingly positive. They realized they needed to open the gardens permanently, which they accomplished by 1936.

A Water Channel in the Gardens

We got to the gardens and house rather late in the day so go some lunch in the cafeteria. Amy had the vegetable lasagna and I had the meat lasagna. Along with the lasagnas, the dishes included roll, vegetables and salad. A pretty reasonably priced meal.

The next house tour was at 2:00, so we did as much walking around the estate, which is on the Fowl River, as we could. Very impressive expanses and pocket gardens. Included in the ticket package is an 8 by 11 sheet of colored photos showing what is currently in bloom.

While not as manicured and over-planted as Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, there is a lot of southern charm here. We walked several miles, including around the marsh areas to the north of the estate. The house tour was interesting, as well. These folks had a lot of money and were important local business-people, so they did lots of entertaining. Both House and Gardens are worth the visit.

Breakfast Nook overlooking the Fowl River

The one disturbing aspect, to me, was the occasional gunfire from a distance; there must have been a range within a couple of miles. Disturbing because of the intermittent noise. Not too often, but fairly loud.

After Bellingrath, we headed to Mobile's historic downtown to check in to the Holiday Inn. We had drinks in the Sky Lounge at the top of the 18-story, round building. Mobile doesn't have a lot of high-rises, so this bar affords an excellent view of the city and the Bay to the Southeast.

From the Sky Lounge, we headed up Dauphine Street to Wintzell's Oyster House. This restaurant has been at this location for over 80 years. Interesting signs appear all over the walls. The staff is friendly and capable, and the Grilled Seafood platter we shared was excellent. Particularly good were the Broiled Oysters. We headed back to the hotel well-fed and satisfied.

April 3 - Day 18: The Swamp & Mississippi Gulf Shore

It was a little spooky being the only guests in the B&B. There were no staff members on-site. We had a little bit of a schedule to maintain to get to our next event, so we were concerned whether we would actually get our breakfast before we had to leave. There was no evidence that we could find that someone would have food ready for us, but as the clock struck 9:15, there is Rico at the door to the B&B restaurant area, the stealth chef. He provided us an absolutely wonderful meal. The eggs were perfectly cooked, light and fluffy. He also served us perfectly cooked bacon, grits with a light cheese topping, fruit and toasted english muffins.

Now sad to leave Covington, we head to our next site, the Honey Island Swamp Tour. The tour begins 4 miles west of the Louisiana/Mississippi border, just across the Old Pearl River from the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area. The tour is absolutely grand. We took a shallow-bottom goat with about 22 other people down the river. We saw lots of wildlife, including snakes, birds, alligators and raccoons.

Don't Fall in the Water

The narration by the 20-year veteran tour guide was quite informative about how life on the river and in the swamp has changed over the years. There are lots of people living on the river on rafts tide up to trees on either side. There is evidence of the damage unleashed by Katrina as she came ashore near here. We highly recommend this tour.

People Used to Live Here?

One thing that is absolutely surprising: no bugs! We are assured that there are lots of mosquitoes in the evening, but for some reason, they don't come out while the sun is fully up. We must check out why this tour doesn't require any bug repellent (though sun-screen is still recommended).

And now it is on to Mississippi and the pristine white sands of the northern gulf coast. Shortly after crossing into Mississippi, we leave I-10 for the more coastal US-90. We are partly searching for an interesting place to eat lunch, but it is only 40 or so miles to our next stop on Long Beach. Finding no restaurants that look good to us, we check-in to the Long Beach Holiday Inn Express & Suites.

We take a short stroll down the beach to Steve's Marina. Amy has a fish sandwich and I opt for the Shrimp Creole over Pasta. We have a short, energetic debate about whether "Creole" can be over pasta or whether it requires rice, and we agree to that the shrimp is in a creole sauce and move on to other questions.

