Sam Houston Jones State Park
Houston to Baton Rouge – 5/16/25 to 5/27/25
Some think us strange RVers because we don’t plan out every stop of our trip before leaving home. We like free-lancing it better because that gives us more freedom to stay at a place we really like or to move on if weather is not conducive to sightseeing. Because of that, we occasionally can’t find accommodations when and where we want them.
Flower of the cannonball tree
And it caught up with us near Houston causing us to stay an extra day. So, we took the time to do a day trip into Galveston. There we visited Moody Gardens, which had been recommended by friends. Though very nice, we felt it not worth the money, so we just consoled ourselves that we had contributed to the non-profit for the advancement of rehabilitation, conservation, recreation, and research. The aquarium was good (though small) and the jellyfish display was mesmerizing. (No, the video was not taken upside down.) What we liked best was walking through the rainforest with its many animals, birds, and plants. We also saw a 3-D movie about small creatures and a 4-D movie about sharks. If you watch this YouTube video about Moody Gardens, you’ll see most of what we saw without charge. (And if you liked the jellyfish, check out this film by the John 10:10 project.)
The next day we crossed the state line from TX into LA (Louisiana, not Los Angeles) and stayed in a small RV park for 2 nights over the weekend to plan the next week, including booking a state park just outside New Orleans for the Memorial Day weekend. We didn’t want to be on the roads that weekend and thought New Orleans would probably have some special events. We had been told the National WWII Museum was not to be missed.
Our first state park in LA was near Lake Charles, the Sam Houston Jones SP (picture above). We were impressed immediately with the magnolia-lined entrance, recently replanted because their magnolias were destroyed in a big hurricane and magnolias are their state flower. Magnolias just happen to be Paula’s favorite fragrance too, and we had magnolias in our wedding. It seemed mainly to be reclaimed swamp land, and there were signs up around the water to beware of alligators. We didn’t see any alligators, but we did see lots of turtles.
We spent the next 2 nights in another state park, near Abbeville, the Palmetto Island SP. Unlike the first one, it was 1,299 acres of dense forest, and we had shade for WOW. All the roads were raised as there was swamp on both sides (though without looking closely, it just looked like forest). Again, there were signs to be cautious of alligators and black bears. No walking in the “forest” for us!
At 4:00 PM, there was a knock on our door from Laura, owner of the rig in the next site. She asked if we would like some crabs. They had caught their limit of 12 dozen crabs (per car per day) in just 2 hours. Really? Sure! Tom walked to her rig and came back with a big red platter with about 2 dozen crabs, some shrimp, and potatoes, hot and ready to eat. We thought we knew how to crack them, but these were not like the crabs we had while on Life’s TraVails in VA. So, we walked back over for a lesson. Meet Frank and Laura Albrecht and Father Clint, their Catholic priest and check out the pile of crab on their picnic table! We got our lesson and were soon back in WOW chowing down.
Here, Tom tells you how to get to the good stuff. It took a while, but we ate the whole pile, then went back over to thank them for our dinner. While talking with them, 3 other groups brought back red platters, also thanking them for their wonderful dinners. There were only 14 rigs in the 96-site campground and they provided dinner for at least 4 of us! The Albrechts are super-generous people, and we thanked God for getting to meet them! We prayed for each other before leaving in the morning and think this interaction will stand out as a huge memory of this summer. Oh, and here is the end result!
Another bonus of the state parks in LA – seniors’ half-price discount got us power, water, and sewer sites for $16.00 per night. Having just left eastern TX where rates were more like $30-$50 per night, this was great.
Next was the The Rig Museum at IPME in Morgan City. IPME stands for the International Petroleum Museum and Exposition, a non-profit corporation established for the purpose of educating the public on the significance of the offshore oil and gas industry. It was a Harvest Host site where we parked on the large grass lawn and enjoyed taking the 2:00 tour of the museum and walking on “Mr. Charlie,” a real (thou retired) offshore drilling rig which drilled hundreds of wells off the coast of Morgan City from 1954 to 1986. It could accommodate a crew of 58 and the story was told from the viewpoint of the participants. It is still used today for training and is the only place in the world where the general public can walk aboard an authentic offshore drilling rig. As we were leaving we saw a 6′ alligator below the rig.
