Trip to Lafayette, LA

The weekend weather was forecast to be nice…no rain and highs in the mid-70’s.  I had been looking forward to the ride for quite some time.  On Saturday morning, we met at the local Kettle restaurant to eat a little breakfast…something it turned out we didn’t need…and go over the plan for the day.

The group consisted of 8 motorcycles, 1 car and 12 people.  We hit the road about 8:30 headed towards Huntsville on State Hwy 30.  That portion of Hwy 30 isn’t too thrilling…and I’ve ridden that road before.  We made it to Huntsville after about 45 minutes for our first potty break.  We figured we would use a McDonald’s just on the other side of I-45 but it was closed due to a local power outage.  Seems there were pretty violent thunderstorms in the area the night before and one of their power stations suffered a lightning strike.  We went further into town and found a service station with power.

 

After the quick potty break, we left town on US 190, which would take us into Louisiana.  I knew we would ride through Livingston but other than that the route for the whole weekend was going to be new for me.

The roadway was good, the weather likewise.  As we neared Lake Livingston, I began to notice there were the typical bars, restaurants and boat sales/repair facilities on both sides of the highway.  What surprised me was the volume of Mexican Food restaurants.  Most of the towns we passed through were relatively small…Point Blank, Onalaska, Soda and Indian Springs.  As you might expect to see in East Texas, we crossed several waterways…Navasota River, Trinity River, Kickapoo Creek, Big Sandy Creek, Bear Creek, Neches River, just to name a few.

 

Lunch was planned just outside of Woodville at a place called The Pickett House.  If you weren’t looking for it you might drive right on by, but luckily our leader had been there before.  The restaurant is situated in an old frame house.  Once you’re through a small entry, you come into the dining room, filled with mostly long tables.  We paid up front and sat down at a couple of the long tables.  Shortly thereafter, ladies began bringing us plates and bowls of food…fried chicken, rolls, mashed potatoes, black-eyed peas, chicken and dumplings and spinach…and it kept coming.  I think we had 3 plates of chicken brought to us.  The chicken was great by the way.  After everyone had their fill, they brought us small dishes of peach cobbler…pretty good.

We also drove through the northern edge of the Sam Houston National Forest and through the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation…even saw the Alabama-Coushatta Head Start building.  All along US190 the scenery is pretty typical of East Texas…mobile homes, RV parks, shacks, all mixed in with nice ranch estates here and there.

 

Besides Lake Livingston, we crossed over B.A. Steinhagen Lake.  The sign at the beginning of the bridge said Neches River.  The lake seemed to be just a wide spot in the river.  Kickapoo Creek was also a part of Lake Livingston…you can’t tell where one starts and the other ends.  I guess people who live nearby don’t care which is which anyway.  Near Woodville I saw what might potentially be my future home…Paradise RV Senior Community!

After lunch we continued southeast on US190 through Jasper, Newton…where we stopped at the local Dairy Queen for some refreshments…and Bon Weir.  Shortly after passing Bon Weir we crossed the Sabine River over into Louisiana.  The next few miles, just like the area we had just driven through, saw many open areas where pine trees had recently been cut down.  I thought it was interesting that not all of the trees in a particular area had been cut.  Occasionally, there would be a few trees…well, they used to be trees and now were tall, branchless tree trunks…left standing.  After a while, a bull dozer would be brought in to push all the leftover debris into piles which would then be burned.  Later new seedlings would be planted and eventually the cycle would start over.  I don’t know how long it takes a seedling to grow into a harvestable pine tree but I’m guessing several years.

 

The first town in Louisiana we came to was Merryville, a quaint little farming town.  It appeared that perhaps logging and rice farming were the main staples.  At Merryville, we got off of 190 for a while and followed LA110, through Singer to Longville where we intersected 190 again.  That relatively short section of Louisiana highway was great to ride motorcycles on.  The pavement was smooth and the roadway wound through the countryside in shallow turns.

We followed 190 through the Louisiana countryside, passing rice field after rice field and going through many small towns, so small that they didn’t even post the population.  One thing you’ll notice in Louisiana versus Texas is that the signs stating the town’s name doesn’t say “city limits” but rather “corp limits” and only then if the town was large enough.  Some towns had only a small green sign with their name on it…such as Elton, Ragley, Mallet, Swords, Savoy and Lauderdale.  We passed through some descent sized towns…between 2500 and 5000…where you find places to eat, like Subway, McDonald's, Dairy Queen, etc.  One such town was Kinder.  Basile and Eunice were fairly big towns as well.

