New Iberia

New Iberia Parish is home of Bayou Teche...take a look at a google map, you'll see a large oblong dark mass. That's the bayou, providing many acres of water-based habitat for untold creatures. This is also major agricultural territory, sugarcane grows anywhere you can drive a tractor. More about the cane in a minute.

This is also, historically, rice growing territory. A perfect location with warm, sunny days, and plenty of water. More than two hundred years ago, when the British cruelly rounded up and shipped the Acadians out of SE Canada (does this story sound familiar?), a few French were already living in this watery place. They eventually welcomed the Acadians, who had been wandering for 10 years looking for a place to call home. The Acadians lived off the land, fishing, hunting and growing whatever they needed to live. With them, came the language, cooking style and music we now call Cajun. This area has been called Louisiana Eden, because of the beauty and abundance. Rice was grown, but not for money: they grew just enough to eat and barter with neighbors. Today, the Conrad Rice Mill is the oldest operating rice mills in the country. It was begun in 1912. Mike Davis and his wife bought it 30 years ago, and it operates just like it did 50 years ago, with just a few updates, and a staff of 21 people. The first photo is a vintage cart, used in the mill to move the bags of rice around. The rice is all grown locally, with the exception of the asian rice that is blended with local rice for the pecan brown rice, and is milled by local hands. Nothing goes to waste. The bran is sold to chicken farmers for $9/100 pounds, the chaff is given to local farmers and gardeners (free) for garden mulch and bedding for animals, and all the broken rice goes into crackers and other products that are sold in the company store. Mr. Davis is marketing the rice in every grocery chain in the state, and many chains across the country. It was a fascinating tour, even though the mill was not operating (Saturday, a day off). The second photo is some unhulled rice, by the scales, outside the mill. We saw the bagging area and the hulling machines (not operating). The old place looks like it will fall down any day, but they are doing a bigger and bigger business every year, and proud of it.





Hollie, our guide at the Konrico Rice Mill, www.conradricemill.com, sent us just down the road to Bon Creole Lunch Counter for a late lunch. Don't you love the building?!? Inside, we ordered at the counter, and took our giant shrimp po'boy to the wooden table. On the wall were deer and elk skulls and antlers,and pictures of all things Cajun. We were the only English speakers in the place, but didn't feel at all unwelcome. After stopping just short of licking the paper our sandwich was wrapped in, we waddled to the truck.

LA highway 86 meanders along the Bayou Teche for a way, and we decided to follow it to St. Martinsville, the original home of the Cajuns. There, we saw the statue of Evangaline (you can hear The Band singing now, can't you?!?), and saw the oak under which she found her long lost love, and her heart was broken. There is also a statue of Longfellow, who penned the famous poem chronicalling the love story. Of course, the St. Martin Catholic Church is there, the original home to the Cajuns. Beside the church are the graves of several priests, who came here from Canada, Belguium and France, among other places.

After seeing the sights in the tiny town, we drove back towards Broussard. All day, we have been surrounded by sugarcane fields. In every direction, there are small fires, billowing white smoke indicating high moisture, in the fields. We pass many tractors and trucks, pulling very tall-sided trailers, filled with the freshly cut cane. There are several cane processing plants, scattered throughout the parish, all billowing yet more white smoke in the initial processing stage.

The fields are burned to reduce the dried leaves, and to chase away the snakes. Only small sections are burned at a time. Cane used to be harvested by hand, slave-labor, but now it is done with big harvesters, much like the corn-picker my daddy used to pick corn. The cane is cut, by the machine, close to the ground. The sugar content is highest at ground level. It's then dumped, leaves already shucked and strewn back in the field, into the following trailers. When the trailers are filled, they are then hitched to either a truck or another tractor, usually two trailers at a time, and hauled quickly to the processor. The longer the cane sits, the more sugar it loses. Sort of like harvesting corn. The canes can be cut up to about 8 times, but each harvest yeilds less and less sugar, so eventually the justification to till and replant is there. We saw fields of varying ages, interspersed with the cut fields. The road sides were strewn with cane debris, reminding us both of home, when the roadsides are littered with debris from the cotton harvest. Mud is everywhere! The fields are knee deep, between the high rows of cane, the trucks and tractors are all totally encrusted head high.

With all this sugarcane production, there also comes higher levels of pesticides in the bayou. The phosphorus levels in the water are also high, but the phsoporus levels are naturally high in the soil here. It is a pretty landscape, the tall green cane for as far as the eye can see. It's also an ingredient in the gas, helping with the other big business in southern Louisiana: oil.

We stopped for gas in New Iberia, at the Cracker Barrel Freedom Fuel station. Not a Cracker Barrel in sight, but the Freedom Fuel had a sign on the pump, "...made primarily from Louisiana crude, refined by Louisiana men and women." That sign tells the rest of the economic story here. For miles and miles, we can always tell when we're approaching a town. The preponderance of buildings is home to businesses supporting the oil industry. Industrial pipes and cranes and repair services and materials of every kind. The billboards on the highways are all about oil industry businesses, and support businesses of every kind. There are even services to haul crews for shift changes! There are refineries everywhere, too. And, there is strong feeling about the sugarcane and oil industry. Gas stations have large signs letting everyone know there is NO sugar in their gas. It is a curious marriage, the industry and the agriculture.

One more comment about the businesses here. Since leaving Mobile, we've had to buy all our produce from the grocery stores. I really thought we'd see more locally grown food. And, ok, two more comments! There is NO recycling anywhere! We've hauled our recycled stuff, bags in the back of our truck, since we left NC. There was one place in NO that took our cans and paper, but we have wine bottles (I won't say how many!), plastic, cans and we're beginning to accumulate paper again. I asked at the local Albertson's grocery, and four people said, yes, there is recycling here in Broussard, but they take it to Lafayette. Baloney! We couldn't find a recycle spot in Lafayette today, either. We'll continue to haul our trash until we find a place.

on to Cajun Country

The rain Thursday kept us tethered in the Jude Travel Park on the day we planned to travel. The terrible snow storms up north translated to powerful thunderstorms moving across the gulf coast. Dragging a giant shoebox along a highway in a thunderstorm is a recipe for disaster, so we stayed put. I went to the local Winn-Dixie, along with what seemed like everybody in the whole country. The checkout lines snaked so far back into the store that shopping the aisles was difficult! But, I managed to find the greens and some chocolate that were required for our dinner.

