The List

Questions we thought of during our Road Trip (no particular order) Kentuckycastle.com; Kygunco.com; Hazmat codes – particularly 3036; Mer Rouge, LA; Did the southern states vote in the 1864 election? How many electorial votes did Lincoln need?; Roanoke – origins of name? Why VA, LA?; Do mini casinos have table games?; Boats move; Where is Battleground, IN – address on side of tractor; Does storing crude oil in salt mines change the oil?; Who is John Galt? Black pickup with Harley Davidson shield on back window and CRAP! Bumper sticker (Obama colors) AL plate.; Who makes “Western Star” tractors?; Do the travel coupon books (red or green) have Web sites?

The Return of the Boys

Arrived back today, September 12, 2012, in Warminster. Den and I had lunch, he rested a bit and took off to return home. I still have to script a prayer service for Friday whilst we, Peg and I, are on retreat with the SDS community. This is our annual retreat at the Bon Secours Sisters retreat house. Have you read the reading for Friday, September 14? Wish me luck. The ride from Atlanta to Manassas was quite smooth. We thought about stopping at a Biscuitville, a southern breakfast restaurant, but did not realize the hours are from 0630 AM to 2 PM, daily, and as it was already 1:45 PM when the thought struck me, well it was too late to go. However there was a Hardee’s right next door and we did need the break, so we broke a rule (kind of a flexible one) and had Hardee’s for lunch. It was an easy off/on to US 29. Navigator INSISTED there was an hour and a half delay on US 29 just southwest of Manassas. It was STRONGLY suggesting that we stay on I 85 clear through to I 95 then take VA 234 across to the final stop. We called Julie, who checked Google maps, and her cell phone apt and found no problem. With great care we proceeded on our way using Garmin and AAA maps, neither of which would give us instant travel advisories (of course not with the paper maps and my Garmin has 5 year old maps anyway). We sailed through to VA 28, passing Wilsons, the best local butcher in VA but alas closed for the day, and on to Manassas. No problems found o US 29. I can’t remember the Tex/Mex restaurant name we stopped at but it has been there for 35 + - years. Den indicated that Julie and Lori could probably identify all the people in the snapshots that were stuck in the frames of larger pictures. It was good and popularly priced. We each had a couple of Root Beers, no caffeinated drinks for us this night, sleep was in order. I dropped Den off at home and proceeded to his Mom’s, my Aunt’s house. I found my cousin watching the National’s game, they won (2012 was a good year for them). We chatted about the Road Trip and I remembered the Questions. As Den and I drove, sometimes questions would pop into our heads. Naturally, in the past, we would forget the questions but this time we decided to write them down as they popped in and look up the answers at the motels at night. We looked up none of them because when we would return to the motel we would forget to bring in the book with the questions and who wants to put your New Balances back on just to get the book! Not me! Nor Den! So we have this list of questions still to check out. With the book still in the car and my New Balances off, I could only remember one of the questions. Some needed a scientist and others would need a historian. Just so happens that the cousin I am talking to is the historian and her twin is the scientist (that can wait). The historian question was “Did the Southern States vote in the 1864 election? How many electoral votes did Lincoln need?” Turns out NO, they did not vote and Lincoln received 283 electoral votes which represented all the voting states except NJ, DE and KY, these three represented only 17 electoral votes. Interestingly Lincoln switched vice presidents from his first term, Hannibal Hamlin a radical republican (remember Lincoln was a Republican) to Andrew Johnson, a Democrat, for the 1864 election. See list attached.

New Iberia Louisiana

On Sunday while traveling through Southern Louisiana we stopped off at a small town to sample the local environs.

We parked the car at a parking lot near a canal which seemed to be cut from a bayou watercourse. After parking we strolled through the town. Most of the stores and restaurants were closed it being early Sunday morning. We did run across a bar and billiard place that was open with some semi sober Saints fans who insisted on having their picture taken. We obliged but unfortunately the pictures were under exposed.

On the way back to the car we came across a small motorboat moving up the canal.

