Cal tried to be on his way soon
after 6:30 this morning, however when he was checking the air pressure in his
tires, he realized he had a flat tire in the rear!! Bummer!!
So after changing the tube in the tire it was 7:00 before he was on the
road. I left the motel around 8:30,
catching up to him in Napoleonville. Cal
found a nice clean old fashioned café/soda fountain, where he ordered
breakfast. While he was waiting for me
to arrive, a gentleman about our age walked in looking for the guy who owns ‘this
bike’! What a guy! He was a local and we could ask all kinds of
questions. We learned so much from him, however after we left I thought of other
things I should have asked about. We
learned about the natural flow of the Mississippi, the Mississippi flood
plains, the bayou’s, alligator hunting, Napoleonville’s past and present, politics
of the south, Spanish moss, and much more.
However he was very interested in Cal’s bike – not to get one like it,
but to modify one for a “Wounded Warrior” friend.
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| Soy Beans planted on Sugar Cane ridges |
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| Local Visitor at Restaurant |
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| Breakfast Resturant |
After Cal was on his way, the gentleman
and I continued visiting for a while. I
later caught up with Cal and went on into Donaldsonville. I could not find any motels, so I inquired at
a bank drive-thru as to where the closest motels were in the area. About 5 minutes – at the foot of the “Sunshine
Bridge”! This area along the Mississippi
has lots of chemical plants (like the two that just had explosions). The
Mississippi River is one busy place in this area. There are lots of temporary
workers in the area. The first motel was
full, so we did not know what we had ahead of us. The second one had space, but it is full of workers in the skilled trades.
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| Emma Plantation House |
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| Chemical Plants along the Mississippi River |
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| Sunshine Bridge over the Mississippi River |
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| Barges on the Mississippi River |
The “Sunshine Bridge” – why such a name for a bridge? It is named after the song sung by Gov. Jimmy
Davis, “You are my Sunshine”. For a long time it was a “bridge to nowhere” (into
a swamp), but it was one of the few bridges to cross the Mississippi. Today it is one very busy bridge!
After cleaning up and resting we went across the river to
where two Plantation homes are located between Burnside and Darrow. The one home (Bocage Plantation) is not open
on Mondays, so that left the Houmas House.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Houmas House and Gardens. The 'Big House' is actually the home of the Plantation
owner. He is actually there right now
and later while walking in the gardens we met him. They are expanding the business by adding
B&B cottages on the grounds. At this
point they have 8 finished and by October will have a total of 22 cottages to
rent.
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| Houmas House |
The house was wonderful – It is lived in. You could sit down
on any chair and touch anything you wanted!!!!
Plus take photos, with a flash. The owner is a very rich bachelor!! He uses the old desk as his office desk - the
21st century computer was on the desk and he sleeps in the bedroom adjoining
the office.
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