Day three, and we are up and out early with a quick breakfast at the nearly infallible Denny’s. As it was for the majority of yesterday, our skies are cloudy, overcast, and looming with the darkness of impending rains. So it goes; we trudge on across the breadth of Texas.
Leaving the 10 Freeway near Winnie, Texas, we are on Highway 73 headed to the 82, which will bring us to coastal Louisiana. A small road turns off to a swampy wetlands area known as a bayou down this way. It was the cypress trees with their unique shapes standing in the water with a glimmer of sun sparkling on the water that had us making the u-turn so we could gain a closer look.
Grandpa and I start walking down the boardwalk over the water, grasses, and other water-loving plants that are lusciously green when Auntie decides she just might miss something and decides to join us. As Auntie and I approach the lookout, Grandpa, feeling the cold from over the water, is already on his way back to the van.
Auntie and I linger in the beauty of the cypress, spy an osprey perched in a nearby tree, and gaze into the dark water for signs of fish or turtles but find nothing.
Not much further down the road, we cross a bridge tall enough to make Auntie squirm with vertigo. On the other side, we are now on the Intracoastal Waterway. Lunch today will be in a small roadside park. The timing was picture perfect as the sky started giving us our first peeks at blue skies.
I’ll do my best to keep us on the Creole Nature Trail National Scenic Byway as long as possible as we crawl along the road to Lafayette.
The day has come alive. We are away from the ever-present policeman looming in the background of Texas and are greeted by a Louisiana Sheriff who offers a friendly wave. The coast of the Gulf of Mexico and its white sand beaches offer life support, too, lifting my spirit that we are now on the more important part of this trip.
Birds are everywhere, from cormorants and blue herons to egrets and various songbirds. Occasionally, the sun pokes out of the clouds long enough to grab a photo with a more dramatic background than somewhat boring grey. Other wildlife in the stuck-to-the-highway-in-a-pile-of-stink variety is spotted here and there.
At Holly Beach, a rush of warm memories comes over me. Caroline and I spent the longest time walking this beach collecting seashells. This is the greatest beach for shell collecting we have ever been on, and so today, I must pull over to collect a few for her. Approaching the water’s edge, I called her and turned the phone to face the water so she could listen to the crashing surf. I pine away about missing her, wishing she were with us; she tells me she now feels a hint of jealousy.
I didn’t call her when we crossed over from Holly Beach to the Cameron side on a ferry she and I used on our last trip through here. Ferries are also a favorite of Caroline’s, especially those little ones on the Chesapeake Bay. Grandpa and Auntie loved the ferry trip; it was the first time on a ferry for either one of them in decades.
Live oaks with Spanish moss and a cow just hanging out in the field looks like a good life to me.
The nearly empty road is taking us north toward Lafayette for the night.
One more stop to listen to the birds and catch the sun skimming over the water with dark clouds reflecting on the even darker waters.
Before our final approach to Lafayette, I called “Onstar” for directional help. My experience goes sort of like this, “Hi,” “Hi,” “Would you Yahoo ‘best catfish in Lafayette’?” “Okay, you have these options…” “Thank you, Onstar, you are a lifesaver,” Caroline replies with a wry “Whatever, John.”
With the sun long gone, we planned on stopping at the Days Inn at University Avenue and the I-10. Oh God, I’m turning off of University and ending up on the freeway. Holy moly, it’s a repeat of the night before. Everything is under control; I try to reassure myself. I’ll just take the first exit, but that is a transition to Highway 49/167 going south. Okay, the exit after that, I’ll get off. Oh no, it’s the 90 East!
Hello Onstar, HELP! “Calm down, sir, and just go straight ahead, turn on the next street. Now, go about a billion miles because you are way off target, and then turn right. You are almost there, goodnight John, try to relax. Oh yeah, and more thing, that Catfish Shack place I recommended? Well, they are only open for lunch, but there is another place. Would you like directions?”
That place was Julien’s Po-Boys, also on University Avenue, just down the road from us. I ordered a half shrimp half catfish po-boy and ordered Grandpa and Auntie the half a catfish platter to go. A nice surprise was that the half order of catfish was two filets, full order was four filets. I get back to our hotel with the food still hot.
My shrimp half of the po-boy is ok, the catfish side is excellent. Grandpa and Auntie are all eyes when they open their containers. Neither one of them could be any happier right now; they ooh and aah on every bite. Auntie offers me some of her dinner insisting it’s too much. I decline, and only two minutes later, her catfish is gone, apparently, she was hungrier than she thought.
The weather forecast for day four looks promising. Auntie’s legs are feeling much better, and she’s confident that we can carry on. We have driven 1,523 miles so far, only 3,000 miles remaining.