Avery Island, LA

After exiting New Iberia we're traveling back to US 90 when what do we see but a rather large bottle of Tabasco sauce with an arrow pointing left. I over shoot but quickly pull into a business parking lot to turn around. We head down the lane just knowing what lies just six miles ahead. We arrive at a fishing pier, with families fishing along side. There is a blinking red light before the bridge onto Avery island and a stop sign by a toll booth across the bridge. We pull up and are told it is one dollar to enter the island, per car load, but once inside the factory tour and grounds, not the posted one, are free to explore. We agree to the toll and a long plank with a wooden clothespin nailed to it appears at the window with a pass to the island, which we replace with a dollar. The pass is to remain on your dash during your time on the island.Posted signs is good and directs us to the factory, gift shop and parking area. Roads are covered with a white dust and all the cars turn grayish as the travel on the island with a Grey white cloud behind them. Tours are every 20 minutes or so and we just missed the one before us but there is a continuous playing video of Tabasco in film and TV playing to entertain us while we wait. Some things I learned were the Little Rascals did a bit where one of the kids shooed the dog away and begged for food under the table and was fed sausage until one was laced with Tabasco that flamed his taste buds. Another with Charlie Chaplin and so on.The young lady arrived to give us and a family of Dad, Mom, two sons and a daughter joined us. Dad had a Saints hat on but the game had not started yet, a good thing because the Saints quarter back, Drew Brees did not have a Hall of Fame performance that day. We were a good group, asking a lot of questions, which extended the tour to over a half and hour. We saw the processing line, which can bottle 700,000 two ounce bottles per day and is shipped to just under 200 countries around the world. I had seen an hour show on History, Discovery, or maybe the Travel channel where the whole process is explained. Just briefly, not all the peppers are ground on the island, they use empty whiskey oak barrels to cure the mixture with a coating of salt on the barrel top, the salt is mined from Avery island and is for sale at the gift shop @ $6.95 container.At the end of the tour each person is given a sample bottle of red and green Tabasco sauce. More can be purchased at the gift shop. Den did buy some Tabasco BBQ sauce and I bought a Red Tabasco solo cup to fill up.We stopped at the snack truck next to the gift shop, I had sausage on a stick, mm mm good. Den had red beans and rice. We left quite please with ourselves for the side trip we had just taken and it was off to Biloxi, MS along US 90.

Dinner in Lake Charles

Miss Karen, motel manager of the 'in bankruptcy' Suites we were staying at, who was a delightful lady beside the circumstances, suggested Pat's of Henderson as a place to dine. It has both sea food and steaks, with a Lake Charles flavor. See my partner in road tripping does not go for sea food and I do. Using the Garmin to direct us, even though Miss Karen had given us excellent directions, we motored off on US 171 south. Garmin was correct but I over shot the left turn, actually a frontage road along I 210, and had to drive an extra two blocks before U turning when safe to do. Now it is a right onto the frontage road and true enough there is Pat's of Henderson with a full parking lot. We some how parked right by the entrance walk, that is a good sign because it means the early birds are leaving. As we enter the Host asks “how many?”“Two” we reply.“Follow me, please” his response.In this virtually every seat filled restaurant, we are directed to a table set for four, two setting quickly removed as we sat down. Our waiter, who is from Lake Charles, has also lived in Gainesville, FL and Portland, OR. He explained what Etouffee was and how it was used in Lake Charles cooking. What his favorite dishes were and “Yes” this was certainly local and “Yes” the seasoning on the table was their proprietary seasoning and “Yes” it was in virtually every dish they prepared. Den ordered the chicken gumbo and I the deep fried cat fish with a baked yam as a side. First to arrive was a standard green salad with one cherry tomato and two slices of cucumber. Then the moment we waited for, both Dennis and I felt we had each ordered the best thing on the menu when we were served and tasted our meals. The gumbo was spiced appropriately with a leg, Onduee sausage and a bowl of rice on the side. After a couple of sips, the entire rice bowl entered the rest of the gumbo. My cat fish was coated in a light floury coating, with the proprietary seasoning, the baked yam, with cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle on after splinting it open and putting a pat of butter in. Oh, there was about a quarter bound of butter pats on the table when we arrived, my kind of place Paula. I did end the meal with piece of Pecan pie that was made with broken pecans and just the right amount of sweet filling. I liked the broken pecans better.We were done and returned to our suite.