Dinner Thursday night was local oyster, brie and spinach soup. Oh, it was yummy! I also had a green gumbo, another local dish, but we quit after the first coarse. Well, we saved room for the chocolate balsamic truffles I made for dessert. So, the day passed, me in the kitchen or reading, and it was a nice day. We listened to WWOZ, the local public radio station most of the day. Click and Clack entertained us in the evening with their version of Scrooge, and Missy and Hannukah Ho hosted a wonderfully irreverent music show afterwards. I'm marking my calender, and tuning my internet connection for their show next December 24!

Friday, we greeted a cold but sunny day, hitched up the Cottage, and pulled it across the city, west to Cajun territory. The roads were pretty quiet, and the short section of I-10 we traveled was as awful as our memory said it would be. The settling makes the road surface a nightmare for towing anything. Thank goodness for the old US 90. Not only was it a better road surface, but it gave us a tour of the local agriculture and geography.

We followed and crossed many bayous, ending up close to the important Bayou Teche, in Iberia Parrish. Both Stuart and I are particularly drawn to New Iberia because of the fictional hero, Dave Robicheaux. Having either listened to or read several books, we feel like we know the place. Bayou Teche was a vital shipping link beginning about 1830, when the first steamboat arrived in New Iberia, and remained an important transportation hub for the next 100 years. Today, much sugar cane is grown here, and the industry supporting the oil business sprawls over much land that is not devoted to housing and cane. Billboards along the main roads are begging for workers in the oil support industry: divers, pipe fitters, laborers, and job titles that mean nothing to me.

Our newest temporary home is Laboulaie Travel Park, in Broussard. $25/night. There are exactly 2 transient sites here, the rest of the 50 or so sites are for monthly rentals. Construction workers, temporary housing. We went into the little town, looking for a place to walk after a few days of inactivity before settling in for the evening.

Rivershack Tavern and Jazz

Lunch today at the Rivershack Tavern, in Jefferson Parish. This place is known for it's turtle stew, funky bar stools and ash tray collection. This was another recommnedation from my nephew-in-friend, Matt. Matt, works for the Food Network show, "Diners, Dives and Drive-ins". We missed the turtle stew by one day, but the oyster po'boy I had was good! The Rivershack sits, literaly, behind the leveee guarding it from the MS River. I believe this place might be pretty hot New Year's Eve!

Before we had lunch, we found the Jefferson Variety Store. It's a family owned business supplying all the Mardi Gras trinkets you can imagine, along with fabrics, trims, appliques, hats and more. It is in the warehouse section of town, and we weren't sure we were in the right place...but I'm glad we persevered! It was fun, and I wish I had a fancy party on my calender.
 


We spent the rest of the afternoon walking on Magazine Street, in the Garden District, looking at the houses and window-shopping. The Creole houses, the double houses and the low-country houses are distinctive, and in this neighborhood are in mostly good shape. The double house is the most interesting: it is two shotgun houses, connected under one roof. There is a narrow porch across the whole front, with a very wide overhang, making for cover in the rain. Some have wrought iron railings, some wooded railins, and some have no railing. Most are about 4 steps up, to catch a little breeze, and the doors are set close to the side, as far from each other as can be. Each side of the house is not much more than about 10 feet wide: you can fire a shotgun standing in the front doorway, and it will go straight through and out the backdoor. The trim is fancy, and the colors are bright and happy. There is often a 4 foot-wide space of dirt between the house and sidewalk, with citrus, sasanquas or weeds growing. Another unique house style is one story in the front, narrow, and two stories in the back. These are small houses, I suspect not much more than 1000 square feet.

Close to sunset, we made our way downtown to catch the free ferry from Canal Street to Algiers, on the south side of the MS river. The river is about 1/2 mile wide here, and about 240 feet deep. The lights of the city were pretty from across the river, particularly the tall St. Louis Cathedral. We didn't even get off the ferry at Algiers, but rode right back to Canal Street. I just wanted to be on the Mighty MS River, and to see the lights of NO. Even after dark, it's a busy river: we saw three tugss pushing long lines of barges up river.


By the time we walked back through the Quarter, it was close to time to get in line for the 8:00 show at Preservation Hall Jazz. We bought a beer at Yo Mama's bar, in the required plastic cup, taking our place in line for an hour. The Hall has been showcasing NO Jazz since 1961, in a no-frills setting. No food, no drinks, no toilets, a few benches to sit on with standing room in the back. The building hasn't seen a coat of paint inside or out since probably 1961. The door opens at 8, the music starts 10 minutes later and the band does three sets. A different local band performs each night.  











Being there early got us a space on one of the two benches against the side wall, right at the clarinet player's right knee, giving us both a place to lean back and the most perfect seat in the house! The 726 Jazz Band, six members, were great!! They played old traditional jazz pieces, including one by Jelly Roll Morton. Clarinet, trombone and sax player took highlight turns, along with the piano player (who was the band leader), the bass player and the drummer. They talked with us and each other, laughed during most of their performance, I think they were having as much fun playing as we were listening. The old man on the sax, they called him Doc Watson, could hardly stand up, but he could play! Being there, hearing the music, was the highlight of this trip.

 

 

notes on The Flood

http://www.nola.com/katrina/graphics/flashflood.swf

I found this website while looking for notes on the flood level here. Take a few minutes to see how the water invaded the city. Our campground is on the edge of the Gentilly neighborhood, not far from the US 90 and I 10 intersection. Our host told Stuart that this campground was 6 feet underwater for several weeks. They lost everything. Behind us is the railroad switching yard.(and they work all night!) Two tractor-trailer loads of used tires stored there were relocated to the campground that morning, caught by a very sturdy fence. The cost of cleaning-up the tires and other large debris fell to our host. Eighty percent of the city was underwater beginning the morning of August 29. Those of us who have lived through floods feel the pain; those who haven't had the experience can imagine the pain. The only areas of town that didn't flood are the French Quarter and the Garden District. Both are right on the river, which is the high ground. As our carriage tour guide said, three feet is GOOD! So, the tourist district is alive and well, and we're enjoying that part of our stay here.

