Circling the U.S. Chapter 74: Louisiana Part 2

Saturday, February 22 - Sunday, February 23, 2020

On Saturday, February 22, we had a short ride of 25 miles to New Iberia. Along the way I took the following pictures.

For a number of days we saw these mounds of dirt covering people's yards everywhere and wondered what they were. They were too big to be mole holes. When we asked Father Thomas about them he said, "They're made by crawfish." And Rob and I both immediately had the same response, "I thought they lived in water." Father Thomas said, "They do. You have to realize that the water table is about a foot below the surface here."

In New Iberia we enjoyed lunch at A Spot for Tea where we shared crawfish soup and a shrimp and crab bisque, both delicious. Then we explored the Bayou Teche Museum, which turned out to be the best small-town historical museum we've visited so far. We learned that the Cajun area of Louisiana was also settled by the Spanish and I learned how sugar cane is grown and processed. I was impressed that, in one display describing who settled the region, even if they didn't have names as the white settlers did, at least slaves were counted as people.

These two women at the Bayou Teche Museum were a joy. They let us keep our bikes inside while we went for lunch, recommending A Spot for Tea where they told us we would get great food, but to be prepared to wait for it. They were correct on both counts.

A bicyclist we met in California told us that she always stops in art galleries because people who work there often have time on their hands and are happy to talk. The same may be true of the people who work, often as volunteers, in small town history museums. In New Iberia we got talking about the predominance of Catholicism in Louisiana. One of the women told us that it was very hard growing up Protestant where she was labeled "Not Catholic" by the other kids.

King Cake is emblematic of Mardi Gras. Someone had brought one into the museum and the ladies shared it with us. This one was like a streudl, with layers of dough wrapped around a cream filling, rich and delicious. We were told that you can get a King Cake at any grocery store, including Walmart, but we found out that they are not all the same. A few days later we had one that was just a coffee cake shaped and decorated to look like a King Cake. The one commonality is frosting and green and purple sprinkles.

We passed this mural on the way to our Warm Showers destination, finding out later that the building houses an excellent restaurant.

Who knew people could get excited about antique fans? There are about 7,000 antique fan collectors in an international organization. Our Warm Showers host, Will, is a member. And it just so happened that we timed our visit with Will and his wife Kathy to happen the night of their annual "fan meet" that they host in New Iberia. A number of the attendees gathered at Will and Kathy's for the evening, some staying overnight. So we got to meet about a dozen other folks who get excited about old fans. There were not many women in attendance and at least one I talked to came as a supporting wife. However, there was a newly married couple who share a love of antique fans, having gotten to know each other through their attendance at fan meets.

Will is also an accomplished guitar player. We found out we have a common fondness for John Prine so he treated us to some John Prine songs after dinner.

[As I write this on April 26, 2020, I will note that John Prine is, sadly, a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As we were riding through northern Wisconsin we passed countless American flags, usually pallets painted to look like flags, in front of people's homes. And whenever we did, one of John Prine's songs would inevitably come to mind:

"Oh, your flag decals won't get you into heaven anymore.
We're already overcrowded from your dirty little war.
Jesus don't like killing, no matter what the reason for.
Your flag decals won't get you into heaven anymore."

Early in our life together Rob and I enjoyed listening to John Prine in concert at Boulder's historic Chataqua Theatre. We share a love of his song lyrics and music.

John Prine, may your legacy live on in the hearts of so many people you've touched with your music.]

Kathy and Will are both of Cajun ancestry. Kathy told us that she grew up speaking French first.

Kathy is a retired social worker and told us about a time when she took some of her elderly clients on a tour of the local historical plantation, Shadows-on-the-Teche.

Kathy said, "One of the woman, an African American, said, 'My people built this house. I was never allowed inside.'

"I told her, 'Well now you can go inside,' and as she went in and looked around, there were tears in her eyes.'"

