Moving East (09-20-22)

 Once we were done Jeeping in Colorado, we headed east.

We had a specific destination in mind- New Orleans.  We have been there several times and didn’t necessarily need to go back, but I had a reason.  

I am a diehard New England Patriots football fan, but also a diehard Tom Brady fan, and (Tom) The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were playing the New Orleans Saints on a day we could get there, so we bought tickets and headed in that direction.

 

Our first stop was a repeat visit to our friends Tom and Dianne, on our way out of Colorado.  I was so excited about the fresh veggies from their garden that they were willing to share, that I didn’t get any pictures of Tom and Dianne.  Oh well…we will be back.

Leaving them, it was Labor Day weekend and we snagged a spot at Santa Rosa State Park in New Mexico. We were surprised there was availability at this park on Labor Day weekend, but when we got there and realized the nearby lake is at 7% capacity, we understood why. Instead of swimming, we headed to “The Blue Hole”. 

This is a very small lake- 80 ft in diameter at the surface, and 80 ft deep-its one of the most popular scuba diving destinations in the U.S.  It is a natural artesian well, fed by a spring, with the water cycling out every 6 hours.The water was stunningly beautiful but at 60 degrees I didn’t feel like plunging in,  so we observed for a while and then left to explore the rest of the town.

Our next stop on our way to Louisiana was at our friends’ house in Abilene TX.  Wil is a fraternity brother of Paul’s and we stop and see them whenever we are nearby.  After a terrific dinner our first night, we left them for the day so they could work, and headed to Frontier Texas, a local museum showcasing what the Texas frontier was like, back in the day.

I thought it was interesting that this area was a frontier more than once. Very early on, native Americans peacefully lived in this area, until the Comanche Indians, who had the advantage of access to horses, and the expert ability to ride them, invaded the area and took it over.

It wasn’t long before businessmen from the east discovered that Buffalo hides were valuable and hunted them almost to extinction.  From 40 million strong the buffalo numbers were decimated and they came close to extinction.

The museum had some interesting holographic images of people who told their personal story, that made the history lesson more interesting.

After leaving Wil and Gayle, we spent one night on the road before arriving at Betty’s RV Park in Abbeville LA, for a week.  We have been here once before and I have to say- Betty’s is a unique experience.  Unfortunately for us, this time around, Betty was on vacation, so not there, and in fact, we were the only guests in the RV Park.  Betty did call us twice to make sure we were having a good time. Her friend Brenda filled in for her,and we had a great time getting to know her, and her dog, Hitch.

After a month of being busy in Colorado, we were ready for some “down” time and found it difficult to get moving every morning. We did manage to do a few things in the week we were in Abbeville, but not many-

The most important thing we wanted to do is head to Buck and Johnny’s for a rip-roaring Zydeco breakfast.  The music was awesome, but the service was terrible –so slow that we never got a chance to dance before they closed.  Next time, we will be the first ones in the door.

Our other major outing was to Rip Van Winkle gardens.  This property was originally the home of Joseph Jefferson, who, it is said, played the role of Rip Van Winkle over 5000 times (in the early 1800s), so its no surprise that the gardens are named Rip Van Winkle Gardens.

The property was eventually sold to John Bayless, who soon sold the salt mine beneath the land and lake (to Diamond Crystal), and built a new, expensive home along the banks of the lake.  In 1980 a Texaco drilling rig, located on the lake, pierced the caverns of the salt mine, flooding the entire mine. The resulting vortex swallowed the entire lake, 65 acres of land, 5 barges, 2 drilling rigs, and Bayless’s brand new house.  All that remains of the house is the chimney. Remarkably, no one died.

Paul had heard the story of the vortex, so it was pretty neat to be here and see where it happened, first hand.  When I did a web search, pictures and videos showed up of the actual disaster, but there were no clear pictures worth sharing (google Lake Peigneur disaster). 

The gardens themselves were ok, and included the original house,  but it was clear that we were past peak growing season here.

Pretty much the only other thing we did all week was go out to dinner at a restaurant that had live music.  I had the most relaxing time that I have had in a long time at a restaurant. I told the waitress we were not in a rush and she paced the meal perfectly.

I laughed at the menu, because on one side of it, there was literally nothing I was willing to eat.

But after a beer or two, I did try alligator bites, and determined that they tasted “like chicken”.

There was a one man band, playing music I enjoyed, so the whole night was a “win”.

And then we arrived in New Orleans.

As soon as we bought our tickets to the “Saints” game, we booked an RV park.  It’s only one mile from the Superdome, and we have stayed there before, so we were happy to be walking distance from both the superdome, and Bourbon Street.

We have surprisingly discovered that we are over Bourbon Street, but we did walk to a restaurant on St. Peter’s street called The Gumbo Shop- we both had Jambalaya that was delicious. 

We met several people at the RV park who were also there for the game (mostly Saints fans) and we were happy to hear that they planned to walk to the game as well. Even still, we did a test walk the day before, just to make sure.  It took us 18 minutes to get to the stadium.

I knew this was probably (hopefully?  he needs to retire) the last time I would see Tom Brady play, so we paid to get decent seats.

To our surprise, a “hockey” style fight broke out during the game.  Although not physically involved, I could see from the sidelines, that TB12 was definitely part of the fracas.  

The team, and Brady, didn’t play their best, but they ended with a win, which is mostly what counts, so I was happy.

I promised the couple in this picture that I would share the photo on my blog…..Although they were the ONLY ones standing, and several people behind them had asked them to sit down, they refused, continuing to block everyone’s view.