Today, we happened past a cigar business in the French Quarter. Inside, there were three men rolling the cover on the cigars. This is not a skill that is learned quickly, I wish you could see them work. The outer leaves are what my daddy called 'in high order'; cured tobacco that has just enough moisture in it to handle nicely, and not too much to make it mold. These cigars were made from a local crop of tobacco, perigue. The crop is planted in late March, and harvested in mid June. It's air dried, like burley, not like the flu-cured stuff I grew up with. About 15 acres of the local cultivar are grown not far from here, 12 acres by one family. The old man is now close to 90, his sons are still running the produce/tobacco farm, and they may be the last. While I can't possibly endorse smoking, it sure was a pretty sight to see such skill at work. The old forms and presses lined the walls of the old warehouse, pictures showed days when 20 more more men sat at the tables, rolling. Several different cigars are for sale. I was surely tempted with the pretty boxes, and if I tell the truth, I was tempted to buy the cigar for the art of the craft. I resisted.

We walked on Magazine street, to the Warehouse/art district, to see the collection of southern art, to find the museum closed today. Well, the sun was out, we didn't need a jacket, and it was a nice walk past all the renovated warehouses (this area had some water) that are now condos, small businesses and galleriers. We passed the Johns-Manville building, the old asbestos manufacturer of early last century. Today, the building houses an architectural firm building 'green' houses and businesses. The circle....

We are one of two transients in our campground. The other guests here are long-term, construction workers. Of course, this week the campground is quiet, they've all gone away for the holiday. Speaking of holiday, did you hear the Paul Winter music program on NPR last night? It was live music from St John the Divine in NY, very nice.

New Orleans, day one

Lunch Tuesday, in New Orleans Garden District, the Irish Channel, at Parasols! What a great place...it's been here more than 50 years, and the original owners closed it a few years ago. Within three months, it had been bought and reopened, with the same menu: po boys and beer. The walls in the place are covered with paintings by local artists, and framed magazine/newspaper articles about the restaurant. We're here because my nephew-in-friend, Matt, told us this place is 'must eat'. We should have ordered ONE beef po boy, but we stuffed ourselves on one EACH! We'll never eat another po boy as good as this one. Sanity won when it came to a decision about the fries/cheese fries/gravy fries. We just looked at them...Hey Matt, THANKS!
 

Before lunch yesterday, we went to the Upper Ninth Ward, to see how much work has been done. Work on the streets has created a no-rules traffic pattern, and the renovation was patchworked. A few beautifully re-done houses, beside boarded/damaged houses. We were energized by the amount of work being done, and impressed with the come back. We were also depressed over the amount of work still to be done. More about the flood levels later... We drove up to the Lake P shore, to see a lighthouse now on the campus of University of NO and essentially abandoned. There are houses along the lake shore that look like museums. What a comment about show-boating.

We're parked in the Jude Travel Park of NO, on US 90, just east of town. As we eased from the bayous east of the city, we saw houses perched precariously on pilings that looked to be 2 stories tall. The thin strip of land, home of fishermen, slowly turned into terra firma, and then we were in the edge of the city. Nothing is normal, and at the same time, everything is normal. Many damaged and abandoned buildings, houses and shopping centers, cleared lots growing tall weeds, checkered between pockets of the same architecture that has been renovated. A shopping center might have 3 tenants (a grocery store, nail salon and cheap clothing store), and 3 or more empty spaces. Many houses and small business have tall fences and bars on the windows. Some might be decorative, but I think some is for real secutiry.

After lunch Tuesday, we needed to walk in the glorious sunshine, on this 'last day of the year', the shortest day of the year. It is a perfectly beautiful day. We walked past a woman sunning herself on her front stoop, the house apparently new. We stopped to speak, and Margeret B. Smith invited us in to see her collections and hear her story. The house had been flooded with more thana 6 feet of water, but was still mostly standing after the storm. Volunteers helped rebuild it, and she moved her collections back in. She was out of town when the hurricane arrived, but friends moved her collections to much higher ground for her. How they knew to do that, we'll never know. On the walls of the bright turquoise front room are her collections of Ebony/Essence magazines, comic books, and sports trading cards. In notebooks on a small table, there are collections of postage modern stamps. We visited with Margaret for a while, her sunny face smiling and proudly showing us her prized collections.

Afterwards, we headed for the French Quarter. A parking place can be had for $5, if you're willing to walk several blocks. We took a carriage tour, had a beer at the Crescent City Brewery, and walked a while. Tonight is the longest night of the year, and we had a feast planned, so we headed home.

Happy New Year! This is traditionally the beginning of the year, when the days begin to get longer. We celebrated with shrimp/crawfish gumbo, collards and turnip roots, baked cornbread and cheap red wine. We even strung the lights, in celebration of the darkness ending.
 

 

A friend in Biloxi, MS

 Sunday, as we drove west on the coast road (US90) from Mobile, we saw some familiar sights that still stun us. A few years ago, we spent some time on this same route, and marveled at the majestic houses on the Gulf of Mexico, a stones throw from the water. Those houses with their welcoming front porches and tall windows, surrounded with equally majestic live oaks were unknowingly living their last glory days. Hurricane Katrina scrubbed the landscape completely clean from just west of Mobile to New Orleans. All those majestic houses in Biloxi, Pascagoula, Gulf Shores, Bay St. Louis have disappeared, leaving behind front steps to nothing, a few foundations with the plumbing fixtures visible, but mostly everything was washed away. We saw the same scene in January, 2006, when we went to the area to pound nails; our tiny effort to help get rebuild. At the time, I was overcome with sadness, remembering our own flood aftermath, and knowing that these folks were just barely getting started at restarting. This time, we laughed with happiness at the battered live oaks, all sprouting new leaves and branches. We saw small businesses back at work, and construction everywhere. We saw 'for sale' signs on many empty lots, shopping centers either partially occupied, or being cleared. We also saw massive new casinos (read: employers) and hotels, new condo units and gas stations, restaurants and the ugly beach stores with neon lights. All good signs that 4 years later, people are recovering. And, the trees are recovering, too.

