Louisiana, Gonzales - Friday, November 1, 2013 - The Cabin Restaurant and shopping

What a beautiful day – mid 70’s and just a slight breeze, low humidity.  We rode about 20 miles into Gonzales to go to Tanger Outlets to see if we could locate a bathing suit for me.  Lucky day – we found one (and just one) that was the right size and looked pretty good on – and it was 70% off.  However, no pictures are going to be posted.  In addition I found a couple of pairs of shorts and some tops on sale.  Now I have to get rid of some of the old stuff in the closet.

Our next stop was Home Depot to see if we could find the materials we needed to make tire covers for the motor coach.  We gave the guys who worked there some chuckles as we planned for how we could get everything on the bike.  I’ll follow up on this story as we start to work on the covers.  It’s going to involve some sewing so I need to get out the sewing machine I purchased right before we decided to start thinking about living fulltime in an RV.  I’ve been busy and haven’t even got it out of the box yet.

Years ago I sewed maternity and baby clothes but that was on an old Singer treadle machine.  Not sure if I can figure out this newfangled model.  Greg isn’t convinced I can sew.  I’m hoping it’s like riding a bike, you never forget once you’ve learned.

This is where we stopped for lunch.

 

 

It’s called The Cabin Restaurant.  It began as one of the ten original slave dwellings of the Monroe Plantation.  It is approximately 180 years old.

 

As you enter, the walls are papered with ancient newspaper fixed to the wall with a mixture of flour and water.  This was the way the slaves insulated the walls of the original slave dwelling.  The room where we ate was really rustic also.

 

 

The roof of the main dining room where we ate is supported by four massive beams that were manufacturer’s rejects obtained for a bottle of Old Crow bourbon.  This is a picture of one of the beams.

Lunch was fantastic!  We both had shrimp po’ boys.  The bread was light and crusty outside and soft inside, loaded with shrimp that had a light crispy coating.

 

I asked our waitress about crawfish tails and alligator which were both on the menu.  She couldn’t describe crawfish, but said it was what the locals “live for” and it was delicious.  She said alligator tastes “like chicken” but if it’s not cooked right it gets really chewy in a bad way.  Maybe next time we’ll get a little more adventurous.

The restrooms are really unique.  They were made from a large cypress water cistern that was used to store fresh rain water.  I waivered on whether or not to take pictures.  I ended up deciding the person in the other stall might think I was kind of odd, so no pictures of the bathrooms.

“Rock” the alligator was carved from a virgin cypress sinker log.  This log was cut down approximately 100-120 years ago on the banks of the Amite River.  It had been laying on the river bed under mud until it was pulled up on April 20, 1988 and sculpted into the “largest alligator in the world”.

What looks like trees growing alongside the building is actually bamboo.  I’ve never seen bamboo this tall.