Southwest 2003 Week 6

Day 36 - Monday, November 10, 2003, Lafayette LA,  86 miles driven

Lafayette is the center of the Cajun Culture and we spent the day visiting various historical and educational sites to help us learn about the Cajun history. We started the day at the Acadian Culture Center which is a part of the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park. Here we watched a 40 minute video entitled "The Cajun Way: Echoes of Acadia". The French settlers of Nova Scotia were driven out by the British in 1755 with entire families separated and loaded on ships and dispersed to the other Atlantic colonies in the Americas. Thousands perished from disease on the journey. Many of the colonies would not accept the Catholic French and their future was bleak. Other Acadians were taken to Britain and jailed. Eventually these were repatriated to France but they didn't fit in after their 150+ year history in Nova Scotia. The French made various attempts to resettle the Acadians in other French speaking colonies with little success. In the 1780's control of Louisiana was turned over to Spain who agreed to take in the Acadians. In 1785, 30 years after the dispersion, the French Acadians in France were resettled in Louisiana. It is also believed that many of the Acadians relocated to the other colonies gravitated to the French speaking region around New Orleans.  Into this mixture of people came West Indians, Haitians, Chinese and Africans. All these cultures mixed a piece into the Cajun way of life.

From the Acadian Culture Center we drove over to St. Martinville to visit the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site which is a state park developed around a former plantation Maison Olivier built around 1815. The plantation house is of original cypress with minor modifications such as the brick floor on the ground level which was originally packed dirt. In addition the original house had a ladder to take you up to the second level as steps were taxed separately from the house. We were given a guided tour around the house. The house was furnished with many pieces to the era but none were original to the house. The house and grounds were beautiful. Many live oaks and other trees with Spanish moss provided shade to the house. A relocated Cajun cabin was also on the site to give you an idea of how the Cajun's houses developed. Large porches were a characteristic of the cabin. Obviously much work was done outside the house.

In the town of St. Martinville is the Evangeline Oak. Longfellow wrote his poem about the Acadian's plight based upon real people. The real life counterpart for Evangeline (Emmeline LaBiche) supposedly met her former love in Acadia under the tree only to find that he had married. The tree is supposedly the most photographed tree in Louisiana. I believe it. It is beautiful.  Emmeline died from heartbreak and is buried at the St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church. The church was established in 1765 with the present building dating to 1844. It is a beautiful church- inside and out.  St. Martinville is a beautiful town on the Bayou Teche which at one time was the primary way into and out of the area.

From St. Martinville we headed to New Iberia to visit the Konriko Rice Mill. We took a tour of the mill which is the oldest operating rice mill in the US having been built in 1912. We watched some workers packing 10 lb bags of rice into 50 lb packs and then got an explanation of the rice processing steps. From the mill we had the obligatory visit to the gift store where rice products are sold. Since the tour wasn't free, our admission fee also included a 30 minute slide show of the Cajun history. Rice was only briefly noted in this presentation.

Cajun Cabin in Longfellow - Evangeline Historical site

Large Live Oak in Longfellow Evangeline Historical Site

Maison Oliver Plantation in Longfellow Evangeline Historical Site

Bayou Teche

Evangeline Oak

Mardi Gras Costumes

Inside of St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church

St. Martin De Tours Catholic Church

Day 37 - Tuesday, November 11, 2003, Lafayette LA to New Iberia LA, 75 miles driven

Today we continued our immersion in the Cajun culture by going to Vermilionville which is a folklife park  characterizing Cajun life from the mid 1700's to the late 1800's. There are 17 buildings on the site, five of which are original and have been moved to the site. The others are reproductions. People in costumes work on crafts and also interpret the village. There are also musicians and a cooking demonstration. We both said this place was a Cajun Millbrook.

The first person we ran into was a young man that works with Spanish moss. He explained that Spanish moss was used for many things  such as mattress stuffing, furniture stuffing, rope and also mixed with clay to produce a solid building material which was placed within the wall timber cavity to produce a solid wall which could be then plastered. The Spanish moss is soaked for a period of time to permit the outer grey material to rot. After washing and drying you are left with the black inner fiber of the moss. The wall timbers are prepared for the moss/clay patties by cutting indents in the timbers on opposite sides and then inserting a one inch rungs in the indents. The moss/clay patty is then inserted in the space between the dowel and clapboard and bent over the dowel to hang like towel. The patty is made long enough and thick enough to fill the entire space and also bond with the patty that has been placed and dried below it. This craft is called bousillage. There was a model of the typical Cajun chimney which was made from wooden poles stuck in the ground and then having cross members covered by the moss clay patties.