We stopped at an empty lot that was a pre-Katrina yacht basin. There was what appeared to be a lighthouse we did not know about. While there, this little dude (dudette?) sidled up to our Cottage, blocked from the wind, and began to take a sunny bath. She appeared to be not at all concerned that we were walking her way, and continued to preen until we were close enough to touch her (we didn't). When we got in the truck and pulled away, she was still standing there!

We found out later that the lighthouse was real, but was obviously out of commission now.
 
 

Mobile Flea Market

There are billboards all over town advertising the Mobile Flea Market. It's advertised as one of the biggest flea markets in the country. Well, being market experts, we decided to stay an extra day in Mobile, to experience this fabulous flea market.

It's good, probably better in the summer. The produce people are there now, and are probably selling local stuff in the summer, but right now they're selling stuff they're getting from other countries. We did find a local source for little tangerines. There is also an amazing book store, used paperbacks and hard cover books. This rivals some of the used bookstores in stand-alone buildings in other places. Well worth the traffic to visit the used book seller. We also saw at least a dozen people selling puppies. Mostly pitbull puppies, proclaiming AKC registered puppies. We saw chihuahuas, and a woman selling a miniature Great Dane. A few kittens, two people selling gerbils, a couple of young/pierced/tattooed men selling boa constrictors and lizards of some kind. There were vendors selling all kinds of things that make the air smell good, vendors selling neon green t-shirts with mostly racing logos, people selling bad wigs and good tools, socks and pots, car parts and dresses, dolls and kitchen ware. We bought a pair of scissors for our Cottage kitchen, a couple of plant watering devices, the local citrus, and Stuart found four good lighthouse models for a good price. I was tempted by the lime green t-shirts, but resisted.

We fought our way out of the parking lot traffic, and headed towards downtown for lunch at Saucy Q's Barbeque restaurant, in the Oakleigh neighborhood. I had a pork sandwich, Stuart ordered ribs with collards and cornbread. The sandwich was better without the bread, the pork was good. Stuart's collards were good: a little sugar and some ham. We were thwarted in our effort to leave downtown by the Christmas parade. Of course, we parked and watched it! The high school marching bands were pretty good, and the dance school groups were well-dressed. Perfect, small town parade!

Dinner was at Michael's Downtown Cafe, and it was excellent! Courtney brought us a crab crostata to start. We took our own wine, and she brought glasses right away. We started with a local greens salad, with local oranges and pecans, and a little blue cheese. We also had a green gumbo, made with collards, red bell peppers, onions, okra in a delicious roux. Stuart ordered crab cakes, which were the best he's ever had, and I had the shrimp and grits. Tonight is the first night Michael has offered this dish, and it was simple and complex. The shrimp were local and perfectly cooked. The grits were adorned with a brown roux, red bell pepper and little bits of okra. We finished the meal with a chocolate torte, with a little cream, and hot tea. Oh, my! What a meal! It was made all the better with some conversation with both Courtney and Michael, and we enjoyed the evening.

With overly-full bellies, we thought a short walk in the downtown would make us feel better. Michael's is one block from the main downtown street, but it was so cold we couldn't stand it. Five blocks in a circle brought us thankfully back to our truck, and we drove home. Tomorrow is moving day, it's cold tonight, we went to bed soon.

With the drive we've had in the past ten days, being off the interstate, we've had the chance to look at local businesses. We can be in any city in the country when we're in the suburbs. Think of any chain business, and it's here, wherever we are. But, the small businesses are doing OK, too. Funeral homes, nail parlors, pay-day lending, pawn shops, car repair shops, hair salons, pet groomers, builders and real estate offices, asian restaurants, latino restaurants, seafood restaurants, blue-plate restaurants, thrift shops, doctor offices, and the stray quilt shop are all alive and well. As we drove, I was thinking about the chain stores, and realized that I was focused on the wrong thing. I needed to pay attention to small business,and began to see them in every strip shopping mall and in the out-of-the-way places. Stuart and I mostly avoid chain stores when a small business is at our disposal, but that's not always an option.

Grocery stores are a traveler's problem. We now have FOURTEEN grocery store cards in the glove box of the truck. We sign up for the card wherever we are, to get the sale price. So far this trip, we've added two new stores to our stack: Harvey's and Winn-Dixie. I know: how can we live in the south and not have a Winn-Dixie card? I don't know, but that's now remedied. But, if we hit a Albertson's, we're also ready!

The Jude Travel Park in eastern New Orleans is our current home. We're just north of the infamous Ninth Ward and the Industrial Canal. We drove from Mobile on US 90, a perfectly good back road that sort of parallels I-10. We drove through the bayou, amazed at the elevation of the scattered houses on the lakes and bayous. Nothing here says "dry". Fishing nets and fishing boats are everywhere. Sunday is a good day to travel; the business people are not on the road today.

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice, and we have big plans for the day.

Break day (rain again)

This is Michael's Downtown Cafe, on the corner of St. Michael's and Conception Streets. This is not his first restaurant. He's a walking miracle, after having survived a liver transplant. Damn fine cook, a few tables and no telephone, no regular menu and no dishwasher. Does all the prep and cooking himself, and spends time between plates visiting with the customers. Don't miss his place if you're in Mobile. 



















This is a part of the light display at Bellingrath Garden's...nice trees!
 

















The thermometer outside our kitchen window never got higher than this all day Friday. What a cold spell we're been having lately! But, at least we're not getting the terrible snow the upper east coast is getting right now.
 

We spent the day doing almost nothing outside. Too cold and wet. The rain finally quit late in the afternoon, and we walked for a while. The Shady Acres Campground is on the Dog River, and we stretched our legs and lungs in the surrounding neighborhoods just before sunset. Both of us spent the day reading and listening to NPR.

historic Mobile

Thursday dawned cold and grey, but the rain is forecast to give a little break until the afternoon. We headed for the historic downtown areas, to walk and look at the architecture. There are some very big houses in the Oakleigh district, and some very small houses, and some ornate and some plain houses. Greek revival, greek revival modified, italiante, bungalow, victorian, and mixed-breed ideas mix easily in this neighborhood. We spent the morning looking at gardens and paint schemes, wood trim and doors, windows and roof lines. It was pleasant, because we had gloves and hats. Afterwards, we moved the truck to the commercial historic district. By now, it's mid-day, and we're really chilled and our feet need a break. I spied a small sandwich board on the corner of St. Michael and Conception, advertising red beans and rice for lunch. No name on the building, and it looked very tiny. Hey, I can pick a good restaurant! We had a very good meal with Michael Ivey, chef. The little place had 9 tables, and the menu was whatever he had that was locally grown/raised. The blackboard menu had about 5 items listed, a small board just to the left of the menu board had a list of three frozen foods to take home. Michael knew everyone who came in, and Courtney, the waitress/dishwasher/assistant took care of everything else. We both ordered red beans and rice, with local sausage, and Courtney heated a cup of iced tea for me, to help me warm up. Hey, it's Mobile: they only serve iced tea here. We listened to the conversations around us, and agreed that we'd eat here for dinner. The chocolate torte we shared for dessert was yummy, adorned with a little cream.