This coast is pretty stunning. The white sands are impressive and there are few structures and even fewer people. The damage from Hurricane Katrina is apparent. There are lots of pads where it is apparent that houses used to exist, but have long since been cleared away. The few structures near the water are all of the "on-stilts" style, which is now required by code within a certain distance of the water. There are none of the small shops selling beach wear, trinkets, etc. that you usually see near a beach. It is surprising that there is such a low level of activity this long after the disaster. But if you want to see a beautiful beach without the crowds of people, this is a good are and will continue to be for the next several years.

We head back to the hotel for a rest. It is too windy to hit the pool, so we just relax in the room and address the most important concern of the day: where to eat dinner. After the refreshing rest, we drive to a local hot-spot that should be fun, only to find it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We settle for the Harbor View Cafe, which is quite good. We have some more seafood, and are getting used to the high quality of such food that we get in just about every place we eat.

We head back to the hotel and reflect that the neighborhood seems very under-utilized. It seems that this whole area took the eye of Katrina. It is a humbling thought as we retire for the evening.

April 2 - Day 17: On to Covington

We rise to another beautiful day, this one our 2nd of this visit to New Orleans. Amy runs while I wake up. When she returns, we prepare for departure after another stroll around the French Quarter (and the mandatory stop at Cafe du Monde).

Our next stop is the North Shore of Lake Ponchartrain. For a long time, I have wanted to drive on the causeway across the lake, and that is what we will do today! But before we leave NO, we decide to drive around the Garden District and Tulane to see what we remember of our trip here in 2005 (college visit with Kevin).

There is a lot of construction going on, so we can't drive straight down St. Charles street. It is tough to get our bearings, but at one point, we recognize the neighborhood. We have stumbled onto Commander's Palace! We had a great lunch here in '05. It is getting close to lunch time, so we inquire whether they can accommodate us. Sorry, we don't permit shorts in the Dining Room. OK, we'll change!

Newly respectable after quick action in the restrooms, we sit down to another great lunch. Amy has the Fish Special and I have the Grilled Shrimp. Everything is just perfect, including the Pecan Pie that we share for dessert. Our recommendation: this is one of the finest restaurants we have ever eaten in. Classy service, too: about midway through our meal, they replaced our water glasses. One just cannot have an overly sweaty water glass at table!

Lunch done, we make one last stop just before getting on the Causeway. We buy some low-cut socks for me at the Dick's Sporting Goods, north New Orleans. (Inside, we spot a young man with a "Coleman" Seattle Seahawk Jersey on. We ask why he wears it, turns out he is a cousin. We tell him we are from Seattle and congratulate him on his fine choice of NFL gear.)

All errands done, we head across the Causeway, which does not disappoint. You cannot see the North Shore until you are about half-way across. Really interesting road. We check-in to Annadele's Plantation, sort-of. It is early season and they have nobody on the grounds today. They have left us a key and told us how to get in.

We rest up a little, then head next door to "The Chimes", a very nice neighborhood sports bar, for dinner. Amy has the Pork Chops while I have a Roast Beef Po'boy. We find our way back to our B&B and settle in for the night.

April 1 - Day 16: New Orleans Day 2

The dawn brings us a lovely Easter morning in the Big Easy! Amy wakes up a little earlier than I, as usual, and is off toward the Mississippi River to explore while running. I get up a little later, get organized and cleaned up and am excited to face the day in this most exciting city!

Amy returns back to our room at the Maison de Ville with lovely news from the ground floor: We have Mimosas in the Lobby! Now that is the way to start an Easter Sunday! We get dressed and head out for one of our favorite places, Cafe du Monde. This being Easter morning, there is a long line. We join in, but it isn't too long before we have a nice table in the sunshine to enjoy our Coffee with Chickory and Beignets.

Cafe du Monde

After this stop, we take a stroll around Jackson Square and the French Quarter. The biggest thing different for this visit is the Easter Bonnets. Not only are they large, but here in NO, they are of all colors and of all composition. We even saw one made of fast-food establishment serving accessories (McDonald's burger wrappers, Taco Bell napkins, etc.).

