The link to today's route and statistics is found here.
Today we had
a relatively easy 48 mile ride across rolling hills in the top of the foot and
out to the top of the toe of Louisiana.
Hint, look at the shape of the state of Louisiana. We finished in Bogalusa, within a few miles from
the border with the state of Mississippi.
One of the
principal employers in the city of Bogalusa is the International Paper
Company. Surely many of the logging
trucks that chase us down the roads are delivering to International Paper. Paper plants have their own distinctive
aroma. The smell of the plant in
Bogalusa was quite tolerable today as we cycled past.
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| Massive Bogalusa plant where many logging trucks deposit their load |
Several
stopped at a street vendor selling boiled peanuts on the way into
Bogalusa. Boiled peanuts can be
purchased plain or Cajun style. In
southeastern states many gas stations have pots of heated boiled peanuts on
display. Buyers select a cup of the desired size and dip out boiled peanuts to
fill the cup. It is easy to separate the
shell from the peanuts inside, but it is a messy, finger licking task.
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| Cooler full of Cajun boiled peanuts with onlookers wondering what are boiled peanuts? |
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| Cajun boiled peanuts being sold to one who appreciates the southern delicacy |
When
stopping for lunch at Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen fast food establishment, the
history of the Po-Boy Sandwich was elucidated.
It was a shortened version of the following:
A popular
local theory claims that "po' boy", as specifically referring to a
type of sandwich, was coined in a New Orleans restaurant owned by Benny and
Clovis Martin, former streetcar conductors.
In 1929, during a four-month strike against the streetcar company, the
Martin brothers served their former colleagues free sandwiches. The Martins'
restaurant workers jokingly referred to the strikers as "poor boys",
and soon the sandwiches themselves took on the name. In Louisiana dialect, this was naturally
shortened to "po' boy."
During the inception of po' boys, they were stuffed with whatever ingredients were available during the Great Depression. Here is today’s version po’ boy.
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| Po'Boy stuffed with fried crawfish |
There were
many purple verbena wildflowers along the route today. They are a rather dainty flower.
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Verbena, also known as
Tuber Vervain (Verbena Rigida) |
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Verbena as seen by speeding cyclists
|
For dinner
most of the group were shuttled by TAC to Bino’s restaurant to eat seafood,
Italian food and good southern food.
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| Enjoying dinner at Bino's with Ahnie's signature move and Kristin smiling wryly |
The blog
author decided to eat one last helping of “Mud Bugs,” aka Louisiana crawfish,
purchased boiled from a local market as take-out. The line at the market was long, but these
beauties were worth the wait. This is
the season for consuming fresh crawfish, which are cheap now at between $3.50
per pound, cooked. The photo below
displays the trappings of the feast on a desk in the motel. On the left are Cajun boiled crawfish both in
and out of the bag. In the center is the
vegetable course of Cajun boiled peanuts.
On the right are a pile of claws, to keep track of how many crawfish
were et. Behind the claws is the beer
chaser. A total of 50 crawfish were devoured
in the 3+ pounds of crawfish purchased.
Sad to leave Louisiana tomorrow, but now the departure is bearable.
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| Ultimate Cajun dinner of Mud Bugs, Cajun boiled peanuts and beer |
Someone
wanting to learn more about the Cajun and Creole cultures, eat their food,
drink their drink, buy their crafts, and listen and dance to their toe-tapping
music, etc. might consider attending the following:
Festivals
Acadiens et Creoles in Lafayette, LA from October 10 to 13, 2019
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