Moochdocking in Long Branch, TX

Yesterday, February 22, we drove from the Toledo Bend Reservoir to Long Branch, TX to visit a college friend of mine.

She's got a bit of land and there was room next to the big storage barndominium/shed for Uma, including 15 Amp power hookup!

Today, February 23, we went to the nearby city of Carthage, TX to check out the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame and Tex Ritter Museum.

Pretty good museum, the displays include memorabilia from the inductees into the Hall of Fame along with a short bio plaque.  Here's some of the ones I recognized among the many Texas-born country singers.

I knew of Buck Owens from his time as host on

the show "Hee Haw"

Dale Evans

Why John Ritter you might ask?  Well, turns out he's the son of Tex Ritter, of which this is the museum.  One of the first and very well known "Singing Cowboys" from the days of Western Films.

Just one of several Tex Ritter displays

This was, after all, his museum.

You might recognize some of the men above

Gene Autry

Debbie and Martha outside the museum, a 

sculpture of Tex Ritter and his horse White Flash

The sculptor, a local man, was Bob Harness.  He also, it turned out, sculpted the nearby statue at the Footprints in the Sand Memorial Park.  It's a roadsideamerica attraction as well, so we went to check it out.

You may have heard of or read this poem:

Who's the guy being held by Jesus?  It apparently was the early major donor of $25k for the project to create the memorial park.

Nice little memorial park.  

We returned to Debbie's place after the park and rested/visited the rest of the afternoon away.

A Visit to the Oakland Plantation, Natchez, LA

Martha and I drove the hour or so from our campsite to Natchez, LA by the Cane River where the Oakland Plantation is located.

The plantation is part of the Cane River Creole National Historical Park.  Established in 1821, its history is of course involved with the enslavement of people to work the cotton fields.

The Oakland Plantation was a "working plantation"; in other words, not an ostentatious building ala the images produced by Hollywood's idea of Southern Plantations.

We lucked out in that we encountered one of the four rangers assigned to this park and Megan said she had time to give us a tour of the main house.   Normally, they only "guarantee" one or two daily tours on weekends; due to staffing issues.

Here's some of the photos I took while we toured the inside of the house.  Note: The park service tried to set things up to reflect living "back in the day" but the Prudhomme Family that lived there did so till the late 1990s I believe.

So, though I did take a lot of pictures, most depict furnishings of more modern times than when enslavement was a way of life for the South.

I thought at first: that's a strange spot for the family crest

The back of "shoo-fly" fan...

Picture the Prud'homme family at the dinner table while on the back wall, a young enslaved boy pulled on the rope that caused the "shoo-fly" to generate a breeze over the table.  Definitely a different time.

There were also two trap doors, one of which I was able to picture below, that enslaved servants used to access certain areas/do their duties without "being seen" in the family areas.

I guess the above was just a carry-over from the way old English houses were built back then, with servant entrances and such.

We also were shown the underside of the house, which was built on support columns not for floods but to provide for air movement under the house in hot weather.

We got to see the "room" where the enslaved nanny lived so she could be available 24x7 to the family's children's needs:

Yep, we all had to wear hard hats while under the house

We parted from our guide, Ranger Megan at this point as more folks had shown up for her to give the tour to at this point.

We wandered about the property:

Martha with a Japanese Tulip Tree in the background

while standing on the wraparound porch

The view of the main gate from what used to be

the front door of the house.

Looking back towards the plantation house from

near the main gate area.

The company/general store.

The plantation's Overseer's house

I think there were of course more of the below shacks where the enslaved lived and later on, freed slaves/tenants lived and worked the land after the Civil War.

The below pic of the interior of the shack pictured above represents conditions way after the Civil War; when a tenant farmer lived there.

The roadside or front view of the General Store,

note the fuel pumps out front.

Here's what you saw when you got out of your carriage

and stood at the plantation's main gate.

The canopy of Oaks was very impressive and beautiful

Once we finished touring the plantation, we drove to the nearby town of Nachitoches for lunch at the "Merci Beaucoup".  It's apparently known for Creole cooking.  I had the sausage and chicken gumbo and Martha had the fried shrimp.

After lunch, a visit to the oldest General Store in Louisiana:

There was, a little bit of everything....to include

displays of more vintage offerings:

We returned to the campground by 4PM I think and just rested the remainder of the day.  Though the day had started out overcast, it would turn sunny and warm with a high of 78!

We return to Texas tomorrow to visit a college friend of mine as we start making our way west towards El Paso, TX.

Now in Louisiana, glamping by the Toledo Bend Reservoir

We left the Galveston Bay State Park around 8:25 AM and would be crossing into Louisiana at 12:44 PM.

Today's sunrise:

Seeking to avoid the overcrowded traffic conditions of Interstate 45, we took CCjon's advice and boarded the Bolivar-Galveston Ferry to get onto the Bolivar Peninsula.  From there, we headed northwards towards the border with Louisiana and the reservoir where we had reservations.

Boarding the Ferry

Naval vessels at the Galveston Naval Museum

There was not much waiting to get on the ferry and debarking was done easily and smoothly.

We're staying at the Fort Johnson Toledo Bend US Army Recreation Area's campground.  Full hookups so we're glamping!

We walked the small area's offerings easily, it's pretty small compared to other recreation areas we've visited.

Yagi got a little exercise, so I can claim LA

in the list of states ridden in...

Martha found a new toy at the swim beach

Tonight's sunset:

Oil Rig Museum, Martha's Nephew and A TallShip Sunset

We've been dry camping at the Galveston Bay State Park since yesterday.  The sites have decent space between them, not like the full hookup sites nearby which seem to be stacked next to each other.

The beach area is OK, and it was windy while we were there so not exactly enjoyable even in bright sunshine.  No swimming since it was cold and there were signs saying that water contact should be avoided due to high bacterial counts.

Today, we went into Galveston to check out a museum about oil rigs: The Ocean Star Offshore Oil Rig and Museum.

Life Boat

Not a bad museum for those interested in the subject of oil rigs.  I'm pretty sure it's a lot of hard work under sometimes iffy conditions.

Near the museum, are the dry docks where the USS Texas, an old battleship is being restored:

For dinner, we met with Martha's nephew: Greg B.  We went to the Hubcap Restaurant near where the museum was located.  It was great catching up with Greg.

After dinner, Martha and I said our goodbyes to Greg and then spent a few minutes checking out the sunset.

The Tall Ship Elissa

We leave Texas tomorrow for Louisiana via a car ferry.  More to follow.