Cathedral St. Louis on Jackson Square

We noticed before we left our hotel that there were empty parade floats lined up on the street under our balcony, waiting to be loaded. It must be some sort of parade, so we decide to grab some take-out from Willie's Chicken Shack to eat on the balcony while observing what's happening. We return home and as we eat lunch, we notice increased activity. Parades in New Orleans consist of people getting into the floats which are then hauled along the route, and then the riders toss goodies out to the people watching the parade.

We are at the tail of the floats, so we decide to head toward the supposed front of the parade. We walk to the start, which is several blocks away at the corner of Conti & Royal. While waiting for the the parade to begin, we have a nice conversation with some native New Orleanians. The Parade starts and it is all good fun. Some nice music, some very loud dune buggies, some dancers and a bunch of things thrown from the dozen or so floats that pass by. These include beads, stuffed animals, carrots (?!?), as well as other knick-knacks.

Parade over, we return to our room to rest. After a while, we head out to buy Amy some replacement headphones, as hers are fraying at the plug. Mission accomplished, we stop by the Kilwin's on Peters Street to celebrate with some Ice Cream. We then stroll around the Vieux Carre again. We are rerouted twice by more parades.

Back to the room to recover and then head out to dinner at The Palace on Canal Street. Amy has the Grilled Fish (Mahi Mahi) and I have the Filet Mignon. Stuffed, we head back to the room after a good day of fun.

March 31 - Day 15: On to New Orleans

We awoke to another lovely day. Amy embarked on a run atop the levee. It was not quite good, as the rocks defining the pathway were rather large, making for a difficult run. She completed her run on the highway between the levee and Nottoway, our estate for the night. The highway was under-utilized in the early morning.

We decided to skip breakfast and instead take the tour of the Mansion. We were the only guests on the tour, so we had a very private visit to this grand place. Safe to say the Randolph's were very rich. If you get a chance, this is probably the top Mansion in the area to visit. It is so grand and the grounds are very well maintained.

Nottoway Entrance During Daylight

View of the Mississippi from the second floor:

The tour was a lot of fun, especially noting the extravagances of the estate.

Having OD'ed on Plantations, we decide to skip the one other notable spot in this area and head straight to New Orleans.

It was an easy ride until we got into town. We were on Toulouse Street, just 3 blocks from our Hotel, when the traffic jam hit us. It is a Saturday, and it is very festive all around us. Our hotel is in the block south of Bourbon Street, which is closed to traffic. It takes us about 20 minutes to go the remaining 3 blocks, but we happily unload our bags and I head out to park for a couple of days while Amy checks in and waits for me to show up. Long story longer, 40 minutes later I am back to the Maison du Ville, reunited with my sweetie and we are heading off to lunch. Even at 2:00 in the afternoon, there are long waits at the more popular spots, so we opt for the Corner Oyster House. We have Poboys and all is well.

We walked around Jackson Square and environs when it dawns on us, this is the day before Easter!

St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square

We head back to the room, which has a balcony over Tolouse St. While we are resting, there is a raucous disturbance outside: it is a Jazz Wedding March. The Bride and Groom are marching/dancing in front of an 8-piece band and leading a couple of hundred people around the French Quarter. The Bridal Party looks great in White and Gold! This happened again another hour later. Is this a great town or what?

After some more resting, we head out for dinner at The Bourbon House. At 7:00 it is a little early as only half the tables are occupied. Over the next hour, the tables get filled. Amy had the Gulf Fish (Mahi Mahi) and I had the Seafood Sampler. Both very tasty. With smiles on our faces, we stumble along Bourbon Street back to our room for a good night's sleep.