As far as our trek eastward, the term “in for a penny, in for a pound” came to mind. Our good friends Mike and Julie are spending the summer in North Carolina, a “mere” 800 mile drive from New Orleans, so, yep, we decided to beeline there to spend a week with them before heading back west. 

A little of this, a little of that- Cajun country, LA (3-23-11)









The other day I wrote a post talking about all the "stuff" we did while in Abbeville. It took me hours to write and I was completely dissatisfied with the result. Everytime I read it all I could think of was how disjointed it all sounded. Sometimes a post flows easily, sometimes it doesn't. I guess it proves that I'm certainly not a writer by occupation!! Anyway, after holding it back for two days to see if I like it any better, I am doing the electronic equivalent of shredding it. I pressed Delete.
       Our visit to Abbeville was a little disjointed. There was no Great Adventure, no Wow Outing, just several little side trips that were interesting and informative, but not awesome! So, here's what we did, and what my impressions were.

We took a swamp boat tour with a guy named Bryan Champagne. I love the way he pronounces it -shompowne. He has lived here all his life, and has been giving tours for 18 years, so he really knows the area. Technically it wasn't a swamp tour because by definition, a swamp is not flooded all the time. It dries out periodically, allowing for new trees to start growing. A dam was built here years ago, creating a Lake, so no new trees can pop up here. Also, a bayou is a stream, and is connected to a river, so it isn't a bayou either.

       In our travels, we went to Avery Island, in New Iberia, to the Tabasco Co. factory. The peppers for the sauce are grown both here and in South America, but all Tabasco pepper sauces are made on this island, in this factory. Once the peppers are ripe, they are picked and turned into mash the same day,  and are then stored in oak barrels for 3 years.  They actually get the barrels from Jack Daniels, who, by law, is only allowed to use them once. The insides are removed to remove any tainting from the alcohol. Interesting recycling. It was a very short tour, only about 20 minutes, but they had a store that offered quite a few samples of products, including jalapeno ice cream.  We tried just about everything they offered, but didn't buy anything to bring home.

I've been curious about Cajun (Acadian) history ever since I discovered that my aunt is Acadian.  I've always associated Cajun with lively, fun loving people who love food and music.  I have an aunt who is Acadian, and she is an amazing person.  She always says life should be fun, she treats everyone like a friend, and boy can she cook.  I'd hate to see her food bill because she and my uncle attract so many people to them that they can't remember the last time they didn't have someone show up for dinner.  Seriously, people just show up at their house at all hours of the day. Why? Because they know they'll be welcome, and they know they'll have fun 
       There are several Acadian museums in the Lafayette area so we spent some time checking them out.  The Acadian Cultural Center was really informative about the people, their exile, and their history.  Vermilionville, which is a "living Museum" didn't actually have much life to it and wasn't worth the price of admission, unfortunately. Acadians settled in Louisiana in the mid 1700s after they were forcibly exiled from their home, Acadia, located in present day Nova Scotia. Many were sent to Louisiana, but others were put on ships and sent to Europe, New England, and other parts of Canada.
      I always thought I like Cajun food,  but now I realize I really don't!  I associate Cajun food with spices.  Those I like, but I don't like what they put the spices on.  The menus for local restaurants included things like Shrimp  Etouffee, Crab Au Gratin, alligator (served many ways), Catfish, Crawfish, and oysters.  I tried several different dishes, although I had to finish my Margarita before I could try the Crawfish Etouffee.  There was nothing I would order again.

Betty's RV Park, Abbeville, LA (03-21-11)

    I heard about Betty's RV Park about 2 years ago when we came through Louisiana and didn't have time to stop here. Many people let me know what I missed out on that time, so this time around I made sure we had time to stop by.  Now that I've been here, here's my advice- if you think you want to spend 3 days here, looking around and sightseeing, you better book at least 10 days, because there's so much going on at Betty's that you won't want to miss, that the sightseeing will take a back seat.
     Before we even arrived,  Betty had called me twice.  The first time was a few days before we were due to arrive.  She called to ask me to arrive before 1 pm because everyone had been invited to a party, where there would be live music and free food.  She didn't want to miss out on it and we were invited as well.

The day we were due in, she called early in the day to say there had been a change of plans, and could we arrive by 11 am, because the party had been moved to noon.   We did make it in time to see the Judy Bailey "concert".  Judy was nominated in 1982 for the Country Music Award for New Artist.  She is putting together a new band right now, and wanted an audience for their rehearsing.  She has a phenomenal voice and is a very down to earth person.

   After our afternoon concert, we had a only a short break before the next party.  Judy's aunt had invited everyone at the RV Park (its small- only 17 spots or so) over to her riverside home for a "Big Moon" party.  The moon was closer to the earth than it has been in 35 years, and 17% brighter.  We had a great time at Irene's beautiful home, and it gave us a chance to spend time with the other  people staying at Betty's. Oh, and Judy Bailey was there, so I got to chat with her for a bit.
    Betty is very well connected in this area and there is something going on almost every day.  Yesterday Paul and I went on a swamp tour (more on that another time) and before we left, Betty told us the tour operator would be sending back some alligator meat with us to give to her.  She is cooking it for everyone on Friday at a pot luck dinner.   Sadly, we'll be gone by then.  Today everyone is at a free party at the local Casino- free drinks, lunch, music and dancing.  Paul and I opted out so that we could go exploring on our own.