Blog 4/13/10 Hanging Out In St. Francisville

From the St. Francisville, LA public Library:

 

This is an unbelievably beautiful little--and old--town on the Mississippi River.  Apparently we timed things just right bacause the azaleas are in full bloom, and they are three weeks late this year, I'm told.  Enormous bushes of bright pink and red blooms everywhere one looks.  All the trees are completely leafed out, lots of rose 'bushes' (some should be called 'trees' they're so big) around, and big, beautiful live oaks with spanish moss hanging all over them--some of the gnarliest and coolest trees I've ever seen, with branches splitting off the trunk fifteen or twenty feet off the ground, curving down to touch the earth, then twisting back up into the sky.  While there must be prettier places than this, I can't recall seeing any just now.

 

There's an ante-bellum Grace Episcopal Church that, together with its grounds/cemetary, simply has to be seen to be believed.  I'm not a religious fellow, but between the exterior of the building, the stained glass, the greenery, the flowers and some of the most entertaining tombstones ever, well, it's pretty awe inspiring. 

 

All in all, the town is so pretty we decided to spend our fourth rest day of the trip here.   Besides, we actually accomplished one of our goals here--we caught up with a women-only fully supported tour that left San Diego a week ahead of us.  We've been hearing about them all along, and have been getting input about how far ahead of us they are.  Yesterday afternoon, the gal at a convenience store told us they were only two hours ahead, so we knew then we had them in our sights!  We checked out of our motel this morning to spend today at the B & B where half of them are staying--right in the middle of town, so Kathy has the chance to talk to some biking-oriented women instead of putting up with me 24/7.  Apparently these women are quite pampered, at least by our standards.  A van/trailer hauls their stuff and they have a chef who cooks their meals!  They also have a term they use--EFI.  Some are EFI people and some of them aren't.  Kathy & I are EFI people because we have no way to bail out early on any given day, so, like some of them, we are doing Every Fu.....  Inch!!

 

Speaking of B & Bs, I just have to take a minute to compare the two we've stayed at on the trip.  Check Point Harley was a group of bunkhouses on a ranch in Texas--wide open spaces, cows mooing to you, donkeys braying, pigs oinking, acres to roam, and Harley-Davidson bedspreads--along with Ernie, as all-around wonderful guy as I ever met.  The St Francisville B & B is a big old wooden frameed southern mansion with extra rooms built on the back, giant oaks, spanish moss, azaleas, swimming pool and beautiful antiques everywhere you look. The two could hardly be more different, yet both are busting with hospitality and it's hard to say which we enjoy more.

 

In the fauna department, two critters bear mentioning.  Armadillos.  They aren't well-equipped to deal with cars, and seem to come out about the same as turtles.  I figured we'd be done with them at the Texas/Louisiana border, but they're still with us half way across the state.  And skunks.  There are lots of them here--or at least there were.  Just about as many dead skunks as dead squirells--and that's a lot.  Also, I thought we'd be done with cactuses by now, but prickly pears are still with us as are lots of yuccas.  So we have both western and eastern plant life here, and though we're past the Thicket National Preserve, the woods are still so thick I'd be afraid that if I ventured in I might never find my way out.

 

A final note about the people here.  They are the friendliest yet, and that's really saying something.  Almost everyone is friendly, but people here take their time and want to know all about the trip.  One man told us of a study that found that while Louisiana may be one of the pooorest states, it ranks highest of all in hapiness of its residents.  And right now, that includes the two of us!  Maybe that incredible sweet-tea they drink has something to do with it.

 

Doug