March 30 - Day 14: Plantations

Today comes without yesterday's rain. It is cool (70 degrees) and clear. We rise, get organized, and head to breakfast at the Myrtles. The Myrtles was built by General David Bradford, who fled the US to avoid being punished for his role in the Whiskey Rebellion (this area was Spanish Territory at the time). He built a smaller building while planning to build the larger house (in which we stayed). The smaller building is a combination of office, store and kitchen. It is where we have breakfast. General Bradford lived in this building for two years before the big house was completed.

This building was destroyed by fire several years ago. The planks used to make the building were very thick and tough, most of it did not burn completely. Rather than just junk the site and rebuild, they painstakingly recovered the burned cypress boards and reused them in the replacement. It is quite a beautiful restoration.

Restored Office/Store/Kitchen

Tables Built from Reused, Burnt Planks

The current owner, John Moss, a gregarious fellow from Little Rock, Arkansas, regales us with the history of the Plantation. He is most entertaining and the breakfast is quite satisfying.

Front of the Myrtles Plantation

After Breakfast, we pack the X3 and head south. The drive through Baton Rouge is easier than yesterday. A few miles south of the Capitol, we get off the Interstate and drive along the Mississippi River. The other Plantations we will see today are all adjacent to the River. It is still weird, however, not to see the river, or even be aware that it is there, since the 40 foot high levee is between us and any view.

A Brief Glimpse of the River Crossing from East to West

After about 45 minutes, we arrive at Oak Alley Plantation. This is a more interesting presentation, to me, than the others we have experienced so far. They make a point of acknowledging the enslaved people who also lived here (and did all the work). It is a more balanced presentation and shines a strong light on where the beautiful Mansion and Gardens came from. One of the exhibits on the grounds shows recreations of various buildings the enslaved population lived in and the tools and other possessions they had access to. (Enslaved People is the term they use here to refer to what everywhere else, are called slaves. It is, IMO, a much more humane reference.)

The House is magnificent. And when we get up to the second floor, we see the reason it is called Oak Alley:

View East toward the River and Levee

The Mansion, from the Alley

After a few more turns around the grounds, we head back to the car and drive back to the north toward our hotel for the night. Originally, we had reservations at Madewood. But it was recently sold and the new owners are making some restorations. Happily, they booked us elsewhere in this area, a place called Nottoway. Now this is an estate! The grounds are huge, as is the Mansion:

Nottoway at Night

This building has 53,000 square feet of space, the largest plantation Mansion in the South. It's neighboring city is called White Castle in reference to this building, which is larger than the White House in DC. It was sited on a successful sugar cane plantation which was begun in 1842. After many years, Mr. John Randolph began construction on the house. It was completed in 1859, but they did not have long to enjoy it. Mr. Randolph opposed secession, but fled to Texas to grow cotton to support the South in the Civil War. After the War, the sugar plantations were less profitable and the fortunes of the family declined. After years of selling bits of their estate, they sold off the last grounds of Nottoway in 1889.

After checking in (we stayed in the "Boys' Wing", a mere 8 rooms used to house the male offspring of the Randolphs), we took a brief dip in the pool. It was way too cold, even the hot tub was only 90 degrees. We cleaned up and went to dinner at the Mansion Restaurant, in the basement of the building. Amy had the Roasted Duck and I had the Veal Marsala.

Exhausted from all of the touring, we called it a night.

March 29 - Day 13: On To St. Francisville

We awake to something we have not experienced in several weeks: rain! It is coming down fairly hard. Happily, most of the path from our Loft to the Main House is covered. We sit down to another delightful Cajun breakfast. This one is just a bit lighter than yesterday's. But only barely. It appears to be the Louisiana version of Eggs Benedict: soft-boiled egg, biscuits and gravy. Very tasty.

Breakfast complete, we pack the X3 in the rain and take off for the town of Breaux Bridge. This town is small and old. Not a lot to write home about, we press on to I-10. Shortly after getting on the interstate, we drive on a part of I-10 that is built over swamp. It is straight and flat, a real engineering feat. At some point on this stretch, the rain stops and the driving becomes easier.

