March 9, 2016 - Houma, LA to New Iberia, LA

The wind was still beating against the sides of our Lil’ Home (LH). We were surprised that we slept through the night while the LH was rocking constantly.  Guess we must be "babies" to sleep by rocking?

Erwin was excited to use the new Mr. Coffee machine we got at Kohl’s last night. He washed it first before using it. We enjoyed coffee after the first brew and Erwin wanted to make more so he can put it in the thermos.  However, the machine quit working and Erwin smelled the burnt element. We immediately returned it back to Kohl's before we left to visit Thibodaux, LA.

We drove to Thibodaux, LA (15 miles from New Iberia) to visit a couple attractions. We visited this town 2 years ago, but we stayed only one hour before we headed west to Texas. Edith wanted to visit St. Joseph Church again, found out there is an historic cemetery not too far from the church.  

St. Joseph Catholic Church
Thibodaux, LA

From the church we went to St. Joseph Cemetery, but there was a funeral procession going on in one area, which we avoided.  All plots were spaced tight to each other and again, like other cemeteries in the state of Louisiana most tombstones are all white.

We had lunch at Raising Cane’s, got the Caniac meal (6 chicken tenders, french fries, Texas toast, cole slaw and a large cup of “green” lemonade). Yes, they added green coloring to the lemonade because of St. Paddy’s Day which is next week.  It did not taste any difference, just looked different.  While we were munching Edith looked up for other attractions to visit while in Thibodaux. She found one that was not so far from here.

Laurel Valley Plantation and Museum is on Highway 308. The plantation is the largest surviving 19th and 20th century sugar plantation complex left in the U.S.. There are over 60 buildings still standing. There is a country store (built in 1906), few old buildings (built between 1815-1877). Drive about a mile or so from the museum and you will see houses that were for the slaves.

Several movies were made at the plantation: Three on a Match (1987), A Gathering of Old Men (1987), The Old Man (1997) and several more.

There were lots of hens and roosters running toward us when we stepped out of the Jeep.  We wondered why.. Oh, they came hoping that we would provide food for them.

Inside the country store there were shelves and shelves of antiques. There were two cats checking us out.

The guard

We took a stroll around the area, asked about slave quarters.  They told us to turn left on Laurel Valley Road, drive for few miles and you will see rows of slave quarters (fenced in). There were two brick buildings, we would not make out what they were for.  It is hard to imagine how hard the slaves' lives were during that time.

Sugar Cane Field

The Necessity House

Slave Quarters

On way back to Houma we drove through the historic Thibodaux town center, not much to see, we did not get out to stroll around.  

Back to Houma, we hooked the Jeep to the LH, left for New Iberia, LA.  Got on US 90.  Made a detour to Amelia, LA (Erwin used to live in that town for few years before moving to Virginia).  Erwin said there have been a lot of changes since 1984 and he did not recognize many of the old places.

After arriving New Iberia, LA we went first to Valero to get diesel fill-up. Then we went to New Iberia Super Walmart for overnight stay. The parking lot was huge, plenty of room for several RVs and semis.

After supper we walked to Walmart to look for coffeemaker.  We found a Mr Coffee machine (different model than the one we got at Kohl’s the other night). The box looked new, so we bought it. Let's hope it works fine tomorrow (crossing fingers)!

The LH was still rocking but not as much as it was in Houma (we were sheltered by a few buildings).  We had two windows open to let the breeze in, but had to shut them later when it started to rain.  It got warm inside the LH and we had the portable fan running.