Day 9
April 9, 2023
The weather guessers were offering a mixed bag. Drizzle off and on, maybe clearing by early afternoon...maybe. At least none were calling for storms. And it did make for an interesting sunrise as I was packing the car. I had one hiking trail scheduled for the day. Wish me luck.
When you're in southern Louisiana, restaurants with giant crawfish out front are a given. I found two on my route. Thus one is in the town of Breaux Bridge. Yeah, a bit underwhelming.
I made the turn north on I-49, punched the Indian Trail Recreation Center into the GPS and cruised along. I was certainly fine with taking the scenic route. But, when faced with standing water on a dirt road, it's time to find another way.
Eventually, I did find the paved main entrance, along with the gated, automated entrance station.
It was credit card only and $7 for entry. No problem. The two vehicles ahead of me backed away from the gate and parked. When I swiped my card and paid my fee. One guy approached me, offered me cash and asked if I could swipe them it. They gave me $20 and I was fine with it. The cost to me for the day, only a buck. Not too bad.
Immediately on the other side of the entrance gate sits the trailhead parking lot. It was roped off and closed. Just ahead is one of the RV campsites. It's all assigned parking for the individual sites.
At one point the three and a half mile lake loop trail does cross the road, right by a No Parking on Road sign. I looked at the trail and looked how far I would have had to park down the road. Perhaps three and a half miles of obvious mud wouldn't be such a fun idea. Instead, I drove down to the lake, hung out for a bit and left. I was only out a dollar anyway.
Instead, I drove back to I-49 and headed north to Hwy 6. I went in search of the small community of Robeline. Over the years I've come to believe that every town has a story. They may not be very exciting. They may be all but forgotten. But, there's a story. For Robeline, it goes much deeper than being one of the biggest known speed traps in the state of Louisiana.
If you drive through the center of town you would see the usual convenience store, dollar store and a few boarded up buildings. One traffic light and you're on your way.
There was a time Robeline was a very important place. There's even a state historical park. It's just up a road that was closed when I tried to visit.
In the early 1700's, this area was under the control of New Spain and the site of the Mission San Miguel de Cuellar de los Adaes. It was also on the disputed border with France's territory to the east.
In 1714, the French established the town of Natchitoches(pr; Nack-a-tish) fifteen miles to the east, including Fort St. Jean Baptist. When the French attacked Mission San Miguel, the Spanish built a presidio and even more missions, fortifying the border. Spain then declared this the first capital of the state of Tejas. So this small town in the middle of Louisiana was once the capital of Texas.
I did backtrack into Natchitoches for a late lunch. Naturally, I did a search for breweries with food. That brought me to Flying Heard Brewing.
The parking lot is adjacent to an active rail line. No, it never gets old...
Robert was serving beer that afternoon. He's a senior at neighboring Northwestern State University. The beer was excellent and I took a chance on something called a Cajun Stromboli. Imagine a typical stromboli filled with chicken and crawfish. Interesting flavors and quite good.
I did stop by Fort St. Jean Baptiste. Being Easter Sunday, naturally, it was closed. However, on the way out of town, I saw this curious sign and turned back...
Darks Woods is basically a haunted amusement park. It seemed a bit cheesy, but there were about twenty cars in their parking lot.
It was time to move on and head further north to Shreveport for the night. But first, a stop by the Municipal Auditorium. As I write this, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are about to take the stage.
Beginning in 1948, this was the broadcast site of a weekly radio show known as the Louisiana Hayride. In 1954, a nineteen year old musician by the name of Elvis Presley made his first appearance on the show. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
Commemorating the moment is a statue of Elvis right out front.
Next to Elvis is a statue of James Burton. At only fourteen years old, he was asked to join the Hayride's house band. Two years later, Ricky Nelson heard him and invited him to play with his own band. Years later, he was invited to join the house band for the ABC variety show, Shindig. Through it all, Burton had become a sought after session player.
In 1968, he got a call from Elvis and he was asked to perform on his comeback special. Burton was thoroughly booked up with studio work and had to turn him down. But, when Elvis called asking him to help him form a band for his Las Vegas residency, Burton agreed. He would continue to play with Elvis until his death in 1977.
Burton would eventually be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and the Musicians Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone Magazine even ranked him as nineteenth on their list of one hundred greatest guitar players.
Random mural seen as I was trying to find the motel. It's by artist J. Ben Moss.
My home for the night was a Wingate. Nothing special, but no complaints.
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