 

This part of US190 is also called The Acadian Way.  We passed through Acadia Parish (county in Texas) and Evangeline Parish…two names I remember from high school English.  Along the way we passed through the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge, an area of protected woods and swamps, home to many unique plants and animals, such as the American alligator and the Bald Eagle.

About 5:00pm on the first day, we came upon the intersection of US190 and I-49 at the city of Opelousas where we turned south.  I had never heard of I-49 but figured it would take us to Lafayette.  In fact, the interstate runs north and south and runs from I-30 near Texarkana to Lafayette, where it ends.  We arrived at the hotel about 5:15pm and had about 45 minutes before it was time to leave for dinner.  We had enough time to check in, drop our bags in the room and get a drink.

Lafayette is at the crossroads of I-49 and I-10, about 60 miles west of Baton Rouge.  When we left the hotel headed for dinner, I had no idea where we were going.  When we got on I-10 headed east I thought maybe we were headed to Baton Rouge.  I was pretty sure we were going to have seafood so I thought a restaurant on the banks of the Mississippi River might be in order.  However, I was wrong.

 

We exited the interstate in the town of Henderson, LA and followed main street further east until it dead ended into a levee.  Between the base of the levee and the water…part of the Atchafalaya Basin…we found Pat’s Edgewater Inn and Restaurant.  This is one of those hidden gems that you would never find driving along the interstate.  We had a very nice seafood dinner and great service.

Following dinner, we returned to the hotel to prepare for our 7:30am leave time…and breakfast at a well known place just outside the city limits on I-49.

After a nice, restful evening, thank goodness, we left the hotel at 7:30 on the dot.  The place we were going to eat breakfast was only 4 miles down the road…on the way home.  Before we got there we had lost two riders.  Turned out one of them was losing stuff out of his back…tied down on the rear seat…but the sweeper retrieved most of it.  They joined us 15-20 minutes later and we all went in.  The name of the place is Prejean’s and if you can’t tell by the name, the menu had a lot of Cajun items on it, even for breakfast.

 

When we walked in it seemed like we were expected.  I thought it was because our leader had called ahead.  Turned out that the local Harley chapter has their meetings on Sunday morning at 9:00 and the receptionist thought we were part of that group.  Eventually the misunderstanding was cleared up and they seated us in a dining area off to the side, behind closed doors.  They were expecting about 100 members at the meeting.

Breakfast was amazing.  They had the standard eggs and bacon choices, accompanied by grits and Boudin sausage.  Then there were more exotic Cajun dishes, such as Eggs Benedict with a Boudin/seafood sauce on top in place of the standard Hollandaise sauce.  A couple of people opted for that.  I ordered the French toast with a side of bacon.  As you can see from the picture, the French toast was a bit different than that found at your local Denny’s or IHOP…but it was delicious.

  

After tanking up with a big breakfast, it was time to hit the road.  We backtracked along the same route we had come on so there was really nothing new to see…just a chance to look at something again that you may not have seen well the first time.  We made occasional potty breaks and gas stops and decided to stop in Jasper for lunch.  We opted for the local Dairy Queen because most of our group weren’t that hungry.  I didn’t think I was either but I did manage to put away the Hunger Buster hamburger and some fries.

I’m pleased to report that we didn’t stop again for food and arrived safe and sound in College Station a little before 5pm.  Strangely enough, I agreed to meet Cassidy at Cheddars for dinner and ate a big meal again.  I think I’m still feeling all the calories I took in over the weekend but it was worth it.  The weather cooperated…not too hot, not too cold and no rain.  The roads were relatively smooth…except I-10 in Louisiana…and we didn’t have any troubles.  We traveled about 675 miles round trip and got to know each other on a more personal basis.  However, I was glad to be home, as usual.

 

The chapter has several trips planned over the next few months, some only for the day and others over the weekend.  On the agenda is a ride to the Hill Country, a ride to Arkansas, a ride to the State H.O.G. Rally in Abilene and various rides around the local area so keep checking back for more.