In the schoolhouse a Cajun accordion player was holding court. He played several tunes for us and we moved on. We talked to the woodcarver at length. He was carving small duck figures from spalted hackberry.  He had a lot of his work on display and it was beautiful. A very gifted carver. From here we took in a cooking demonstration where the cook prepared a fried corn dish while explaining the birth of jambalaya and other foods. Jambalaya came from making meals out of leftovers by mixing all the leftovers together into one dish. The fried corn was good. At the church replica a fiddle player was explaining the difference between a violin and a fiddle. There is none - its the manner in which a violin is played determines if it is a violin or a fiddle. He could play both the fiddle and the violin. The church while a replica is used for weddings even though it is not a blessed church. A woman in one of the houses was making baskets from pine needles and also displayed corn husk dolls that she had made for the gift store to sell. She was a scream. She explained that Cajuns would paint their chimneys white if they had a daughter old enough for marriage - age 12 to 15. That way anyone coming by would know where the available maidens were. She was so full of stories about the old way of life that mom spent a lot of time just talking with her.

The oldest house in the village was the Armand Broussard House which dates back to 1790 and was moved here 25 miles. It is the largest of the houses in the village with a huge front porch with four sets of doors opening into the living space. Similar doors are placed on the back wall thus giving plenty of ventilation for the hot weather.  Armand was a patriot of the American Revolution and also fought in the Battle of New Orleans when he was 58 years old. At the time of his death he left an estate of over $65,000 which was a great sum for those days. He fathered 13 children in this house with his second wife.

It was a very quiet and enjoyable way to spend the day. We didn't rush and took plenty of time to talk with the interpreters. By this time it was 3:00 PM and we only had one thing left on our agenda for the day - the St. John's Live Oak tree in Lafayettte which is estimated to be over 450 years old. The tree is huge - not in height but in diameter and limb spread. At its widest the tree covers a circle with a 200 foot diameter. The largest limb is estimated to weigh over 72 tons. The bottom branches have steel jacks holding up the branch. We also visited the St. John's Cathedral which is right next to the tree. Quite a tree and church.

Dinner at the Seafood Connection in New Iberia finished the day. Only the locals dine there as there is no signs on the outside but we managed to find it with some trouble. Food was good.

Example of a Bousillage Chimney Construction

Vermillion Village Scene

This ones for you Kyle

Corn Husk Dolls - Vermillion Village

Armand Broussard House - Vermillion Village

Elegant Drop Leaf Tabel in Broussard House

Ferry across the Bayou Vermillion

Wildlife in the Bayou Vermillion

St. John's Live Oak - Some trunk Eh!

Lower Branch of St. John's Live Oak - 72 tons worth

Day 38 - Wednesday, November 12, 2003, New Iberia LA to Biloxi MS, 278 miles driven

The plan for the day was to reach Biloxi Mississippi by the evening and make stops at two ante-bellum Plantations along the Mississippi river above New Orleans. The first was "Nottoway Plantation" in White Castle, LA and the second was "Laura Plantation" in Vacherie, LA. On the way we ran into the Jennarette Museum which concentrated on the local sugar industry. The southern part of Louisiana is heavily involved in the growing of sugar cane and the processing of the cane into raw sugar and molasses.  At the museum we watched a 15 minute video on the sugar production process and some information on how the fields are planted. A sugar cane farmer works fields in series of three, one of which is inactive. After a field has been fallow for a year, cane is planted in the fallow field. Twelve months later the field is harvested either for "seed" or market to the sugar extraction plant. The field is left in stubble and comes back next year with a second crop. Then the field goes inactive again. Sugar cane is not planted from seed. To get new cane, harvested cane is laid in trenches and covered up. The cane has nodules on the joints which generate new cane. The video showed the cane coming into the plant where it is shredded and ground to extract the juice which is then boiled in vacuum tanks to remove the water. Additional boiling then crystallizes the sugar and a centrifuge separates the molasses from the sugar which is dried and stored in warehouses in piles. The molasses at this stage is not fit for syrup and is sold to cattle feed operations. The raw sugar is then shipped to a sugar refiner such as Domino. Here additional heating and boiling removes the remainder of the molasses to make powdered sugar or the regular white sugar or even brown sugar. At one time the sugar cane fields were worked by slaves or huge amounts of migrant labor as in the old days each cane had to be individually cut. Now big machines take care of this. Still the sugar industry employs 32000 in Louisiana and generates 1.2 billion into the economy.

