Author: Easin' Along

We left San Antonio in search of some downtime. We needed a few days to do laundry, answer email, check on the snail mail, call family—the usual stuff that we tend to put off while on the road. Our time in San Antonio included a not-to-be-forgotten St. Patrick’s Day celebration on the Riverwalk and some fun with friends so, we were ready to slow the pace to the customary Easin’ Along crawl. We paused at a few stops during our drive to capture the Bluebonnets. Fields of them stretched out on both sides of the highway and were just gorgeous.

The next stop would be Southwinds Marina, a campground and marina operated by the Air Force in Del Rio, TX and less than a mile from the Mexican border. The road we traveled to the campground ended at the border fence, and we had to take a right turn and follow a narrow road to reach the campground. Helen (adorable wife) took a picture of the border checkpoint as we passed.

Southwinds Marina fit the bill. To start, the campground is in a very remote location, so there was no temptation to go looking for restaurants or shopping. The laundry room was large and offered plenty of washers and dryers for free. The scenery was outstanding. Our campsite sat in the middle of a single row of camping spaces and overlooked a dammed-up section of the Rio Grande River. After making a home in Site #10, we decided to take a walk down one of the trails leading toward the water.

The campground sat on a peninsula surrounded by the Rio Grande. From our spot on the trail, we could see the Amistad Dam and Mexico beyond that. We later learned that the dam crossed the border at its mid-point. The river and the Texas landscape made for some excellent photo opportunities. Sunsets over the river were stunning.

 

The rest of our stay went just as we planned. We crossed many items off of our “to do” list and just relaxed. We did take a few pictures, and I have shared them below. There’s not much else to report. We leave in a few days for Ft. Stockton, TX and White Sands, NM. All is going swimmingly well, and we’re still Easin’ Along.

 

 

We left Lafayette, LA and spent the next two days at Galveston Island (TX) State Park.  Our campsite was within walking distance of the beach, but our hopes for a sunny beach vacation went unfulfilled. The weather was cold.  The weather was drizzly. The weather was very windy. I only took a few pictures of some brave kids flying kites in a 25-mile wind. I’ll share them at some point.

Next, we took off for San Antonio and a reunion with Mary Jo and Ed, a couple who lived across from us in Wurzburg, Germany over forty years ago during our first Army assignment. The campground at Fort Sam Houston would be our home for the next three days.  Mary Jo and Ed retired in the San Antonio area. They came out to spend some time with us in Lucy, then led us to a very nice Thai restaurant for dinner. They both looked great, and we had much fun catching up after all the years that had passed. The night moved so quickly; I forgot to take pictures. Take my word for it; they looked terrific.

The next day was Sunday, and our plans included a visit to the Alamo and a stroll along San Antonio’s famous Riverwalk. Mary Jo had warned us that because Sunday was also St. Patrick’s Day that we might want to start early…a task that usually gives Helen (adorable wife) a challenge.  Nevertheless, she was up to it, and we made it downtown soon enough to get a parking place near the Alamo as traffic began to build.

At the Alamo, an Irish-American Friendship ceremony was underway, and an Irish dignitary was speaking to the crowd. A long line formed at the entrance to the Alamo.  It took about twenty minutes to reach the front door.  There is no fee for a tour. The exhibits inside are excellent and there is no need for a tour guide. Outside, a short video explained the events of the attack led by General Santa Ana and his 6,000 men against a tiny number of brave fighters inside the small open-air church. As a Tennessean, I spent some time learning about the role of Davy Crockett in the attack.  He performed well but, in the end, Santa Ana spared only the women and children and slaughtered the men.

From the Alamo, Helen and I walked a few blocks to some steps leading down to the Riverwalk.  The color green was everywhere.  Even the river was dyed green. Except for Helen and me, everyone wore green, and the green throng along the river was huge. Boats, similar to parade floats drifted in front of us, filled with St. Patrick’s Day partygoers.  The first float we spotted bore the title of “Mad Dogs” and had a celebrant in the front dressed to resemble the Pope (pictured above). What a hoot!

Continuing along the Riverwalk, an Irish Pub named Waxy O’Conner’s called us inside for an Irish lunch. We shared a table with Connie and Tim, a fun couple from Wisconsin.  Connie was into the celebration in a big way.  She greeted every restaurant patron that passed by and applied a Shamrock sticker to their cheek. Helen and I both received one.  Finally, we wore green.

Soon, the Pope mentioned above entered Waxy O’Conner’s.  Connie posed for a picture with him, then broke out into an Irish dance as the lunchtime musician played a tune on his guitar.  The crowd applauded. Connie can dance. An overserved underling wearing a kilt accompanied the Pope and, on command from His Excellence, the portly fellow would bend over and raise the kilt to allow bar patrons to autograph his derriere with a Sharpie. Several patrons (females among them) accepted the offer. A dozen or more cameras recorded the event. Somehow, this didn’t make my Reuben taste any better, but a bottle of Guinness helped forestall the shock.

