Land Between the Lakes, TN

Noontime on Thursday, Sept 9 found us in Memphis, Tennessee. We stopped in the Peabody Hotel to check on the ducks. They come down the elevator from their penthouse each morning on a rolled out red carpet and spend the day in the lobby in their fountain before they parade back to the penthouse for the evening. All seemed well in their world.


We could not resist heading to the Rendezvous for ribs. Well, maybe not we, but I! They are unofficially open for lunch, which means you can get ribs, beans, and slaw. Leon had a nice Greek salad.

We later located a delightful spot on the shores of Kentucky Lake in Piney Campground at Land Between the Lakes. This is a 40 mile long peninsula that is a National Recreation Area between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, the southern half lying in Tennessee.


I couldn't resist a geocache located several miles from our camp. It led us to the Bear Spring cold-blast furnace near Dover, TN that was used until 1901. What an education.
The first one was destroyed in the Civil war and this was the replacement. This furnace, built of limestone, produced pig iron from the brown hematite ore found in the area. Charcoal made from the abundance of timber in the region was used for the fire. Temperatures often reached 3,500 degrees. A find like this is what geocaching is all about to us!

Fifty years ago Leon was stationed at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, only an hour's drive from our campground. On 9/11 we were ready for an adventure. He had spent a lot of time in Clarksville, Tennessee and wanted to look for his old haunts again. Sure enough there was the Roxy Theater and Frank's Place, two that he recalled vividly.

I enjoyed visiting with this fellow who was reading the newspaper founded in 1808 and showed him the new way to go - my iphone!


The museum is in an attractive old building that was once the 1898 Old Federal Building.



After a stroll on the riverwalk alongside the Cumberland River we visited the home of the 101st Air Assaut Division of the U.S. Army. Here Leon reminisced about his home for 3 years. We toured the Pratt Museum and he located a 3/4 ton like he used to drive.

Then there was the 105 mm Howitzer like the one he learned to fire in Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas.


This is a C 119 which is what Leon jumped from more times than he would have liked. It was also called a "flying boxcar." photo


I thought this one looked like more fun!

Several miles from our camp we stumbled upon Ft. Donelson National Battlefield. Ft. Donelson guarded the Cumberland River, which allowed Tennessee access to the Ohio River.


At first the confederates defeated the union army and disabled their ironclads.

After some confusion the union army prevailed. Ft. Donelson is significant as the first major Federal victory of the Civil War was here. 13,000 confederate troops were taken prisoners of war and the towns of Bowling Green, Ky, Columbus and Nashville, Tn evacuated as a result.

It was dark when we arrived back at camp. If each day is as fun-filled as our first then we should be exhausted before long!

Is this better, Barb?

Las Vegas time

A June wedding in Las Vegas was the perfect reason for us to travel west, but this time we took the fast lane and flew. Leon was delighted to see his grandsons. They spent two days with us and we spent a lot of time in the arcades to their delight.

It seems there are machines for everyone!!

We stayed in the Flamingo and on the way to the car we had an Elvis sighting!


He even followed us to Trish and Steve's wedding at Graceland Chapel and ushered the bride down the aisle. How many father's would do that for their favorite daughter?

Gunnar had not changed so much since we saw him a year ago but Blade had really grown up in the last two years since we saw him at Disneyland. They will now be a senior and freshman in high school in Bakersfield, Ca. and their grandfather could not be prouder!


Trisha and Steve stayed at the Venetian and we were captivated by the scenery there. The umbrellas with water dripping in front of the waterfall were so imaginative.


And then there were the gondolas that provided rides in the river without the odors of Venice.

I just could not get enough of the beautiful lighting all along the strip on Las Vegas Blvd. each night. The weather could not have been better! The humidity was low and the highs were in the 80s. I was chilly several times but never too warm.


I put on my brave hat and we allowed Blade to show us the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower. What a view of the city we had from that vantage point.

One morning we enjoyed breakfast at the Belagio. Their conservatory was so whimsical and we just wandered along enjoying each minute detail. I find it amazing that there is so much of a water theme throughout Las Vegas while it is situated in the middle of the desert.

Each morning small mums are used to replace those that are fading such as on this frog and Lady Bug.


In the pastry shop the chocolate fountain makes you feel like you are in Charlie's chocolate factory. The display is several stories tall and near the bottom the dark and white chocolates blend . Leon is worried about where all the extra chocolate goes.


