living in the swamp near the Morganza spillway, definitely a Cajun area, at least from the patois they were speaking.
" Not Yo Mama's Cafe, "located inside the gas station/garage in Morganza, had delicious crayfish po boys- best eaten all the way- annd crayfish etouffee
riding along the levee of the Mississippi
cows grazing on the levee
as seen from the ferry- a tug boat pushing 50 containers upriver.
Today was definitely a day of contrasts. After the excitement of tornado watches and warnings, pouring rain, thunder, and lightning of yesterday, we were all pleased to hear that it was going to be clear and sunny. It was finally, but the morning started out with a fog dense enough to delay the ride a half an hour for safety's sake. This is particularly nerve racking for some riders, especially on the longer days, because some of the slower riders worry about getting in before dark or having to push their speed. The ground fog persisted out in the open fields and under the trees until quite late in the morning. We also had a few passing showers which weren't bad as the day was warm and the sun, when it came out, dried us out quickly.
For the rest of the day the weather was warm and humid, but we had a cool head wind which made the riding very comfortable. The fields we were passing through were alternately full of some sort of grain, possibly winter wheat, almost ready to harvest, and bare areas not quite cleared or ploughed for planting. The road surfaces changed at every county line, and sometimes even at the township lines and hit the full range from teeth jarring press and seal to newly paved blacktop as smooth as silk to ride on.
The one really difficult part of the ride was the four mile, four lane, no shoulder, high cement side walled, heavy truck traffic bridge across the Morganza spillway which was solved by having a SAG stop just before the bridge. Groups of riders collected and rode across the bridge peloton style with the SAG vehicle traveling behind with blinkers flashing. It was kind of a fun experience. We put the slowest riders in front which meant we were rolling at about 12 mph. By riding side by side we were able to take the right hand lane with the SAG protecting our rear. It was fun being able to ride in a group and chat while we were riding without having to worry about traffic or road obstacles.
Once we were off the spillway, it was a short ride to "Not Yo Mama's Cafe" located in the gas station in Morganza. From the outside, it was one of those dark unkempt places you would probably never even consider stopping at if you were in a car, but Linda, the cook had recommended it so we all took a lunch break at mile 67. Knowing that we still had at least another 20 miles to ride, no one wanted to eat a whole Po boy or portion of etouffee so we divided and conquered several crayfish Po boy sandwiches done all the way with lettuce, tomatoes and tartar sauce, as well as a serving of crayfish etouffee which could have fed a family of four. It was some of the best food I have had on the road.
The rest of the ride to New Roads was along the Mississippi River Trail, a series of roads along the levees and deltas which form a major bicycle route through Louisiana. We were riding on the west or creole side of the river and passed several gaily colored and painted creole plantations. with the plantations on one side, alternating with small farms and homes, and the cows and sheep grazing on the levees on the other, it was a pretty bucolic 15 miles. The ferry at New Roads crosses every half hour and we managed to time it so that we could ride right onto the ferry to cross over to St. Francisville. While we were crossing we had ample opportunity to observe a tug boat pushing a whole string of 50 container barges upriver while we swung out behind it to get to the landing at St. Francisville.
Because of the size of St. Francisville and the size oof the group riding, we were split between the St. Francisville Inn and the Butler Greenwood B&B, 3 miles out of town. While each place had it's own charms, I think those of us who ended up out at Butler Greenwood had the advantage. The old house itself is still owned by the 8th generation of descendents of the original owner, who had the land as a Spanish Land Grant as Alcalde of the east Feliciana parrish.
Anne Butler Greenwood, the owner made it quite clear to all of us that this was not a creole plantation, but a much earlier English plantation, based on a working farmhouse. In the conversion to a B & B, they had either restored, or found and transported to the site, other older buildings, so each accommodation, scattered out across the grounds, had it's own unique character. Three of us were in the "dovecote" a small building of three floors, which was circular and similar to a windmill in appearance. Each floor had a single bedroom with a large double bed, a bit of spare room and a bathroom built out in a square tower on the side. My bathroom had a jacuzzi/hot tub almost big enough and deep enough to swim laps in, the second floor room had a semi circular kitchen set up along one wall and windows on the other two thirds of the circle, and the bedroom on the third floor and skylights, stained glass windows set high in the wall almost all the way around and a staircase with small decks descending the outside through the trees.
In the cook's cottage, an original building from the Spanish period, the original kitchen formed one room, and the bathroom featured the original 115 foot deep hand dug and bricked well under a plexiglass cover that you had to walk across to get into the tub or the back bedroom which was located in the attached smokehouse. The chapel had two bedrooms, with one being in the kitchen and stained glass memorial windows. There was also a resident peacock named Humphrey that wandered around looking picturesque.
Once we got in for the day, the first order of business, after checking out everyone else's accommodations, was to shower and have dinner and go to bed. It was day 7 of a long riding stint. I did take time to do a light wipe down on the bike with a promise to field strip, clean and lube it properly first thing in the morning. Dinner was served on the porch of the pool house (complete with toilet behind a plastic bead curtain in the second floor bedroom) which kept us all pretty well protected from the evening rain shower while Anne Butler came and told a bit about the history of the town and the parrish as well as filling us in on things we could do on our day off.
As it turned out, it was an absolutely lovely place to have a day off, because it was so quiet and totally without amenities other than cable tv which nobody watched anyway but we did all wander around and take an opportunity to sit and visit while we were coming and going and cleaning bikes and whatnot.
Today's stats
distance 88.39
ride time 6:11
speed 14.3
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