All along the roads we could see the trailer trucks carrying raw sugar cane to the processing plants. You could recognize a sugar extraction plant by the huge amounts of steam that is generated from the plant. You can see them for miles around. The fuel providing all that steam comes from the ground and shredded sugar cane after it is dried out. In all my pictures I never did take a picture of sugar cane on the hoof. The guide at the museum informed us of the bakery in town which is the oldest operating commercial brick oven bakery in the US. The bakery has a little red light on the sign which blinks when the bread is ready. We had to investigate this and went back to sure enough see the red light. On the door of the bakery was the designation as a US Historical Landmark. We bought a loaf of the French bread (hot from the oven) and within the next hour and a half we demolished the loaf while on the way. It was delicious.

We arrived at the Nottoway Plantation on the Mississippi River around 12:00 noon wanting to take a tour. Just as we got out of our car a tour bus with about 40 people piled off and started to walk into the grounds. We got our tickets and thought that we would be outnumbered by the tour group. We lucked out. The tour included a lunch at the plantation restaurant and they all turned left while we headed straight to the house. What a house it is. It is listed as the most ornate of the plantations on the Mississippi and while I haven't seen them all I don't dispute their claim. It was build in 1859 for Mr. & Mrs. John Hampden Randolph and their 11 children. The house covers 53,000 square feet and has 200 windows and 165 doors. The guide said an opening for every day of the year. The Randolph's made their fortune in sugar cane for which they had a plantation of over 7000 acres. During the Civil War, John Randolph left the plantation in the hands of his wife and family and went to Texas to raise cotton for the confederacy. Sugar cane operations ceased during the war. The Union forces did fire on Notoway from the river but the commander of the union forces happened to be a former visitor to the plantation and recognized it as belonging to his friends so he spared the house and prevented any looting here. After the civil War, John Randolph had to pay $20,000 for a pardon for his activities with the Confederacy. A tidy sum indeed. John died in 1883 at age 70 while his wife died 6 years later at the age of 85.

The house has been restored to magnificent shape. Part of the reason is that the house was never unoccupied. After passing through 5 owners after the Randolph's, the house was bought by an Australian for 4.5 million bucks. The mansion is really an inn and you can stay in any of the rooms that we visited. The highest price was $250 per night and the cheapest was $135. When we walked into the house, the woman at the door said no interior photos so in the beginning I obeyed. Then thinking that an overnight guest has full run of the upstairs rooms and who would stop them from taking pictures in their room, I started to take some pictures. No-one stopped me either. It was definitely worth the $10.00 entry fee per person.

From Nottoway we decided that two plantation tours would be too much in one day. We had seen the other Plantation about 6 years ago and decided that it was time to head to Biloxi and arrived there at around 5:30 PM. The beaches along the Gulf Coast are beautiful. It was in the 80's here today and had cooled to around 65 by around 8:30 PM. After dinner we visited one of the casinos and basically came out even. We listened to a group performing 50's and 60's music - "The VanDells". They were very entertaining. On the way out of the casino mom heard a local couple behind us saying "Can't you just feel it, Winter is here". I hope she was kidding.

Sugar Mill at Jeanerette, LA

The old one stalk at a time cane processor

Old Mechanized Sugar Cane Harvesters

Cruisin on the Bayou Teche

Old Paymaster shack from A. Moresi Foundry in Jenarette Museum.

Side view of Nottoway Plantation

Bachelors Quarters at Nottoway - for sons over 15

Nottoway - View from the front balcony - Its the Mississippi

Ballroom in Nottoway - 65 feet long

Dinning Room setting in Nottoway

Each dish is individually painted- originally intended for Napoleon

Front of Nottoway from levee

Back of Nottoway

Two barge tows passing on river

Barge tow heading south

Day 39 - Thursday November 13, 2003, Biloxi MS to Mobile AL, 136 miles driven  

Today we made a visit to Beauvier which is the home occupied by Jefferson Davis in his last years of life. Jefferson Davis was the first and only President of the Confederate States of America. He was born in Kentucky and came to Mississippi when his father, a Revolutionary War Hero, established a cotton plantation. After his father's death, his older brother was his "surrogate father" who secured an appointment for him to West Point where he graduated in the lower third of his class. He served with distinction in the Mexican War and was also named to the cabinet of President Pierce in the position of Secretary of War. His first marriage was to the daughter of Zachary Taylor but she died of malaria only three months after marriage. He threw himself into building up his plantation but politics and army service interrupted. He remarried years later and had 4 sons and 2 daughters. All of the sons died at young ages and only one of the daughters lived a long life. Jefferson Davis died in 1889 and his wife Varina died in 1906.   