After, dinner, while walking Whisper, Paula got stung on her right eyelid by a bee. (He must have gotten stuck behind her glasses and felt threatened.) Paula’s only happy thought at that point was that he didn’t live through it! She went running back to WOW where Dr. Tom tweezered out a big stinger between 1/8 – 1/4″ long. He gave her 2 Benadryl tablets and applied Benadryl cream. Paula called Dr. Jenna, our chiropractor back in AZ, and left a message asking for laser settings for stings. She immediately texted back settings for pain, inflammation, and wounds and Tom lasered her eyelid with all 3. Then he applied RedoxGold and a frozen bag of peas. If nothing else, we’re “equipped.” After that, we remembered seeing beehives at the edge of the lawn. The next morning, her eyelid was pretty swollen and continued to get worse, affecting her whole cheek with redness and swelling over the next 4 days! (That picture wasn’t the worst it got.). As of this writing (10 days later), her eyelid is still slightly swollen. Paula suggests you never do that!
We arrived early at Bayou Segnette SP, where we planned to stay for 3 days, so we could tour New Orleans, also known as NOLA. The state park was only about 20 minutes from the city and almost looked like a “beach.” Sand had been dumped everywhere including the roads and campsites. We guess they were trying to fill in low areas and maybe when the grass grows through, it will be a nice park again. Keeping the sand out of WOW was an effort.
After arriving, Paula’s eye was really bothering her, so she napped for a while. Then because it was forecast to rain in the afternoon, we decided rather than driving in to NOLA toinstead drive south 88 miles to Venice, LA, the official beginning of Great River Road (GRR). We expected a small 2-lane road and to see the Mississippi River on one side and the Gulf on the other. Instead, we were surprised to find a bigger-than-expected sometimes 4-lane highway with many oil-related businesses along the way and no water in sight until the very end, where a dirt road begins the GRR. At one point, it rained on us so hard (and everyone seemed to be driving north), Tom almost turned around, but we hated not to begin the GRR expedition at the real beginning! So, we persisted and shortly drove out of the rain.
As you probably know, a levee is a built-up mound of dirt that helps keep the river within its banks. In many places, the top of the levee includes a trail on which one can walk or bike. Paula had hoped our GRR route would have us seeing the Mississippi River on our right as we drove north. Instead, most of what we saw was a levee of green grass and a mixture of everything from plantation houses to mobile homes to field crops on the left. We did finally get a pretty good picture of the Mississippi River but had to climb the levee to see it.
Over the next 2 days, we enjoyed NOLA. We began with a free tour (one of the last “free” tour companies; of course, tips were expected) of the French Quarter. Our guide, Sal, really knew his history and we enjoyed learning about the French, Spanish, and Creole influence in this neighborhood. We heard jazz musicians as we strolled past the ornate buildings and learned of the architecture and famous authors who lived and wrote there. Sal, a professional musician by trade, even played his 3-string ukelele and sang a song for us. Even though it was in the morning, it was already stinkin’ hot and humid at 89° and over 50% humidity.
Afterward, we hurried to the National WWII Museum for our 1:00 showing at Freedom Theater before touring the museum. Neither of us admit to enjoying history in school, though we both agree with the quote often attributed to George Santayana that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We were horrified to see a map of how much of the world the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) had conquered. Then, of course, the U.S. was pulled into the war when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941.
The museum was huge, and we didn’t even get into every building, but the horrors of war were clearly shown in the magnificent, though sobering, exhibits. For Paula, the most impactful thing was hearing one soldier wonder aloud if the war was worth it because of so much death. But at the end of the war when he saw the Jewish prisoners who were nothing but skin and bones liberated from the concentration camps and all the dead bodies in mass graves, he knew it was worth it. For Tom it was the sad reality that 60-80 million people died in WWII, most of whom were civilian. It really cemented the fact on our hearts that our freedom truly is never free. And we left the museum depressed but so very grateful. Lord, help us…may there never be a WWIII.
