Big change of plans for the day: my friend wasn't feeling up to a trip to the range, so what to do? Why not a visit to Holly Beach, aka the Cajun Riviera? We first visited before Hurricane Rita hit, and I'd say the settlement was a tad on the tacky side, but the beach had quite a few visitors. Our next visit came after Hurricanes Rita & Ike pretty much wiped away the settlement and few people were beachcombing that day - we found a hard hat washed in from a rig a couple hundred miles offshore. Today I saw the result of significant rebuilding, this time with stilted structures on multiple 12x12 pilings. Yes, the beach was populated, the wind whipped up whitecaps, and blowing sand stings.
LA-27 runs from Sulphur through
Hackberry to Holly Beach. A huge LNG (liquified natural gas) plant
along the highway has its own deep water port. The Sabine National
Wildlife refuge runs from the Sabine River to Calcasieu Lake (locals
call it "Big Lake"), and has fishing areas along some
canals.
This area is a mixture of fresh water, salt water, and brackish marshes, each with its own community of plants and animals; one common animal seen on the trails is the American alligator. I certainly hope that old Albert, of Pogo fame, is sufficiently unattractive to petting so tourons will not attempt selfies.
The area is very flat, with a few slightly higher "islands." The Cajuns call these features cheniers. If you see an area with trees, it's likely one of these. At an inlet full of shrimp boats, I saw one just coming in, with its escort of white gulls and a few brown pelicans (Louisiana's State Bird) – the scene is ripe for a haiku.
The road crosses the Intracoastal Waterway, built during WW-II to avoid U-boat attacks. It's still used to avoid storms along the Gulf and mid-Atlantic coasts. I saw tow boats along the canal, each pushing a single barge that contains petroleum or a product thereof.
Tidbit: where else but in South Louisiana would you find a convenience store chain called "Grab and Geaux"?
I returned via Westlake, crossed the bridge over the West Fork of the Calcasieu near where a ferry once did the job, then another bridge over Indian Bayou (yes, that also required a small ferry, about the size of the one in "The Outlaw Josey Wales," but pulled by machine rather than hands. First, I drove past the place where my Dad's 1st cousin Harold Truman Pulliam once lived; he had a section of land where we'd hunt armadillos. It's now full of high-dollar country homes, each probably worth more of today's devalued dollars than he got out of the whole property.
I crossed the upper reaches of Indian Bayou on a bridge much better than the rickety one where we'd park to hunt water moccasins & turtles in the bottoms. Then I took a little side road past the 4-acre property once owned by my friend's family and our headquarters – memories!
Back to the motel by noon to prep for any afternoon activities (which may involve a roux).
Later: It didn't. I left the room for my friends' house at about 1330, and drove past many memories:
site of Tom & Mac's drive in, the LCHS hangout
mansion that once held the Plantation House restaurant, a great steak place
Muller's Department Store, now 'lofts'
a trip around what we used to call sand beach, full on this Father's Day weekend
Through old downtown Lake Charles and the few buildings remaining
Past the court house, where the Confederate soldier is missing from the op of the column – the base still bears tributes to "Our Heroes" & "The South's Defenders"
Along Shell Beach Drive past the iconic mansions of the old rich and the more recent mansions of the noveau riche.
A nice afternoon conversation with my friends, Bill & Cam, an excellent dinner, and back to the motel to get this posted. Tomorrow it's on to New Orleans via LA-14 & US-90, visiting Gueydan, New Iberia, and later, the Chalmette battlefield from 1812.
For the day 135.6 miles, for the trip 881.3. The odometer sits at exactly 107,000 miles.
No comments:
Post a Comment