May 4, more Louisiana

Day 4  Sunday May 4

When we went to bed last night there were 4 or 5 trucks in this huge area, and us.  When we woke this morning the lot was nearly filled and we found ourselves practically wedged between these two 18-wheelers!   Kind of a noisy night, so we rose early, about 5:45 and went to the visitor’s center restrooms before heading out.

We crossed the longggg bridge  - 7 miles I think - over the Atchafalya River and swampland.  Some morning mist and light traffic.  We were going to take a back road down to route 1 but there was a sign that a bridge was washed out, so we went back to I-10 and turned south just before the bridge over the Mississippi at Baton Rouge.

This road winds alongside the Mississippi, but we caught only a glimpse now and then because there are levee’s all along the river.  Many fields of crops – sugar cane, young corn and beans, etc. to the west, the levee on the right.  Some industry and transportation businesses, some of which had pipelines running above the highway and levee to the river’s edge.  Our first stop was at the old locks in Plaquemine, which are a State Historical Site.  A man out for a bike ride came by and stopped and chatted for a while. 

He lived nearby and grew up when the locks were still used, so had lots of interesting information.  The locks closed in the late 1960’s because they were not large enough to handle the tugs and larger ships,  and were replaced with new ones near Baton Rouge.

Did a quick stop at a Walmart to find a screw for the latch on the bathroom door and some drinks, then continued on Hwy 18 to the Oak Alley Plantation.  It is an old sugar cane plantation lovingly restored, and quite busy with a tour group from a riverboat and two buses of orchestra kids from Texas.  The name comes from the alley of huge Oaks between the house and the Mississippi. The river isn’t visible from the plantation home as it used to be when the levee was only 7’ (now 21') and it was quite a landmark for those traveling the river.  Many of the trees are near 300 years old and are expected to live another 300!

 We had a guided tour of the main house and walked the grounds, some slave quarters and a few other buildings on our own.  Staff is mainly highschool aged kids but most were pretty knowledgable and did a good job.  One young man was stationed at a makeshift general’s military tent and spoke about the civil war in the area.

Unique fly catcher used in the dining room and covered discretely with a linen cloth.

We finished the tour and then made sandwiches and had lunch in a picnic area under some of the huge old oaks.

We crossed the Mississippi at the Sunshine Bridge and then began going north up along the other side.  Other than a few plantation homes, there wasn’t much to see and again the levee blocked any view of the river.  So we jogged over to I-10 and took a speedier route to Baton Rouge and beyond till we were once again on Hwy 1 and Hwy 15 which are part of the designated Great River Road. We stopped for some locally grown strawberries which were a treat!

Lots of agriculture this way, with wheat, hay, corn, sugar cane and more.   There were several stretches of 25 miles or so with no homes or farms, just cultivated fields.  And again, the levees.   We passed a town called False River which is now a very long lake but was once part of the Mississippi until it changed course.  Nice area with many mostly modest lake homes.  Several were for sale for between 250,000 and 450,000!  Location, location, location!!

We were going to look for campgrounds in some Wildlife Management Areas that we passed, but we never saw any signs and completely missed two small towns that appeared only on our map.  We saw a sign for Deer Park Lake Campground and thought we’d give it a try.  First we didn’t see anyone around and the place was obviously run down and in disrepair, so we were heading back out the dirt road when a man in a pickup truck stopped us and told us to come on back.  He assured us he had a shower so, rather skeptically we followed him back.   He explained that the whole property was under water two years ago and he obviously isn’t in a hurry to make repairs and improvements.  He lives in an rv.   Well, lets just say there was a shower and a small concrete patio area.  Lots of birds in the area and some nice very elevated homes across the road – flooding is not so uncommon it would appear!

We showered, walked a bit and had some worst for dinner.  Temps in the mid to high 80’s but cooled after sunset.  Greg tried the screens we got for the front side windows and they seem to work well – they attach over the outside with magnets.

Scratch and Sniff of the Day:  Flowers at Oak Alley.