Noted for Magnolias and Mansions, St. Francisville, at the North-eastern edge of Cajun Country, is our next destination. We encounter a mild traffic-jam as we approach the Mississippi River crossing at Baton Rouge. We have enough time while trudging along to see the LSU Football Stadium to the south. Finally through the jam, caused by a stalled vehicle on the eastern edge of the bridge, we turn north onto I-110, then proceed to US 61. Odd driving along the River: the levee that keeps the river in its channel prevents us from seeing any water.

We arrive at the Myrtles Plantation B&B in St. Francisville before check-in time, so head to the Magnolia Cafe for lunch. Amy has the Roast Beef Poboy and I have the Popcorn Shrimp Poboy. Sated again, we decide to see Rosedown Plantation:

Rosedown is one of the best-documented plantations of the South. Established by the Turnbull family in the 1830's, it managed to last into the 1950's still owned by the same family. It's unique feature is 18 acres of ornamental gardens. Owned by the state of Louisiana, it is now a museum and well worth seeing.

We finish the tour and then check-in to the Myrtles. Our room is on the second floor, showing off the charm of these old, old buildings (charm == sloping floors and creaky doors, as well as interesting decor). We head to The Francis Southern Table & Bar for dinner. Amy has a steak while I opt for a burger. Both are good.

We head back to our room to retire for the night.

March 28 - Day 12: Cajun Country

We awoke to a lovely day in Cajun Country. Breakfast, at the large table shown in the previous post, was delicious (though a bit too spicy for Amy). Filled and ready to face the day, we headed out to Vermilionville.

This is sort-of a Greenfield Village for Cajun Country. There were a dozen or so buildings refurbished to period replicas (early 19th century). Each represented a different class and/or use of building. Kitchen, parson's house, trapper's home, carpenter's workshop. In several of the buildings, you could ask questions of informed hosts dressed in period costumes. A very fun way to spend a couple of hours. But at one of the ends of the little ferry, Yikes:

Alligator at Vermillionville

If you are ever in Lafayette and have an interest in how people lived back in the day, Vermilionville is a must see, but keep your eyes open.

We hit the road, heading south for New Iberia. We had lunch at Victor's Cafeteria. James Lee Burke is a Cajun author of murder mysteries featuring the fictional sleuth David Robicheaux. Robicheaux is known to frequent this establishment.:-).

Amy had the broiled catfish while I had the shrimp and chicken rice casserole. Both were delicious and we left the place as stuffed as ever. (We are getting used to having too much food to eat at each meal; we are no longer members of the clean-plate club.)

After lunch, we took a quick stroll through the middle of town, then hit the road to visit the Avery Island Tabasco Factory. The self-guided tour show how the Sauce is made. It answered many of our questions about hot sauce. This factory produces half a million bottles of Tabasco Sauce every day. What an operation.

Back in the X3, we headed North towards Lafayette by way of St. Martinville. Early in its history, this town was known as Petit Paris. It has a stylish Cathedral (St. Martin of Tours) and it figures in a story about the Epic Poem by Longfellow, Evangeline. Seems one of the town's sons made it to Harvard where he met Longfellow as a class-mate and related some stories of separation involving the Acadian Expulsion. In the poem, the separated lovers meet after being apart under the Evangeline Oak next to Bayou Teche. The Oak still stands and there is a bust of Longfellow and a little plaque describing the story.

The Evangeline Oak

We drove back to the Mouton Plantation and rested in our room until Cocktail Hour, then joined in. After, we headed out to dinner at the Blue Dog Cafe. Local Cajun artist George Rodrigue is famous for including Blue Dogs in many of his paintings. This Cafe has several of Rodrigue's works on the walls. The food was good: Amy had the Corn and Crab Bisque Bowl and a Salad, I had the Mac & Cheese Gratin and a half a pound of Peel & Eat Shrimp. We left the restaurant stuffed and were glad the B&B was just a couple of miles away.