Most of the folks hanging out at Will and Kathy's were southerners and I decided to throw out a question that had been nagging me for some time, but especially that day as I'd seen a Confederate flag flying in front of someone's house. I asked the group, "Why would someone fly a Confederate flag?" One gentleman, about fifty years old, said that he grew up in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where they saw a lot of fighting during the Civil War. He said they would fly the flag out of respect for those who died in the war. There are monuments for both the Southern and the Northern men who gave their lives. But he also said that today he wouldn't fly the flag because of the hatred that some people express along with it.

Someone else said that, while he agreed that the Confederate statues should be removed from public parks, hed didn't agree with them being trashed. Rather, they belong in museums as part of the history of the region.

Will has no idea how many fans he has. His house is filled with them and so is the garage.

Will and Kathy are incredibly generous. In addition to their house, where the fan guests stayed, they have a cottage on their property, where Rob and I slept. They told us that they were spared Hurricane Katrina's destruction and when they saw people camped outside the local motel, they told them to come on over. They put up about 13 people. When Rita missed them a few months later they did the same thing. 

In the morning Will made pancakes for everyone. Kathy slept in, but was up in time to see us off.

Our disappointment after leaving Will and Kathy on Sunday, February 23, knew no bounds.

Will and Kathy recommended we stop in a bakery on our way out of town. Will said, "They'll have a green light on if the bread is fresh out of the oven." We found the bakery. It was closed.

They also raved about the food at a their favorite restaurant in Franklin, the Forest Inn, part of the Best Western Motel. It, too, was closed.

We stopped at a Burger King to use the restroom. It was empty except for a couple of older men sitting at a table. Rob asked them if there were any restaurants open in town and they said, "Why do you think we're eating here?" Apparently the answer was no.

We decided to stay and do some work on the internet, as we didn't have many miles to ride. Fast food places aren't bad stopping places. They all have free internet. We'll usually purchase a milk shake or fries and then mostly eat our own food. (If there's a sign saying "No outside food" we ignore it. We try to be discreet. No employee has ever complained.) But we've become discerning. We don't like McDonald's because they have a buzzer going off every minute or so letting the kitchen know that the fries are done; drives me nuts. I don't like the shakes at DQ; KFC and Popeyes don't have shakes.

After our education at the Bayou Teche Museum, we recognized the sugarcane growing in these fields.

The water table in Louisiana is so high that graves are partially above ground. 

We passed many bayous. I had to take a picture of this swing that looked so inviting, a real change from all the fenced off properties in Texas.

Louisiana is flat. The only hills we had to climb were the bridges.

We again crossed the intracoastal waterway with its frequent barge traffic.

We ventured away from the main highway where our Warm Showers hosts live out in the middle of nowhere. Russ grew up on the land, a sugarcane farm that his grandfather bought in the 1930's and his father also farmed. Now the land has been divided among the heirs and the remaining farmland leased out for sugarcane.

Staying with Paul (left) and Russ (right) took us about nine miles out of our way, but it was so worth it. The countryside was beautiful and they were both very gracious hosts, generously sharing their love of good wine with us.

Russ and Paul's house has an interesting story. Once upon a time it, along with many just like it, was slave quarters in Franklin. Then it became housing for sugarcane field hands before sitting empty for a number of years. A developer realized the land these houses sat on, next to a bayou, would be suitable for high end homes. He offered to sell each house for $500 to be removed from the property. If the lot was completely cleared within 60 days he'd return $400. So the house cost $100, plus the cost of moving it. Russ did have to do some work on it after it was relocated. The result is a cozy two-bedroom cottage in a beautiful, peaceful location. Paul joined Russ about ten years ago and together they run a stained glass studio, also on the property, where they give classes and create stained glass windows. 

[On April 25 I received this email from Russ and Paul: 
We are currently isolating and our business has been closed since March 18th due to the pandemic. Luckily we have a great place to isolate and it is more like a preview of retirement. We have some money set aside, so the lack of income is just a small inconvenience. I also saw this coming waaay before our president and started stocking up on non perishables and supplies back in January. So we are comfortable and content, only needing to venture out every couple of weeks for fresh vegies. My garden is just starting to bear, so we will be soon be needing to go out less often. I really believe this is no where near being over. The wine club helps with that aspect, I have a case arriving on Wednesday :)]