Day 7
April 7, 2023
The night before, the weather guessers had forecast heavy rain all day. I heard it when I first woke up. So, I simply rolled over and went back to sleep.
An hour later...silence. No rain as I dashed across the street to the Waffle House. Though there was a nasty looking line of storms headed my way by noon.
There were two hikes on tap for the day. Hike #2 probably wasn't going to happen. The first was across the state line in Louisiana at the Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Preserve.
Looking at the sky, I took a rain jacket when I left the car for the .6 mile loop trail.
The loop intersects with another trail that's two miles through the woods, then back. On a whim, I took it.
With still no rain, I swapped out the longer lens and did the short loop again.
The rain was now due to hit around 2P. So, I stopped into Mandeville at a place called the Rusty Pelican and picked up a ham and swiss Po'boy. The staff was great, and the sandwich delicious.
Being just blocks from the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, I went looking for a picnic table. That's when the first splatters of rain hit. So, I enjoyed my sandwich in the car.
The weather radar had the worst of it about thirty minutes out. It seemed the perfect excuse to ride the storm out in Chafunkta Brewery.
The good news, the storm split as it reached Mandeville. The worst shifted north and south of town. We only had rain for a half hour or so. The bad news, I really wasn't impressed by what I was sampling, and one of the brewers noticed a new customer and wanted to know what I though.
The rain stopped and it was off to Baton Rouge, my home for the next two nights. I was staying at the Holiday Inn. After staying in Motel 6's, it was a bit shocking to see.
This is the atrium from the elevator. I hadn't seen anything but small lobbies so far.
I stayed in Baton Rouge for one reason only. Ten minutes north-east of town is where you'll find Teddy's Juke Joint.
On my previous visit, cars were parked all the way up the lawn to the street. There was a live band playing and the place was packed. When I walked in this time, there was no band, a handful of cars and a few regulars listening to the blues on the PA.
I asked Teddy about it and he told me it's all due to Covid-19. Regular customers got out of the habit. People started thinking about small, packed venues. Others just stayed home.
I hung out for a while enjoying the music and atmosphere. Samantha the bartender and I had a nice chat since she wasn't that busy. There would be live music of a sort he next night, so I promised I'd be back.
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