Time for the Mobile Museum of Art, in the Spring Hill section of town. Spring Hill is the old, rich neighborhood. This is were folks escaped from the yellow fever plague in the city in the 19th century. Of course, today it's part of the urban area, the suburban shopping centers and neighborhoods have completely surrounded Spring Hill. The Art Museum occupies the outer edge of the old fancy-pants neighborhood.

Los Caprichos, by Goya is on display. Thankfully, there was a summary of the social climate during the time he was living, otherwise we'd have had no clue about the work. It's the kind of exhibit you need to see about 5 times to begin to understand. Upstairs, we saw a great collection of rhinestone jewelry, mostly from the early 20th century. Rhinestone came from the highly polished stones from the Rhine river, which gave way to the glass that was backed with silver, which gave way to the Swarovski glass that needed no silver backing to shine. I have several pieces from my grandmother's collections that remind me of some of the pieces on display. Years ago, when I owned a fabric shop, I did much business in lace and cording with a supplier in NY. In every shipment of cording, there was a big piece of rhinstone jewelry in the box, as a thankyou for my order. When I compare what they sent me with this exhibit, I believe I have a very nice collection of rhinestone jewelry, too. In conjunction with the old rhinestone exhibit, there was an exhibit of new work in glass. It was great! Such imaginative pieces of glass and metal! I loved that part of the exhibit.

The portion of the permanent collection that we both loved, though, was the contemporary art. The museum has made an effort to buy work from southern artists in every medium, and they have assembled a wonderful collection of wood, glass, clay and mixed-media. Stuart and I spent the most time in that part of the exhibit. I'll list a few of the artists in another post, the list is in the truck...The furniture, vessels in clay and glass, and a piece using only spoons made us which we were rich enough to collect work like this.

Dinner tonight: smoked chicken and cheese enchiladas, from Michael's. Yum!

Dauphin Island

Wednesday, December 16
Dauphin Island is due south of Mobile, on the west side of the Bay. The road down is lined with industry: oil companies and drilling and all the businesses that support the oil/gas business. In between all this industry, there are pockets of country neighborhoods, with the general store alive and well at any crossroad. We followed the road closest to the -Bay, and again marveled at the fancy houses this far from the city. It seems there are more 'for sale' signs than we remember from a few years ago when we were here. BK. Before Katrina. Of course, Mobile didn't take the hit that MS and LA took. Here, they are still talking about Hurricane Frederick, which hit in 1979.

The road and bridge to Dauphin Island were built in 1955. The bridge was washed away by Frederick, and the year-round residents of DI used a two hour ferry to Fowl River for the two years it took to reconstruct the bridge. That road reminds me of the road to Cedar Island, from Atlantic, NC. An engineering marvel, a road built through the salt march to a tiny piece of dry ground. DI is 14 miles long, I don't know if that includes the far western end that was separated by Frederick. Ancient shell mounds and a fresh water spring in the middle of the island hint at the Native American presence here many years ago. Of course, there is a fort at the eastern tip, a companion to the one across the Bay, to defend the port.

DI is one of the important stopping points for birds travelling north and south during the migration periods: the first or last stop for fresh water and food before the rest of the trp. The Audubon Society set aside 164 acres of woods and swamp in the middle of the island for sanctuary.

 

Birds! There are water birds everywhere! The brown pelican population appears to be healthy here. The sand dunes in the background of the picture are about 5 stories high, and curve around the south and eastern end of the island. Dumb zoning allowed three houses to be built on TOP of the dunes before the people came to their senses...
 













The winter storm in the past couple of weeks has moved much of the sand at the highly developed western end of the strip of sand...we drove past a couple of construction jobs, houses apparently being moved back from the water's edge. The island is less than 1/4 mile wide where the work was begin done. This photo is the sand piles, cleared from the single road to the west end...We learned that just hiring a bulldozer to shove it back into place is not allowed. FEMA says the sand must be SIFTED!! In case there is glass, or other foreign debris. Doesn't seem a reasonable way to spend money to me, either.
 

At the east end of the island, you can just barely see the Sand Island Light house. A google map satellite view of the Bay shows there is a sandbar still visible, but the lighthouse is now a tiny island. The lightkeepers house is many years gone, washed away with the moving island. This is as close as we can get to the lighthouse, without a boat.

Ducky in Mobile, AL

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Travel Day
Still raining…..we both have webbed feet today, and I’m beginning to oil my sprouting feathers. Raw fish is particularly appealing to me, too.

We headed south on our first interstate of the trip, I-65. We meet the best people, even on a travel day! Today, at a rest stope, we parked next to John, a trucker from Easley, SC. He was hauling Dickies clothes for UPS, and told us he’d look out for us on the interstate. He and Stuart had the usual conversation about ‘the girl driving the truck’. This conversation happens frequently as I’m backing the Cottage into the assigned space in the campground. Sometimes, they even talk to me, but usually the conversation happens as if I’m not even there. Guess most women neither drive forward nor backward.

We arrived at our Shady Acres campsite just south of Mobile, on the DIP (Dauphin Island Parkway) in time for a late lunch, and between rain bands. It was great to be able to set up without getting drenched. Rent: $20 a night, with wifi. Well, weak wifi.

