Twelfth Anniversary Adventure, Part 2

After finally dozing off to sleep at Neal's Cypress Inn, DH woke me up at ... get this... 6 A.M.!!! There is no such thing as sleeping late when on a trip with him. I sleep later when I stay home with the kids!! So, anyway, he says to me, "Let's get out of here and go find some breakfast." To which I responded, "Um, honey? The only places around here that serve breakfast would be a Bed and BREAKFAST!!!" He looks at me and gives me a Tim Allen growl. Hmmph.

I got up, got dressed, and we were outta there within 10 minutes on the hunt for some breakfast somewhere. As we pulled out of the hotel parking lot, we turned to the right to go back into the New Roads historical district. Not finding anything on that route, we turned around to head out of town and get some more distance on our road trip. As we passed back by the hotel, we spotted what looked like a bar.... or video poker joint. But, there were cars and other vehicles there....at 7 a.m. Sooo, we stopped to investigate. It was indeed a video poker place but in the back of the building through another entrance was a quaint little cafe....serving non other than BREAKFAST!!! Woo Hoo!!!

Hubby ordered a breakfast of 2 fried pork chops, with 2 eggs, hashbrowns, and biscuits. I had the same except that I got chicken fried steak. The cooks here apparently know how to cook eggs only one way. Well done. Even though I ordered mine Over Medium and Hubby ordered his Over Light....we rec'd them well done. I was hungry and anxious to get on our way so I didn't do any complaining.

As we resumed our travels on Hwy 1, we passed through many quaint little towns that. One of those was Morganza, LA where we stopped to take a picture of the cute little St. Ann's Catholic Church building. There are many of these little churches all along Hwy 1.

We crossed over the Atchafalaya River and entered Simmesport, LA which is home to Dan & Evelyn's Cafe/Mini Mart where we had been advised to stop for a bite. We had just finished breakfast and were not ready for a snack or lunch so we passed on by but not without noticing the blue tarp still on the roof of Dan & Evelyn's. I assume this is due to last year's Hurricane Gustav.

Moving on through Simmesport, we noticed a small park on the left side of the highway. At first, we weren't going to stop but then we noticed a historical marker. Hubby turned the truck around and went back to investigate. What a cute little park! As it turns out, this location was the site of a civil war Confederate Fort Humbug. The Battle of Yellow Bayou was fought May 18, 1864. It was the last battle of Banks' Red River Campaign. General Richard Taylor's Confederate army tried but failed to prevent the Union army crossing the Atachafalaya River at Simmesport.

Continuing along Hwy 1, we notice that the many sugar cane fields that we had been passing are now beginning to give way to rice, barley, soybean, cotton, and other crops. We pass through the Couchon de Lait capital, Mansura, LA where it's probably worth a stop if you want to stretch your legs.

Upon reaching Marksville, LA, we stopped at Marksville State Historic Site to learn about prehistoric Native American Indian ceremonial center and walk around the seven mounds that were discovered here. The pottery found here is very similar to Hopewell of Ohio and Illinois. There is also a wonderful museum and tour guide Anne is just full of information!

Isn't this just the cutest thing? It's a pine straw basket made by the curators and other friends of the museum. It is believed that the indians made similar baskets.

After getting some touring advice from Anne (the museum tour guide), we decided to move on to Natchitoches for some more sight seeing, dining, and to get a room for the night. Continuing our drive along Hwy 1, we noticed the fields changing again. This time, they were pecan orchards. Lots and lots of pecan orchards!

Located right on Hwy 1 are two wonderful little gift shops and pecan stores. Little Eva Pecan Plantation is on the right (heading north) and is situated in an old train depot building the owners salvaged. You will find several different varieties of pecans in the back of the depot along with a sampling table. There are several jars of candied pecans in varying flavors to try out before you buy! Even Bourbon covered pecans! Yum!

Within sight of Little Eva's across the street you will find Natchitoches Pecans where there are more varieties, samples, and gifts. Be sure you stop and check them out during your travels.

Still with me? Read Part 3 for more of our adventure.

Part 1

Part 4