Arriving in Lake Charles

The drive down from Shreveport was pretty uneventful. We openly driving on Louisiana state roads and wearing Pennsylvania tags no less.

The speed limits kept changing as went from farmland to small town. Fortunately Mel kept a close eye on them for me and was helpfully advising me whenever they changed and I didn't.

We arrived in Lake Charles a little ahead of schedule. Well actually that depends on which schedule. The trip had three solutions from our three advisory systems. The Verizon Navigator was the longest of the three but it was showing a two hour delay on I10. The Garmin showed a time similar to the AAA trip pack but neither of those included real time traffic. Oddly it was those sources that were closer to the actual time.

Our practice for finding housing throughout this road trip was to find a Welcome Center and grab a coupon book, find a good coupon rate for a hotel which has breakfast and WiFi. In Lake Charles we found a non branded motel with the best rate but when we arrived it did not look well cared for and I thought we should pass. Mel thought it was worth a shot though.

Inside the receptionist explained the motel used to be a Best Western but was now in bankruptcy. She was very friendly and filled us in with info about places to eat and the casinos to visit.
Our first room had a few problems and we were moved to a better room, actually a suite with three rooms.
Breakfast was mostly home made. The lady who greeted us on Saturday had made the biscuits and gravy. It was pretty authentic southern cooking which was good because I was getting tired of the motel breakfast waffles.
After breakfast we set out for a day of meandering through Southern Louisiana en route to Biloxi.

The Great River road Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana

It is really quite interesting to have dueling GPSes while you travel. Not only do they duel but so does the AAA Triptix add its two cents. Since the Garmin seemed to work no matter where we were, okay so maybe not in a casino parking garage, that was the primary direction giver of choice. Garmin directed us off US61 and on to US82, which became The Great River Road. I may have indicated, incorrectly, that US61 had that description from New Orleans to Minneapolis in the past but find it tends to try to follow the Great River itself and not some traffic engineers design of US routes.We crossed The Great river into the southeast corner of Arkansas on a new modern bridge. Garmin was constantly screaming at us because, as mentioned earlier, this was a new bridge, less than five years old and Garmin was sure we were traveling illegally across farmers fields and we were some how ferrying the brand new car across the river itself. In Arkansas it recovered its composure as we soon were traveling on the old roadbed. Verizon and Garmin began to generally agree with each other except on road names. One called it Washington lane and the other Main street, well something like that. We soon entered Louisiana. The roads were good and speed limits appropriate. We did a search for gas and found nothing except, using old fashion methods, our own eyes, we noticed a $3.37 x brand. We pulled in and filled up. We had been tempted to buy at $3.71, thinking that seemed to be a good price.Arrived in Shreveport and stopped at a motel listed in the book of cheap motels (the books are available at welcome centers and gas stations) It was Friday night and we expected to pay the extra five bucks for the weekend but Oh NO, we’re full so get out. Back on to I 20 closer to the Casinos. The GPSes suggested the same exit, Den was driving, I noticed what appeared to be a motel next to a church with very few cars in the lot. I directed Den to where I though it was but no luck. We tried a Weston … again we’re full but try the, name escapes me now, and pleasantries were exchanged. As we exited the Weston the road directly in front of us I saw what appeared to be a motel at the end of the block. Yes, oh yes, good karma it was the every same motel, a Comfort Inn, I had seen from I10 and Yes they had room at a very reasonable rate. Check in and right to work. First attempt was a poor showing for both. Second for me was excellent, we were able to eat. Back to the room for a restful sleep. If you are interested the motel is directly acoss from the first fire plug in Bossier City. See the picture.