After a late lunch of leftovers, we floated our way to downtown, swam through the water to the visitor center, and waded with our Bums and Cabella raincoats, to the local brewery, Hurricane Brewing. Hehehe. We were the only people on the street, not surprising in the downpour. Perfect day to sit inside the local brewery and drink. Our bartender wants to move to Asheville, because she thinks we in NC are much more cosmopolitan than folks in Mobile. The problem, you know, is the people from Mississippi. They have no brain, and are terribly annoying because they are so backwards. She told her boyfriend, who wants to be a cook at a resort, that she could move anywhere as long as she could work at a brewery. She really didn’t want to go back to being a delivery driver for 'Steak-Out’.

Back at the Cottage, after drying out, we scrapped plans to eat out (still raining), and worked on our plans for Mobile touristing. It’s quiet here, and accessible to both the DIP and interstate I-10 to downtown. Mobile's population is about 200,000. Besides fishing, there is a pretty big oil and natural gas industry. If you drive down either side of the Mobile Bay, you can see numerous 'Texas Towers' in the Bay. Natural gas drilling. The support industry is pretty big; miles of hydralic/marine/plumbing businesses all along the DIP.

This is also big fishing territory, and shrimp and oysters are hot products. The sign at the fish market close to our campground is advertising mug bugs. Crawfish. Apparently they are seasonal, like oysters.

Downtown has several historic districts, most of which date from the mid-1800's. Anything built before that either burned in the fires of 1829 or 1836, or have bull-dozed for more modern construction. We'd like to spend some time seeing the old houses, and, of course, eating!

more Montgomery, AL

Monday, it's still raining, but with Big Umbrellas (Bums)and raincoats-by-Cabella, we continued to be tourists in Montgomery. You know, besides Hank Williams, Montgomery has many reasons to be a tourist destination: the Civil Rights movement birthplace, and the Civil War beginnings. They are related.

The capital of Alabama, Montgomery was the first, brief capital of the South, in 1861. The capital was moved to Richmond, the more strategic location after only 6 months. But, the order to fire on Fort Sumter, the beginning of the Civil War, was issued from here. The capital building itself is pretty impressive, and we toured the exterior, under our Bums. There is a big, impressive sycamore tree close to the front steps, planted in the mid-1800's. There is also a loblolly pine, a bit further from the front steps, which was grown from a seed that travelled to the moon on one of the Apollo missions. It was pretty exciting to see both. We dripped our way through the hall of Governnor's portraits, admired the building's very thick interior walls, and waded across the street to the First White house of the Confederacy.

The Jeff Davis White House had been moved more than 10 blocks to it's present location in the early 20th century. Guess they didn't like the neighborhood. The house was pretty nice, we agreed with the nice man who worked there that we could live there, even if there wasn't a bathroom in every bedroom. Upstairs, we saw a broderie perse quilt that had been made in the 1860's, by an Alabama woman. It was called the Gunboat quilt, because it had been raffled several times to raise money for a gunboat during The War. It was quite nicely made, and I marveled that it was raffled 'several times' to raise money for the war effort. And, it is still in good shape, after more than 150 years.

We had a long conversation with a semi-retired man who has worked for the State for many years. He now works part-time at the Confederate White house, and told us he loves that house. He's a black man, who's grandmother was a slave on a cotton plantation close to Montgomery. He spent a little time picking cotton, too, and laughed at his inability to make any decent money with that job! He said he never got enough speed to pick 100 pounds a day, the minimum required to make enough money to make a living at the time. "Red" told several stories of growing up in the south, and we very much enjoyed our conversation with him. From there, we moved to the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the MLK memorial there. The Dexter Street Memorial Church was less than a block away, and the third attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965 ended with a demonstration on the steps of the Capitol building. It is an emotional memorial. The rain, however, chased us back to our truck.

We gave in to a late lunch in the downtown brewery, a delicious gumbo and beer, and slogged through the water back to the Cottage. Dinner in tonight.

Stuart and Hank

Sunday, December 13
 
Yep, that's right: Stuart and Hank Williams. Well, Hank's statue. He died January 1, 1953, so this is as close as we'll get to the man who wrote such heartbreak songs as, "Your Cheating Heart". That song was probably autobiographical!

We spent the day yesterday, Saturday, in Albany, GA. It was just too cold and too rainy to feel motivated to travel. But, we did manage to move ourselves from the Cottage to have lunch out, and then to see the plantetarium show at the downtown Thronateeska Heritage Center and Weatherbee Planetarium. They were showing the story of the the night sky at the Winter Solstice, and how Christianity has adopted all the pagan traditions as their own.

Today, we drove in fog and light rain, through the back roads to Montgomery, AL. We are now in the central time zone, so we gained an hour. By the time we arrived at our campground in Montgomery, it was time for a late lunch. It's sssooo wet, water is standing everywhere, but the temps are much warmer. It's rained everyday since we left home! This is big cattle country, not so much cotton as I thought we'd see. Much divided wealth, too. Grand houses, hiding behind locked gates, or little shacks that haven't seen a hammer or coat of paint in many years.

Montgomery is home to the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald museum, and of course we visited this afternoon. She was from here, and the two of them lived here for 6 months. He began writing Tender is the Night while they lived here. Hey, you make a tourist attraction from anything you can! We had a private tour, guided by the live-in director of the museum. The museum is only part of the first floor of the house in the Cloverdale neighborhood. The rest of the house is apartments. Not much money to be had for a Fitzgerald Museum. But, we saw some paintings Zelda made while they lived in Paris, and saw all the first edition books.... Afterwards, we found the Hank Williams Museum, downtown. Again, we had the place to ourselves, which made for a totally unobstructed view of his baby blue Cadillac, and a couple of Nudie suits donated by Hank, jr. Hank lived a traumatic life, which made good material for all his songs.

I have to say, though, the best part of today was the grocery store we found not far from our campground, on highway 82. This side of Montgomery doesn't appear to be very, um, affluent, and the grocery store was in a partially empty strip shopping center. There was korean writing on the sign, which was a good indication that the vegetable selection would be good. Wow! This little store is pretty big, and caters to both a hispanic and asian population. I saw all sorts of vegetables familiar from our travels in Mexico, and some familiar from our touring in other asian neighborhoods. Lots of leafy greens and squashes, beans and fruits, melons and okra. Even calcium cakes that I use on my comal. There was a long aisle of noodles and big bags of rice, and a section of packaged Indian food. Think I might do a little research for recipes, and take advantage of the situation tomorrow night. But for tonight, some bok choy and turnip greens, to go in the chicken and rice stew...