Although we were only in Vegas for five days we managed to walk a million miles, eat a ton of food, get our sleep patterns all messed up, to lose a little money but not a lot, to eat two buffets, to go to an Elvis wedding, to play with grandsons, to visit the Bellagio, Caesar's Palace, the Flamingo, the Venetian, Treasure Island, the Mirage, the Palazzo, Denny's, IHOP, the Sahara, the Eiffel Tower, the pirate show at Treasure Island, the water show at the Bellagio, sit by the pool, and stroll the streets to our hearts' content.

Well DRAT!

I have finally figured out why my photos will not enlarge on this blog. If you click and drag them around when you create the blog they supposedly lose their link to the original which is filed on Picasa. The strange thing is that this is not the case on my other 3 blogs! I have the code to fix it. We will see. Or will I just begin a new one? What to do...what to do...

Fat Tuesday

At last the big day arrived. Fat Tuesday, the final day of Mardi Gras, was a fun packed day. We were in place at 8 to watch the Eunice courir but decided to go catch a smaller group at Basile. They had already made one stop and a woman had hurt her leg when she fell out of a tree.

From there we followed along the backroads stopping at several homes where someone would release a chicken for their gumbo. What craziness!

They always gather and sing to the property owner, in French of course, and then after they catch the chicken they dance and beg for cinq sous or 5 cents. If you don't donate you might find your shoe gone.




Bands and food were everywhere so we drove over to Iota to eat jambalaya, alligator, and boudin for lunch at their Mardi Gras celebration. A band was playing and people dancing as is typical with plenty of food and some crafts on had. Leon had a couple of vegetarian corn dogs in his pocket. He must have been the only vegetarian in Louisiana.

We went back to Eunice, set our chairs out and listened to music while we watched the masses mingle and wait for the courir participants to parade through town. They arrived and threw beads to the crowd as they paraded down the streets. They were no longer allowed to ride standing on their horses and they complied.


I even decided to don a new hat for the festive occasion as did Leon.


Dinner at D I's, eight miles south of Basile was a treat. The restaurant began when D I Fruge cooked crawfish from his 40 acre crawfish farm in his barn. He expanded twice after that and people come from miles around to have a meal in the middle of nowhere. We were quite surprised when the Tee-Mamou mardi gras came in to entertain the crowd on the dance floor. There is some sort of tradition where they all get hit with the bull whip and wrestle with the capitaines before begging for money from the crowd. All in fun, of course. It was the perfect way to end a fantastic day and two magnificent weeks in Louisiana. We have enjoyed all of your comments. Thanks for taking the time to read our blog. Time to head back on Wednesday to the dead end. I think it will probably also be a fat Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. But I sure had some fine cajun food: jambalaya, boudin, alligator, crawfish, shrimp, gumbo, boudin balls, mache choux, beignets, catfish, crawfish etouffee, oyster poboy, and crawfish cakes.

Cajun Life

Shadows on the Teche is a plantation home in New Iberia where the Weeks family lived for generations. We stopped in the tour office nearby to visit with the director while doing a little genealogy research. We did not tour the house but it is in a lovely historical section of town with many old homes. I did enjoy a walk through the neighborhood and the wifi at the library in the next block.

Back in Eunice we stopped at the crawfish market and watched some folks make crawfish traps. We just needed something a little tacky for the yard. We even found mesh bags there to use in our kayaks to comply with the Arkansas law! We went into town and listened to the band that was performing in the street. Lots of street dancing going on!

We stumbled across a new rv park on the outskirts of town - Lakeview Park & Beach - and when we went to investigate were invited to stay as is the cajun way. They had a band playing and had started a boucherie earlier in the day. One guy was cooking a large pot of cracklins. He even pointed out the pig's ear!

This fellow was stirring and keeping an eye on the backbone stew, with one hand of course.

It was quite interesting to watch them stuff the boudin. One tourist commented that she heard they no longer use intestines for the casing but the cajun replied, "yeah, we do."

In the old barn a cajun band was playing traditional cajun music while some danced as is always the way.

The rest of the day was spent ten miles north in Mamou people watching and listening to the bands around town. Things were getting lively on the eve of Mardi Gras.

Boucherie and parade

On Sunday we went to Eunice for the children's mardi gras courir. The old tradition in this part of the state is to go out into the countryside to gather chickens for the community gumbo to be served at the end of the day. And they do start learning at a young age. There were wagonloads of children riding along the backroads throwing beads. They carry the necessities along on the trailer.

They stopped at a large field and were gathered into groups by age to catch a chicken that was turned loose for them. What a riot it was to watch forty kids on top of one chicken.