We hated to leave the party, but we wanted to take a boat ride in the canal and depart the scene before the traffic got heavy.  Many of the float boats were forming for the parade that was to start in a few minutes. The participants were ready to put on a show and full of the Irish spirit(s). Our boat left ahead of them but the crowd along the canal assumed we were part of the Parade and greeted us with exuberant waves and shouts. At one point along the route, a group of skilled Irish dancers performed to a lively tune for us.

As we returned to the dock, the party showed no sign of letting up, and music everywhere seemed to grow only louder. We took that as our cue to exit at stage left. Helen danced a jig up the stairs and down the block.

It’s days like this that make Easin’ Along so much fun.

Note: We’re Easin’ Along across the south on our way to Arizona and California in a journey we named Lucy Does the Desert. Read below for an account of our third stop, Lafayette, LA.

We left Biloxi with some of the stress and kinks that go along with the beginning of any trip subsiding, and finally beginning to feel relaxed. Our next stop would be at Acadiana Park Campground in Lafayette, LA, a place neither of us has ever visited. My nephew lived nearby for several years and recommended the area highly for the Cajun influence and the Cajun cooking. I was eager to see it for myself.

At around four in the afternoon, we pulled in to Acadiana Park to find it almost to ourselves. There was one large motorhome in the campground. The park ranger told us to park wherever we wanted. Helen (picky, but adorable wife) finally allowed me to pull Lucy into a lovely campsite under a solid Live Oak adorned with Spanish Moss and Resurrection Ferns. The picture is below. Our stay in Lafayette would be a short one. We only had one full day to take in the sights and the seafood, so we settled in early to get a good start in the morning.

Helen had two options for sightseeing. The first recommendation from Trip Advisor was Vermillionville, a historic village not far from the campground. The second option was Avery Island, the home of Tabasco, America’s favorite hot sauce. We arrived at Vermillionville, but because our time was limited, and because Vermillionville seemed a bit too touristy, we might enjoy Avery Island more. Good decision.

Avery Island is about 30 miles from Lafayette and a very pleasant drive through the Louisiana low country. Although it was somewhat early in the day when we arrived, a lot of cars filled the parking lot. Helen went to the Tabasco Country Store to purchase tour tickets for the Tabasco plant, and to get suggestions about what to see while on the property. The nice lady selling tickets said we had to see the Jungle Gardens. The Azaleas and the Camellias were in full bloom and be sure to see them. We toured the Tabasco Museum first.

The Museum is nicely done and does an excellent job of telling the Tabasco story of Mr. McIlhenny creating the sauce and a modest business after losing his banking fortune during the Civil War. The Museum details the extraordinary growth of the product nicely extremely well. The videos scattered throughout the Museum tell the history of Tabasco and describe the manufacturing process in a very informative way.

Next, we entered the plant where the distinctive aroma of Tabasco greeted us. I am a devotee of Tabasco and use it on everything from steaks to gumbo. The hint of spicy vinegar that wafted through the plant was not lost on me and only made me hungry for scrambled eggs.

The most exciting part of the plant tour was seeing thousands of bottles parading through the assembly line and receiving the diamond shaped label that has adorned the bottle for the entire history of Tabasco. A digital counter displayed the number of bottles produced for this day. As we made it to the end of the assembly line, the number exceeded 300,000. Tabasco is hot! Pun intended…

The Jungle Gardens on Avery Island were in full bloom. One lady selling tickets in the shop near the entrance assured us that the price of admission is a value and that this is her favorite time of the year. As I always say, timing is everything.

Enormous Live Oaks and alligators are found all along the roadway that leads us on a self-guided tour. We stopped to admire one large oak, bordered by a brilliant line of azaleas. I have shared a picture here, but this is a tiny sampling of them. The camellias were also on full display, with the shrubs filled with blooms.

We love camellias, and some of the plants here were well over six feet tall. According to one of the markers, one of the McIlhenny sons loved them as well and collected them from all the world to plant on Avery Island. Thank you!

To cap off a great day, we drove to Prejean’s, a Cajun restaurant with a top tier rating. The restaurant was lively for a weeknight, but we obtained two seats in the bar area. A pretty and very accommodating server talked us through the menu, suggesting the award-winning gumbo as a “must have.” She was spot on; the gumbo was delicious with a subtle smoky flavor and loaded with shrimp.

Helen ordered crawfish enchiladas and left nothing. I tried a taste and found it delicious. I ordered a platter of catfish to go with the gumbo. The catfish was light and flakey, just the way I like it. The platter held a lot of food, but I managed. Prejeans was a great experience. The Cajun band that played throughout the evening added a local flavor for the guests.

That about wraps up our third stop. On the way home from Prejeans, we vowed to exercise more. I suppose that means we’ll have to move Helen’s barbells from their present use as a weight for our satellite dish. Oh, well, we’re havin’ fun and just Easin’ Along. Come back.