Lousiana at LAST!

We had a delightful if long stay in Texas. Eighteen days total. (We went to Oklahoma City for a couple of days after Lubbock and before Dallas. I didn’t count those.) We’re getting antsy, and it’s time to move on. That’s the most time we’ll ever be in one state.

Monday, the last day there we visited NASA Space Center. It was an amazing place. The Saturn V rocket is massive. The circle of oak trees is a memorial for astronauts who have lost their lives.  We didn’t get over there, but they have plaques with their names in front of each one.

Tuesday was a travel day to Jennings, LA. What a difference crossing the Sabine River made. The pictures below are from the rest stop just inside the Louisiana border.

Wednesday we went to the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site and learned a lot about the history of the area. Either I’ve forgotten everything, or I wasn’t taught much about the history of this country of ours. Now if only I can remember some of this stuff. We also planned on eating at a Cajun restaurant someone told us about. Well, first of all, the address on their brochure didn’t say west or east, so we tried both. At least it was supposed to be in the 300 block not 2,000 or something, so that wasn’t difficult. It was 2:00 pm, and we hadn’t eaten lunch. It wasn’t there. It’s now either a bar, or furniture store. We settled for a good Chinese buffet we saw on the way to the campground.  I’m disappointed; I was all set to try Cajun food. The picture of the caterpillar is what they call the stinging caterpillar. DO NOT TOUCH. It has an awful sting. No, I didn’t test it. I took their word for it.

Thursday the restaurant saga continued. We found the address for the same restaurant in Baton Rouge. Another strike out: it is now a bar. Sigh. By this time it was almost 3:00 and we were hungry. We found another restaurant we had some money left on the gift card Dan’s sister gave us for Christmas.  The lesson here: no matter how good it is don’t bother saving “good” restaurant information when traveling. The sad part is we will be moving on Monday, and I won’t be able to try out Cajun food. We’ll be on to Mississippi, then Tennessee next week.

 We visited Oak Alley Plantation in Baton Rouge. No matter how lovely it was, the way it was built and run is a black mark on our nation.  I can’t imagine treating human beings the way slaves were treated. 

This morning we were able to track down the gravesite of our daughter-in-law’s dear family friend.  Even more exciting, we found out that his wife lived near the where he was buried and we were able to have a nice visit with her. The afternoon was pleasant, but less exciting. We went to the “new” capitol building which was built in the 1930’s. It looked like the old one to us. Luckily I happened to take a picture of a castle-like building as we drove by just because it was different. It turns out, that is the old capitol building built in the 1800’s.

 

 

 

Not too much going on Saturday and Sunday. It was general conference so we stayed around camp and watched it.  Saturday evening we drove to the stake center that’s next to the temple, and I stayed in the camper writing my next great novel during the priesthood session.