Dec 6, 2023 – Tyler, TX, to West Monroe, LA
We’re heading east fairly quickly but still trying to keep it interesting. So, rather than simply running interstate highways, we drove part of the way, today, on Louisiana’s “Boom or Bust Byway” which follows Highway 2 through the northwest part of the state. The byway gets its name from the rise and fall of agriculture, oil production and forestry through the decades.
We’d hoped for some guidance and/or exhibits that helped tell the story but, alas, there was nothing of that nature. It was, however, a pleasant drive through a rural part of the state. There were lots of small towns and residential areas that ranged from marginal to neat and tidy.
There was lots of evidence of oil production, especially along western portion of the road. Small walking beam oil pump installations with the usual phase separation and storage tanks were to be seen along the way. Most were pretty old looking installations with some really small pumps. Others were newer and a bit larger reflecting a more recent resurgence of oil production. A fair number of logging trucks were also evident as were managed forests in various stages of reforestation following clear cut operations.
We’d arranged a Harvest Host night at Landry Vineyards in West Monroe. They had a very nice tasting room and deck overlooking some of their vineyards. Sandy tried a number of their wines finding a couple she liked.
Since the winery didn’t serve food we asked for a restaurant recommendation and settled on Warehouse No 1 Restaurant on the Ouachita River in Monroe. We both had catfish filets, Bill’s blackened, Sandy’s broiled. Neither of us ever eat catfish but, take your pick, they were both excellent! But the special treats for us were the awesome hush puppies and Sandy’s cheesy grits. Both used a bit more jalapeño than we’d prefer but both were delicious!
Dec 8, 2023 – Vicksburg, MS, to Alabaster, LA
Today was a travel day. We jumped onto I-20 and followed it mostly to Birmingham. Then veered off a bit, ending up in the suburb of Alabaster where we’d arranged a Harvest Host stay at Siluria Brewing Company. We found the place and where they instructed RVs to park. Then we headed out to do a bit of shopping. Returning, we went inside and Bill had a excellent IPA while Sandy tried a local peach wine which was good but really a sort of after dinner wine.
WE struck up a conversation with a fellow Harvest Host guest, Matt, who’d been here before. Matt has a website, happyliving.com, where he links podcast interviews with people he’s met during his travels.
Dec 9-10, 2023 – Alabaster, LA, to Gainesville, GA
We’re nearing the end of this “2023 Peregrination Tour”. We’ll be focusing on visiting friends on our way home in Gainesville, GA, Merritt, NC and, where we started, in Ocean View, DL. Of course we’ll break up the driving with a couple of overnight stops.
Heading out of Alabaster on Saturday, we were forecast to have a rainy drive to Gainesville. We’ve really only have rain once since we left on October 8 so a bit of rain almost seemed nice. And, we were fortunate in that all that really hit us was a light mist that didn’t affect driving. We were sorry to later learn that a number of people were killed in tornadoes associated with the same storm.
This was our first occasion to drive through the city of Atlanta, one we don’t need to repeat too often. There’s a huge intersection between I-20, I-75/I-85 and several other roads right downtown and it’s a dozy! Even on a Saturday it was jammed. Yeah, there’s the I-285 bypass but the backup to get on that was nearly a mile long!
Anyway, we arrived at the lovely home of Bill’s Penn State roommate, Ron, and his wife, Betty, in Gainesville mid afternoon. We hadn’t seen them for a number of years and we all had a nice couple of days visiting. Retired from successful careers, both Ron and Betty are accomplished French horn players and are still very active playing and socializing with members of a local orchestra.
Dec 11, 2023 – Gainesville, GA, to Lexington, NC
We’re dividing our trip home into four hour drive segments interspersed with visits to friends. While we were still making our way north through Georgia, Sandy spotted the opportunity for a small side trip to Toccoa Falls. At 186 feet high, it is one of the tallest freefalling waterfalls east of the Mississippi. It is located on the campus of Toccoa Falls College, a Christian college located in, you guessed it, Toccoa, GA.
We paid the senior admission ($1 each) and walked the 100 yards along a stream to the falls. It’s beautiful. There’s a sad story associated with it, though. In 1977 a dam above the falls collapsed killing 39 and injuring 60 people, all of whom were connected with the college. The water struck student housing on the campus, washing away most of the area where the married students lived.
Arriving in Lexington we first checked out the Harvest Host location for the night. It was Goose and the Monkey Brew House. A separately owned restaurant, Pour Folk Provisions Co, operates inside the brew house. The place looked prosperous and they had a nice, level concrete pad around the corner of their building where we could park. But it was early so we took some time to check out the town. It’s a lovely small city of about 20,000 with a thriving, historic downtown business and shopping area.
The city is known as the “Barbecue Capital of the World” it is more popularly referred to as “Pig City”. The place does have quite a few highly regarded BBQ joints. They have been celebrating the “Pig City” moniker for twenty years with painted pigs all over the downtown shopping district. The pig’s designs are usually themed to the business that displays them and there are reportedly about 70 of them scattered about.
Back at the brew house we sat down to enjoy our drinks but quickly succumbed to the aromas of pizzas that everyone seemed to be eating. Although their menu ranged well beyond pizza, we determined that they would make any of their offerings on a gluten free crust. We were sold and each ordered a personal sized one. They were delicious.
Bottom line? We highly recommend Lexington, NC, for a visit!