The next day we enjoyed the 1300-acre NOLA City Park as we wandered through the large farmer’s market and walked some of the park with Whisper, in spite of the heat and humidity. Tom enjoyed 3 beignets from the famous Cafe du Monde, known for the best beignets in town. We completed our sightseeing of NOLA by taking the ferry from Algiers across the Mississippi River for the full view of downtown NOLA, walked around a little and took the ferry back. We could have spent a week there but were ready to move north to hopefully find some cooler weather.
Next up, Baton Rouge. Tom took the back roads which were slower but so much more interesting than the interstate. At first it was very industrial with ship unloading areas, railroads, and cranes. But the many gorgeous magnolias in bloom, the bald cypress (state tree), and big oak trees with Spanish moss were really lovely. There was a real mix of beautiful big houses and very old uninhabitable shacks or mobile homes. Occasionally we got up to levee height, but mostly only saw the green grass levee on our right.
As we traveled north we saw field after field flooded with little red buoys spaced evenly through the field. There were boats on some of the fields with wheels and a big contraption on the back and we could not figure out what was going on. We found out, it was crawfish farming! The contraption on the back is like a paddle wheel but runs along the bottom to propel the boat. If the water gets too low, it just rides on the wheels. And when it needs to cross the road, the paddle wheel goes down, lifts the rear of the boat and just walks it across the road. We found it fascinating. It was dual use of the property as they were also rice fields!
We again found an RV park only about 15 minutes from town for 2 nights. Our Cajun Country Campground in Baton Rouge was the first place Paula hadn’t had her guard up walking Whisper. All our LA state parks have basically been swampland, and all had signs to beware of alligators and poisonous snakes. Whisper, always nose-to-the-ground, would get bitten before she knew it. While we hadn’t seen any gators while walking, we had seen several large dead ones on the highways. Knowing alligators are very fast for about a body and a half length, Whisper would be no match.
Paula discovered Baton Rouge had a free Memorial Day concert at the main library and we, along with Whisper, really enjoyed it, the icing on the cake after seeing the National WWII Museum. (Tom wanted to be sure you knew he got some culture.) The Baton Rouge Concert Band was very good, and the concert was well-attended. The afternoon rain, gratefully, had decreased the temp and humidity. Overnight, it poured rain again with a big thunderstorm. Fortunately, the temperature the next day was our most pleasant in weeks.
Our day in Baton Rouge once again included an education in history. We started by visiting the LA State Capitol where we took a tour led by a very bright young college junior named Virginia (a native of Baton Rouge, LA) who was an excellent guide. She shared how the capitol was built by Gov. Huey P. Long, a shyster who was either loved or hated by the people. He was known positively for his significant infrastructure improvements, and for helping the poor, but also as a political dictator and cheat. He had the new state capital, the tallest in U.S., built in just 14 months during the depression, whose architectural plans he supposedly stole from Nebraska and then added more height so as to be the tallest. Bullet holes can be seen in the marble of the capitol from his assassination. His statue faces the capitol, admiring it, rather than facing away as most do. We took the elevator to the observation deck on 27th floor for an excellent view of MS River and entire city.
From there we went to the Old State Capitol Museum with its unique castle design (which wasn’t good enough for Huey P. Long) and learned of its history through an excellent 4-D presentation by the ghost of Sarah Morgan, whose evocative diary of the Civil War was turned into a book. From there, we toured the Old Governors’ Mansion where Huey P. Long and other governors lived.
We splurged with lunch at Ombu Buffett because Paula wanted a buffet where she could try just one crawfish. (She didn’t want to order a whole meal in case she didn’t like them, or the work to eat them.) They had the biggest selection of sushi we had ever seen but not a single crawfish or crawfish dish. Oh well.
Stay tuned for blog #3 as we travel north farther from LA’s swampland.
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