A rainy time in Albany, GA

We're in Albany, GA, birthplace of Ray Charles. There is a marvelous Ray-and-piano sculpture on the Flint River, downtown, surrounded with piano keyed sidewalks, and carefully designed speakers playing his music in the waterfront park. It's a small town, that feels even smaller than it is. A welcoming, pretty woman working at the Visitor's Center told us her father lives in Jacksonville, NC. It appears that like many towns, the downtown is trying hard to reinvent itself. The strip malls and chain fast-food restaurants sprawling away from the downtown look like just about any other place in the country, while the downtown is distinctly Albany. The train depot built in prarie style architecture, is a museum now, and the old bridge house is playing host these days to the Visitor's Center. Bob's Candy pulled out in 2005. They made white and red candy canes...we saw a fine video of the process at the museum...and the fertilizer plant by the railroad tracks closed many years ago. The last passenger train made it's run May 1, 1970...same stories, different town. But, the new convention center and waterfront park are beautiful and appear to be well-used. The small businesses in the downtown appear to be holding on; there is a cookie/lunch restaurant that looked good (we missed it's open hours by just a few minutes). The neighborhoods close to the downtown are well-kept with no vacant houses or lots.

Digressing: this is the sunset at Laura Walters State Park in Waycross.
 















Ray Charles, looking just fine!
 














It's cold, and rainy. So far, our trip has been pretty quiet, not much adventure. Too cold and rainy to look for much high adventure! But, we're happy with our slow pace, and enjoying the books we're reading. Oh, news: I just downloaded an audio book from our public library! We can either listen to it on the computer, or transfer it to the little SansaFuze mp3 player. I bought a cassette-thingy that plugs into the cassette player in our old pick-up truck, that allows the SansaFuze to play through our speakers. Hey, don't tell me we're not current with our listening technology!

cold tourists

Friday, December 11
Albany, GA

As we drove out of our neighborhood Monday morning, we wondered what we could possibly have forgotten, as it seemed like everything we owned had been hauled out to the Cottage. Well, whatever it is, there will be two when we return because we’ll have to buy whatever we can’t live without.

Salt shaker and pepper mill. Walmart in Mt. Pleasant. We could have found them at a thrift shop, but then we’d probably have bought some clothes we don’t need, too.

I thought I’d left my camera on my desk. Now, that was an ‘OHNO”!, but it was discovered under the seat of the truck. Relief!

Stuart didn’t bring any shorts, but so far, that’s not been a problem. Last night it was 35 degrees here in Waycross, GA, at the Laura Walter State Park, on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp. This is long leaf pine area, and Laura Walter made her life’s work taking care of the area here. The eastern indigo snake and the gopher tortoise are protected here, but we didn’t see any evidence of them on our walk in the woods. Too cold for reptiles to be out. We are in logging country, so for this preserve to even exist is a miracle. This is also a major railroad crossroads (cue the guitar music), we can hear the trains all day and night, and we’re 9 miles from town. It’s a pretty place; flat and quiet, the color from the trees is almost faded.

Thursday was a lay day, as in lay around and do not much. There is no internet access here at the LWSP, so we got directions to the public library in Waycross (the park ranger had to think about the location of the library). Waycross is about 35,000 people, the library looks like a nice size. But, they don’t open until noon, and it’s now 10am. We saw much of Waycross from our truck windshield, spent some time in the hardware store and looked for the railroad switching yard. Had lunch out, and went back to the library to learn they don’t have wifi! They didn’t have the daily paper yet, either. Thank goodness for public radio!

We’ve eaten well. The rain Tuesday night sent me inside to cook the pork chops I’d thawed. I rubbed them with a light chipotle rub (Cooks Illustrated), and pan fried them. Served them with carmelized onions, some corn from Robert and Eula Mae’s garden garnished with a little cilantro and lime juice, and a salad. Wednesday night, I cut the left over pork chops into cubes, made some grits (small mill, coarse ground, yellow), added the left over corn and some grated cheese. The pork cubes were stir-fried with some chopped, dried apricot and a little onion, served on top of the grits/corn. Yum! Thursday night, it was some slow-roasted tomatoes from Glenda’s garden, served with hand-made ravioli’s (all from my freezer)…oh my, those roasted tomatoes are good!

Light Night!

Tuesday night, December 8, 2009
Light Night, at James Island County Park! This is the sand scuplture, now in it's 20th year. Yes, sand. Beach Sand. The entire sculpture was made in about 10 days, by a professional scultor and team. It's sprayed daily, during the festival, with a mixture of white glue and water, to keep it from crumbling. The more I look at it, the more detail I see, it's amazing!

 







Think Santa trusts Rudolph's navigation skills? That's a sand map in Rudolph's hands...The detail in the sculpture is incredible!
 

 




























This local flamingo flock is behind our Cottage, standing in a 'pool' or blue lights. This might be my favorite part of the display. But, I do feel guilty about supporting all this power consumption. Just think of the resources required to light this, and to drive all the people through the park to see it....do NOT call me a Grinch! Taking care of our earth is NOT being a Grinch! And, yes, I'm contributing to the problem by being here, and by using all the gas it's going to take to get us to the gulf coast and back. Guilty, I will not argue.

oysters and plantation

Tuesday, December 8, 2009
 
Friday night was party time, in celebration of mama's birthday. Worth and Karen joined us, we cooked oysters. Too much recent rain made the oysters not-so-tasty, and the rain Friday night chased us in to the porch from the deck, but it was fun, and even an ordinary oyster is better than none at all! Martha and Billy came by, briefly, and it will be fun to see the pictures Martha took. Mostly of the piles of oysters on the table, waiting to be shucked!


Stuart and I finally got on the road Monday morning, Joe was waving good-bye from the porch. It is a good feeling, to know that he is there while we're gone. And, he's looking forward to some winter beach time.