At the time of the secession of the Southern states, Davis was serving in the US Senate. He was a strict constructionist of the Constitution and had always advocated States rights. When Mississippi seceded, Davis resigned from the senate hoping to get a military appointment in the new Confederate Army. Davis however was selected to be the President in possession of a quandary. Whereas he maintained his principles of states rights, in a time of crisis it became necessary to concentrate power in the government of the confederacy. Thus he was forced to wrestle with the principles that he held so dear and many of the southern leaders accused him of dictatorship. His vice - president did not want anything to do with Davis and went to Richmond in only rare instances. After Richmond fell and Lee surrendered, Davis fled hoping to re-organize the Confederacy in Georgia and Texas. However he was captured in Georgia and spent two years in prison awaiting trial for treason. He was later released and the charges dropped. President Andrew Johnson would not pardon Davis. He quoted "I would if I could, but I can't". Davis however never asked for a pardon. He felt that he had done nothing wrong, that to be pardoned he would have to openly regret his actions. Since he had no regrets he had no reason to ask for a pardon. He remained disenfranchised until his death and only during the term of President Jimmy Carter were full citizenship rights restored to him.

After his release from prison, Davis traveled to Europe and later returned to Mississippi. He rented quarters on the property that would become his personal home in Biloxi where he wrote his memoirs of the Confederacy. He had hoped to provide income for his family but the books did not sell well. Davis died in New Orleans in 1889 was originally buried in Biloxi but later re-buried in Richmond, Virginia. It had been the custom to fly the flag at half mast whenever a former Secretary of War died. The Secretary in 1889 refused to order the flag flown at half mast for Davis who had served with distinction as a Secretary of War.  Davis'  wife and daughter moved to New York for health reasons and both were able to secure income by writing for the Pulitzer organization.

The Beauvier House and Jefferson Davis Presidential Library occupy a 53 acre site in Biloxi. The house itself is a modest in outside appearance and  was built by a rich plantation owner as a summer home. It's the inside which shows its elegance. Varina sold the property to a Confederate Veterans group in 1903 with the stipulation that it remain as a memorial to Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy, as well as home for Confederate veterans and their wives. It operated as a veterans home for 54 years and in 1956 the last 3 wives of veterans were moved to a nursing home. Hurricane Camille removed many of the buildings formerly occupied by the Confederate Veterans Hospital and Home and the property then became the Presidential Library Site. There is also a Civil War cemetery on the site with the Tomb of the Unknown Confederate soldier. We skipped the cemetery.

After this interesting tour we realized that we had spent the better part of the day in Biloxi only intending to spend an hour or two. I dallied on my way through Pascagoula and came to realize that Mobile would be our destination for the evening. Driving to dinner we passed the USS Alabama which is now a museum in Mobile Bay. It was all lit up and looked like it was ready for action.

And its the truth

Fountain on grounds of Beauvier - Biloxi

View of Gulf of Mexico from Beauvier

Center hall of Beauvier - This was a huge room also used for social events.

One of daughters bed rooms.

Parlor at Beauvier

Back porch of Beauvier - the Davis bed rooms were off the porch.

Beauvier -Biloxi MS

Davis's first rental cottage on ground of Beauvier where he wrote his memoirs.

The Davis Library

Beach at Biloxi - in distance is the Treasure Bay casino

USS Alabama at night.

Day 40 - Friday November 14, 2003, Mobile AL, to Tuscaloosa AL  225 miles driven 

Today we started the day by visiting the USS Alabama battleship, docked in Mobile Bay as a museum. The Military Memorial museum also has an Aircraft Pavilion and a submarine on display but we only visited the USS Alabama because of time constraints. The USS Alabama had its keel laid in February of 1940 and was launched in February of 1942. Its initial assignment was to the support of the British Navy in protecting the convoys from German attack in the North Atlantic and also the Murmansk route to Russia. In 1943 the Alabama was transferred to the Pacific Fleet operations and in a little over two years received 9 battle stars. The Alabama was nicknamed "The Lucky A" because it never received any battle damage in combat. Casualties on the Alabama were limited to 7. One sailor fell overboard in the Barents Sea and was lost and in the other incident, a gun position misfired into another position on board killing 6.

We walked the upper deck of the ship and also went up to the operations bridge as part of our self guided tour. A short video about the service of the Alabama quoted a crewman who said "We were not lucky, we were good!" Our hats off to all the people that served on this proud ship.

