Texas Hill Country: Part 1, Southeast/San Marcos area

Texas roadside wildflowers

We’ve spent a quiet week enjoying our beautiful RV park, the wonderful weather in Texas in May, and the delicious BBQ that can be found all over this area.  In addition, on Monday, we celebrated our one year anniversary of living in “the 5^th” (it’s been a great year!).

"The 5th" one year later

This is a beautiful time of year to be in Texas, all kinds of flowers are blooming:  the wildflowers, the cacti, and, my favorite flowering tree-Crape Myrtles.

Wildflowers

Crape Myrtles

Cacti

Our RV park is outstanding.  It sits along the San Marcos river and is filled with huge shade trees.  This is especially nice since afternoon temperatures are in the mid to upper 80's each day.

Small rapids on the San Marcos

Our RV park is on the San Marcos River

View down the street in the RV park from "the 5th"

We have eaten a lot of BBQ here; but that was one of the main reasons to come here!  Most BBQ here is really smoked and served without plates, silverware, or sauce.  It's truly superb!

 

While waiting in line, you walk by the meat smoker

Neither one of us has any genealogy in this area.  However, that doesn't stop us from appreciating one of the most beautiful county courthouses we've ever seen in Lockhart, Texas (the BBQ capital of the world!).

Amazing

Pat and I love Austin.  There are so many things about it that remind us of Eugene.  And, we love the "Keep Austin Weird" t-shirts.  Of course, while we were in the area, we had to explore the Austin music scene.

Love this funky place

Johnny Nicholas

LOUISIANA: Friends, Food, and Family (History)

Bayou

Part 1:  Friends

Connie and Addison Manley join us!  Pat and I left Biloxi and headed for Breaux (pronounced “Bro”) Bridge, in the heart of central Louisiana Cajun Country on a Friday.  We had a month’s reservation at Poche’s (pronounced Po Shay’s) Fish-n-Camp, an absolutely beautiful place with about four LARGE fishing lakes with RV spots circling the main one.  Our back windows looked directly out at the lake and it was large enough that you barely saw the RV’s on the other side. 

View from inside "the 5th" looking across the lake.

In front of us (across the access road) was a horse pasture with really nice looking horses.  We arrived on a Friday, hustled around to get set up and “the 5^th” cleaned up.  Did laundry, cleared out Bertha’s back seat, packed up and headed to New Orleans on Monday.  Got settled in our room and picked Connie and Addison up at the airport on Tuesday.

It is always wonderful to see, and spend time with, friends from home.  We did everything you

The French Quarter

would expect people to do when visiting New Orleans:  went to the French Quarter, did a city tour, went to the French Quarter, visited some plantations, went to the French Quarter………and of course ate some great food and heard some good street music!  Connie and I were so tired on Friday, we sent Pat and Addison off to enjoy the French Quarter night-life on their own. 

Connie & Addison "do" the French Quarter

Pat and Addison "do" the French Quarter

The story of their evening is hilarious; but you need to hear it from them, preferably together because their demonstration of the action and their non-stop laughter is the best part of the story. 













From New Orleans, Connie and Addison joined us for a few days in Cajun Country.  We sat by the lake and relaxed.  Tried to figure out how to cast and fish with cheap rods we bought at Wal-Mart and checked out the next door neighbors crawfish boil.  

Pat "fishing"

They had so much food they begged us to take some!

The next day, we took a bayou tour and cooked up boudin (pronounced Boo-day), sausages, and boudin stuffed chicken and ate at our very own “lake-side” table.  

Lake Marin Bayou

Connie and Addison on the Bayou

On Monday, Connie and Addison headed back to New Orleans mid-day in order to catch an early morning flight home the next day.  We enjoyed every minute of our time with them and would love to host visits from any of our other friends.

Part 2:  Food and Family (History)

Tie-Dye in Opelousas, LA at Friday music night

Good music at Cajun Woodstock

 So we were a little bummed after Connie and Addison left us.  We putzed around for a couple of weeks, drove around, saw some country, attended some local festivals, did some genealogy.  Both my paternal grandparents were born and raised in Louisiana.  My grandpa’s mother was Cajun (born about 20 miles from where we were staying); spoke Cajun French (did not, apparently, speak much, if any English, when she got married).  Her family had been in this area since about 1780 after the Acadians were forcibly expelled from Canada by the English.  Her mother, Omerine Moreau, is one of my mystery ancestors.  She appears out of nowhere in 1855 when she marries Emile Guillory in Opelousas, Louisiana.  She goes on to produce nine children, move west to Lake Charles, Louisiana with her family, and pass away there at the ripe old age, for the times, of 79 in 1917. 

Typical Louisiana country cemetery

Pat and I spent a lot of time at the county courthouse and library researching both families, trying to translate French documents, and wandering the area trying to locate the various places the families resided.  

Backwater Bayou where my ancestors lived.

We also went on a second bayou tour (this time on a jet boat) and to the horse races at Evangeline Downs (my first).

Up close and personal with a gator!

"And they're off!"

I have to admit that since I’m 4^th generation Oregonian, Louisiana is a little too “flat” for me, and I don’t find the overall geography that exciting.  However, Louisiana has the most spectacular trees I’ve seen in all our travels.

See how tiny Pat is?

Spectacular!

When we weren’t doing genealogy related things, we were tracking down Cajun food.  As you all know, Pat LOVES seafood.  What you probably don’t know is
that Pat also really LOVES sausages (and boudins).  Boudins are a thin sausage-type casing stuffed with a variety of meats, seafood, rice, vegetable, spices, etc.  Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately for me since I’m not a big sausage fan), I picked up a brochure at the Visitor’s Center titled:  The Cajun Boudin Trail.  This document had information about 12 stores that were selected “…for the exemplary quality of their boudin, their attention to traditional Cajun recipes and methods of production, and the additional specialties they offer.”  We went to 10 of the 12 stores, covering numerous miles and many small side roads and communities.  It was a blast; however, I now have the following in my (small) freezer and refrigerator:

16 Boudins (Crawfish, Pork, Seafood, Guidroz Mild, Guidroz Hot, and Guidroz “Kickin”, and Cajun  Chorizo with Mexican Spice
1 package of Tasso (smoked pork)

1 package chicken thighs stuffed with sausage
30 Sausages (Pork & Deer, Chicken and Shrimp Boil, Pork with Syrup, Pork and Garlic, Sweet &   Sour Chicken, Rib Eye, Nunu’s Smoked Pork and Steen’s Syrup and Hot Smoked Chaurice
1 Boudin stuffed chicken

2 Homemade Smoked Andouille

And, from here, we are headed to the heart of Texas BBQ Country.  I see protein overload in my future!  On our last morning in Cajun Country, we went to the long-running taped radio broadcast of Cajun music from Fred's Lounge in Mamou, LA.  Lots of great music and early morning drinking and dancing!

Saturday morning in Mamou

Tomorrow, May 15th, we head west to Texas. 

Gotta love that hair!

I consider this the first step on our trip west which will include a three week stay in the Denver area to celebrate the 1st birthday of Jonah Patrick Blass (the best grandchild in the world!) and a month long stay (August) back home in Eugene.  In addition, on May 19th, we will honor the one-year anniversary of living in "the 5th"!

Sara and Jonah Blass

Drew, Sara, and Jonah Blass