Stuart found that the James Island County Park, just south of Charleston, SC has a light festival right now. We discovered James Island several years ago, when we stayed there on our way back home. It's a nicely run county park, even though we're not interested in the water park and stuff, we liked the hiking trails and the climbing wall. And, they run a shuttle service from the part to downtown, making parking a non-issue. The campsites are wooded, and far enough apart to make it feel spacious, it's off the highway and there are full hook-ups. So, even though it's not really on the way to the gulf coast from home, we headed for Charleston. And, we will eat at our fav restaurant, Five Loaves! Cloudy day, but no rain. Just about the time we got to Mt. Pleasant, the sun came out, and we found a rock 'n roll station on the radio. As we crossed the beautiful Coooper River Bridge, the sun was making the water sparkle, traffic was light, and ZZ Top was singing, "Jesus just left Chicago, on his way to New Orleans" on the radio. I think we have a good beginning for the trip.

I'm reading Slaves in the Family, by Edward Ball. It's the story of fortunes made, and family connections to the plantation lifestyle of the late 1600's. Elias Ball arrived here from England, and immediately began trading slaves and building a plantation. Most of the plantations are in the area between the East and West Cooper River, the first was Comingtee Plantation. The area is now rural, with gates closing off dirt roads that lead down paths closed off by woods, or long, wide drives lined with centuries-old oak trees. There was no farming that we could see. We found the entrance to Rice Hope Plantation, Kensington, Hyde Park, Silk Hope and others. Some are private homes now, and I don't know how many original houses still stand. The land close to Mt. Pleasant is being gobbled up by bulldoziers, gated housing developments are leaking from Mt. Pleasant, but the more remote property is eeriely off-limits to the casual observer. We stumbled on Childsbury Towne, at the Strawberry Ferry, close to Comingtee Plantation. There, we found a 400 year old Episcopal Church, surrounded by a cemetery. Vandals had apparently caused the church and graveyard to be fenced and locked. Too bad, I would like to have read some of the tombstones. The town didn't survive long, ever-successful local plantations spelled the decline of the town almost immediately. The ferry, however, was put to good use, hauling crops and goods downriver to Charletston. The river was an easier trip in those days, the roads were either non-existant or non-passable. We did walk down to the river, to the old ferry landing. It's now a State historic site. This is the church, from outside the fence. I read that it's still used three times a year for services. It's called the Chapel of Ease.

 

We found the entrance to Limerick Plantation, one of the largest of the Ball family plantations. We drove to the house, which is new, sitting on a ridge close to the river. There is nothing here open to the public, so we quickly turned around and left.

Rice, indigo, cotton, naval stores and lumber were shipped out of here, but the quiet money maker was native slaves. Native americans kidnapped and shipped to Barbados and back to England, and Africans, mostly from Angola, were shipped in. Charleston rivaled northern cities like Philadelphia for the sale of humans to other humans. Little remains to document those days, except a few plantations like Boone Hall and Middlebury. Boone Hall is trying to grow some sweet grass, which some local women use for the beautiful baskets sold along the roadside and at the market downtown.

Part of Comingtee Plantation is now, apparently, a big hunting club. The rest is privately owned lots along the river, mixed styles of houses enjoying the giant live oaks and river views. There is even a bed and breakfast not far from Cordesville. And, you need a GPS to find Cordesville!

 
Stuart and Karen, at Strawberry Ferry Landing, Berkeley County, SC

We stopped at Mepkin Abbey, but the rain prevented us from seeing the gardens there. Trappist monks keep gardens for the public, and grow mushrooms to support themselves. Another trip....it sure was pretty, what we could see from the truck in the rain. Lunch at Brown's Bar-be-que in Monck's Corner, and back to the campground. Cold, rainy day. Sounds dreary, but it was an interesting day!

house sitter arrives....

....something wrong here! When a friend arrives just as I'm leaving, I have to wonder about the relationship! But, in this case, there is no need to wonder, all is well. Our friend, Joe, arrived today, to stay at the house while we're gone. We've never thought about a house-sitter before, but this is working out perfectly. Joe has a temporary job in Wilmington, and needed a place to stay. We met on our trip to Vancouver last summer, and told us of the possibility of a temporary job here, at the hospital. So, with such a nice place to live (hehehe!), how could we NOt offer him our place while we're gone. We even overlap at the end of our trip, which will be nice. By the time we get back, he will have figured out the kitchen, and can cook for us. He won't finish recording our music, but has his own mp3 player, and ALL the albums are still here, so there is much music to hear.

Stuart and I spent the day getting the Cottage ready, cleaning and moving in. It's nice to have a calm day to collect ourselves, before hitting the road.

I bought Stuart an early Christmas present, a little mp3 player. I went into the Big Box store to buy a little speaker/charger/dock for the Big mp3 player, and met a woman selling these little things. A Sandisk, the same people who make the little cards that go in our cameras. The idea is to use the little one for audio books, which we can download from our public library. Isn't that just the greatest service? I love it! So, with a $12 purchase of a cassette-gadget-thingy, the new little mp3 player will work in our old truck, so we can listen to audio books while we drive, and never have to pay a late return charge to the library. It also helps, since the big ipod with the music is synced to the desktop computer at home, making it difficult to use it with two computers for two different types of files. Oh, the frustrations of technology!

We hit the road tomorrow morning, and may head towards Charleston, and James Island Park. Hey, we're not going to us a map for this trip!

road trip ready!

road trip ready!

It's past time for a domestic road trip. This time, to the Gulf Coast, by way of New Orleans and Lafayette. Our friend, Pablito, spent some time at Padre Island a couple of years ago, and told me afterwards that it is one of his favorite places. We're looking forward to not just the destination, but the journey. We are delighted that Matt, Betsy's nephew, who works on Diners, Dives and Drive-in's, has given us a list of must-eat places. You know we'll report on those finds!

Stuart had a tumble down the mountainside in October, and thankfully is mostly recovered. Our friend, Ray, had a pretty rough tumble, too, but thankfully cushioned Stuart's landing at the bottom of the 30 foot fall, rather than the other way around. Ray is much improved, too, thankfully!

This past week has been busy, even though neither of us had our usual volunteer obligations. Between getting the cottage ready, the rain that hampered that effort, getting the truck ready and finishing a few last minute Santa Claus things, our friend, Sam, lost her father. Pop was 92, and according to Sam's brother, "he had a good run!". Even though he was not young, it's hard to be permanently separated from someone you love. And, mama celebrated her 81 birthday, with oysters and sweet potatoes on our porch, with my brother and SIL. So, a great/sad/busy week to send us off for a Domestic Walk-About.

Departure: soon!