We then went over to the boucherie in Eunice where they had butchered a hog. Thank goodness we missed that part. People were cooking cracklins, which is cut up pork including the fat and skin. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to cook.

Other people were making boudin and backbone stew. This is a very old boudin maker where the casing is put onto the tube and then the ground sausage mixture is forced into the casing. The casing is the hog's intestines. Finally it is put into the steamer basket for cooking. In years past neighbors would gather together and butcher a hog. They would then use all parts of the hog, wasting nothing.

Eunice, La

We started Saturday driving down the backroads from Chicot State Park near Ville Platte, La and were excited to pass a crawfish pond where the owner was emptying the traps.


Nearby the egrets and other birds were feeding on the crawfish ponds.


In Mamou folks were partying and enjoying the band at Fred's Lounge. They record a live radio show there each Saturday morning. During Mardi Gras the place is really lively. While folks drank and danced inside the boudin was being cooked outside.




Our next stop was to take in some more Cajun music at Marc Savoy's music store near Eunice. People from all over the world gather here to participate in the Saturday morning jam sessions. Nearby a pot of coffee, boudin, and cracklins are awaiting the visitors. An overflow group found a spot outside the building.




I thought it was interesting that the sheriff stopped to play his accordion while in uniform. Must have been taking a little music break!


We drove out to Church Point to see what was happening and were surprised to meet the 12-18 year old group on their courir from Eunice. They were traveling down the backroads where they would stop at various houses to catch chickens for a gumbo. They paraded through Eunice when they returned to town.


The delight of the day was the music show at the Liberty Theater. People were lined up at 2:15 to buy tickets at 4 and then went into the theater to save their seats until the 6 o'clock show. And it was all worth it.


The Jambalaya band played in their Mardi Gras costumes while Dr. Barry Ancelet from the Jean Lafitte Center narrated, mostly in French. The dance floor was filled with talented dancers.



The crowd was surpised when the Basile Mardi Gras showed up to entertain the crowd and beg for money for their gumbo. They hold out their hands for money and if they don't receive it the victim is liable to lose a shoe. What fun it was!

The Battle of New Orleans

While we were in New Orleans I visited a historical library and the Jean Lafitte Center looking for proof to what I had always read about the Battle of New Orleans being fought on my ggggggrandfather's plantation but with no success. Charles Mynn Thruston had moved to New Orleans about 1811 and died in 1812. That night once again I googled the man, since I have done no genealogy for years. What should I find but research done for the Jean Lafitte National Park center in Chalmette. Indeed Thruston's descendants sold his land to Chalmette after he died in 1812. So we were off to visit the battlefield at Chalmette where the Battle of New Orleans took place in 1815.


The visitor's center was closed but I finally did find the maintenance man who was most helpful. Although Thruston was buried on his plantation the man who mows knows that there is no tombstone. Mission accomplished!

The home that is now at Chalmette wasn't built until 18 years after the Battle of New Orleans and was used as a country residence in the 19th Century. It was never associated with a plantation. There were 4 feet of water in the house during the hurricane and it is now closed and being restored. I wandered in with the ranger who had the key while a guy did a fire inspection. Part of the property later became an African-American village called Fazendeville. The adjacent Civil War Cemetery suffered tremendous damage during the hurricane and is in the process of being repaired tombstone by tombstone.

Leon enjoyed the 75 degree day with his latest book under the shade of the giant live oaks while I explored.


The St. Bernard Parish was really devastated by Hurricane Katrina and as we drove through one neighborhood close to the battlefield we noticed only a few of the nice brick homes appeared to be occupied.


After we left Chalmette we took highway 90 along the bay to go to the lunch buffet at the Silver Slipper Casino near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. This was the area hit so hard by Hurricane Rita and the damage from that is still evident all along the route we took. There were many lot for sale signs, boats upside down in ditches, and posts standing as silent sentinels as to what was once atop them.





On the way back to Fontainebleau we stopped at Abita Springs again. I couldn't resist a tour of the UCM Museum which is a collection of junk housed in a vintage gas station.

The Tammany Trace bike trail follows the old Illinois Central Railroad corridor and connects Abita Springs, Covington, Mandeville, Lacombe, and Slidell along its 31 mile long trace. We never found time to ride on it on this trip. The train station sits alongside the trace in Abita Springs.

The pavillion in the Abita Springs park was designed for the Mississippi exhibit of the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition of 1884 in New Orleans. After the exposition the pavillion was taken apart and reassembled in 1888 to cover the then famous free flowing spring.

We arrived back at the campground just in time to stay dry while a major thunderstorm rolled through.