-
I ducked when I went under the overpass, put my pedal to the metal and headed west on I-10. I took a short pit-stop in Baton Rouge to visit Mitch here at his "Kwik Karry" of Louisiana -- a little greasy spoon in Baton Rouge. Tom, familiar with my love for greasy spoons, had recommended it. Right behind Mitch's head is the "no smoking" section. It's one table surrounded by walls with a "non smoking section" sign pasted atop. Mr. Mitch sounds like an Italian from NJ and I noticed a sign that said "Don't worry about Mr. Mitch, he's in the Federal Witness Protection Program." Also notable: he was in a pink and white striped jumpsuit.
-
-
After breakfast (my usual), I met up with a tour guide named Charles to take me up the Pearl River. As we began our trek, he described the river's wildlife, let me hold a Kermit-the-Frog type of frog which jumped out of my hands, then he tried to get me to hold a crawfish, no thanks. The river's full of gators, ibis, egrets, snakes, turtles, typical stuff, as you would expect. There are tufts of tall, grassy plants dotting the shoreline in which the snakes make their nests. He pulled me up close to see. Thanks, Charles.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
A few locals live along the river, but mostly these are weekend and summer cottages for people who live in New Orleans. - -
-
-
-
-
-
-
I finally got a shot of a gator scoping me out. Charles assured me the gators never bother people, but the people love to eat gator. The locals and the weekenders waterski, jet ski and float the river, can you believe?
-
When we arrived at the cyprus swamps of the upper river, the boating got really fun, gliding through the quiet stumps in the dark shadows, spanish moss above us, animals splashing around us. The spanish moss was used in the old days to stuff pillows and bed mattresses, chiggers and all. Some say that's where the saying "sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" originated. They didn't have box springs, so they'd put another mattress under the first, tie ropes across it for support, and periodically tighten the ropes from sagging. Hence the term "sleep tight."
-
Oh, yeah, Charles was a wealth of information.
-
Later in the week, Tom joined me and we traveled farther up I-10 to the Atchafalalya Basin a/k/a "The Otherglades." 800,000 acres. 20 x 150 miles. 30% of the Mississippi is diverted here to prevent flooding. Records for the basin: 277 lb alligator gar fish, 157 lb catfish.
-
-
-
Enroute to the Basin, we stopped off in Breaux Bridge where they were setting up for their annual cowboy stew cookoff. We grabbed a few bites and went on our way.
-
This was our boat camptain for the Basin, he reminded us of Uncle Pete, it was difficult to leave him and I wanted to bring him home. He was so much fun. -
-
The basin tour took several hours and was excellent. -
-
-
--
-
From the late 1700's to 1912, the cyprus forests were harvested, leaving behind stumps.
-
-
-
-
-
--
-
-
--
--
---
I think these little spots are called "cyprus stands." They are scattered around the basin.
-
-
-
-
- -
-
-
-The legend of the Spanish Moss goes like this: When the Spanish found Louisiana, the conquistadors fought the Cajun Indians and chased them away. One conquistador fell in love with an Indian girl and chased her through the swamps. She climbed a tree and he climbed up after her. She kicked him out of the tree. As he was falling, his beard and mustache tore off and got stuck on branches where you can still see it today. (only now it has apparently multiplied and spread)
And that, my friend, is the last of my New Orleans Memories. Hope you've enjoyed this little jaunt.
Coming soon: Puerto Rico
No comments:
Post a Comment