From Mobile we stated out to Tuscaloosa at around 11:30. Our route took us through some serious lumber country on US 43. It seemed that a lumber truck was always in sight. At Moundville AL we stopped at the Moundville Archeological Park which preserves the former site of an Indian Mound Village built by the Mississippian Culture. The park has about 60 mounds in its protection. Archeological digs have given up many artifacts and evidence of structures on top of some of the mounds and also a wooden wall around the perimeter of the village. Scientific study estimates that approximately 3000 people lived in the village. While the village was inhabited for approximately 1000 years, by 1450 AD the inhabitants had deserted the village and the reasons for the abandonment or where they went are still a mystery today. It was an interesting site and much larger than the Okmulgee Mounds in Macon Georgia which we visited two years ago.

We had a date in Tuscaloosa to visit with former High Bridgians, Frank and Mary Musumecci. When we arrived they told us that it is a good thing that we had agreed to stay with them for the evening as LSU is in town to play Alabama tomorrow and that no rooms are available in town tonight. This is a blood rivalry. We went to a restaurant and sure enough the yellow and purple colors of LSU and the crimson BAMA shirts were visible everywhere. As we walked up the stairs I told some LSU fans - wrong colors folks, wrong colors. After dinner we were given a tour of the Alabama campus and surrounding area. The amount of RV's parked in lots around the stadium and away from the stadium reminded me of the Penn State stadium. It was 10:00 PM and the party was just beginning. A very nice evening indeed.

USS Alabama in Mobile Bay

USS Alabama in Mobile Bay

USS Alabama in Mobile Bay

USS Alabama in Mobile Bay

USS Alabama in Mobile Bay

Aviation Dispaly in Memorial Park

USS Alabama in Mobile Bay

Moundville - tallest mound

Moundville - view from tallest mound

Moundville - disc artifact found

Legend of disc artifact

Moundville - Choctaw baskets on display

 Day 41 - Saturday, November 15, 2003,Tuscaloosa AL to Atlanta GA, 254 miles driven

Most of the sightseeing part of the trip ended with Mobile and Moundville AL. The nest few days are just recordings of our final push to get back to NJ with a few stops to visit some friends and family along the way. We left Tuscaloosa after being treated to breakfast with the Musamecci's at the IHOP. There was a wait as all the LSU fans were there in all their regalia waiting for the evenings football game with Alabama. We were heading to Atlanta to visit with mom's sister Kathy and go out to dinner. When we arrived at the Joe's Crab Shack it seemed that every 14 to 15 year old girl in the Atlanta area was having a birthday party at the shack. Never heard so many different versions of the Birthday Song.

Day 42 - Sunday, November 16, 2003, Atlanta GA to Charlotte NC, 270 miles driven

Today we drove to Charlotte to drop off our tin and cup acquisitions at the Stutt's. We then spent the afternoon watching the Panthers beat the Redskins, Bobby Labonte winning the Winston Cup race in Miami (Ken has a great picture in picture TV) and also watching the Colts beat the Jets. In the evening we were going over tomorrows agenda and the only thing that is set in stone is that I will get a haircut. I needed a haircut before I left in October and didn't get one along the way. Tomorrow is the day.

Day 43 - Monday, November 17, 2003, Charlotte NC, 0 miles driven

First stop for the day was the barber shop. Before I could sit down in the chair I had to give my address and telephone number so they could send me coupons and also mark down what kind of hair cut I would want the next time. She never did ask me for the town or zip code so I don't know how I will be able to get a discount the next time I am in Charlotte for a haircut. I will not mention that I thought the woman barber was hitting on me. In the afternoon we went to the Charlotte Merchandise Mart where the Charlotte Christmas Show is in operation. According to Ken it is a shopping opportunity and he was not wrong. All kinds of Christmas decorations and gift stuff was on display in three separate buildings. The show was so0 big that it was not possible to do the whole thing in an afternoon.

Day 44 - Tuesday, November 18, 2003, Charlotte NC to High Bridge NJ, 628 miles driven

Nothing exciting happened today other than driving 628 miles from Charlotte to New Jersey. There was an accident on I 77 in Virginia with a flipped semi and the fun of driving through fog so thick you couldn't see two car lengths ahead but otherwise it was a snap. We hit Harrisburg at rush hour but went right through while on other trips we have been slowed down here. We arrived home at 6:30 PM to find the house in good order and the leaves raked thanks to our neighbors. It felt good to get home after this 9610 mile journey. We will definitely visit the Southwest again in the next few years. We want to get to Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef in Utah and also revisit the Santa Fe area.

 Southwest Adventure

Home