The Morgan City Ride

    I was piddling around on the computer in a last ditch attempt to entertain myself when my wife started reading aloud from the local weekly newspaper. Seems that Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer were doing a movie in Louisiana. The movie, Deja Vu', had been shooting down in Stephensville, out on Four Mile Bayou. The location was explained as being a winding bayou/swamp road. No doubt it was just what the movie producers wanted, Mysterious Louisiana, being that the movie was suppose to be a "mystery".
     I've gone through Stephensville a couple of times, never getting off the main road, La.70. It is the last swamp town before you get to Morgan City. That would be from the north as there is not much south of MC. It lies in the Basin. Though "protected" from the Atchafalaya, it is still where you shouldn't be either in a hurricane or extreme flooding. It is less than, or right at, one hundred miles from my house. Perfect. I can't ride the combinations of La.87 and Old US 90 enough. Now they are mysterious roads.
     I hate calling Old US 90, La.182, because it's a lie. It's US 90. Calling it by another number is like renaming the dead because someone else wanted that person's name. Call the new, sterile, four laned one, US 90 Jr., or something, but not 90. Of course it was previously called "The Old Spanish Trail" and I guess there might have irked some folks when a perfectly well named road got numbered. It would irk me to be called 34256. Oops. Back to the story.
      Sunday I became a Sunday Rider out on Old 90. The day was PERFECT. I was not the only guy riding a mechanically propelled two wheeler out on those roads. I got tired of waving, a mutual rider courtesy, until I decided to borrow an improved, innovative wave. You'll know if it "catches on". Na New, Na New.
     I took the direct route, straight as I could make it, due south until I hit, urg, misnamed La.182. I turned it east at Olivier, heading for the string of towns, each somewhat alike, but distinctively different. I know there are historical roots resulting in those differences, but on this one, we're not going down that historical route, though, for sure, we're on one. We're going to where a bunch of Californian Hollywoodies thought they could find Quintessential Louisiana. I have seen what they have contorted in the past to fit their mold. It seemed that surely they couldn't misrepresent a swamp.
     Along the way there were some loose ends that I had to find. One was the missing Historical Marker for the Battle of Irish Bend. Now don't freak on me. I was just looking for the marker and I'm not going into long battle explanations or getting all worked up. I knew it had been there. I'd gone up and down the road five times and not found it. I thought that maybe it had fallen over in the last big blow and had been picked up. I knew it existed, but on this last pass it wasn't there. I condemned myself as dillusional. When you come to grips with it, it's a pass. If in the futher I can't find something, it didn't exist. Convincing my wife will be the next step.
      Back to the trip.

The line of little towns and places of interest goes like this. I still get them out of order.
Olivier, Jeanerette, Adeline, (Cut off for Charenton), Baldwin, Irish Bend, Franklin, Centerville, Garden City, Verdunville, Calumet (Bisland), Patterson, Bayou Vista, Berwick, Morgan City (Brashear)

I 'm going to put the few new pictures I took of the stretch between Olivier and Verdunville up, below.
For a more complete look at Jeanerette, Baldwin, the Back Road, La.87, CLICK HERE. Compare the new ones, here, with the old ones.The link will open a new page so when you come to its end, or at any time, you can "X" the page and be back here. The link to the next page is at the bottom of this page.

New Views and New Stuff and Old Stuff Between Olivier, Verdunville and Maybe Beyond.

This house on La.87, across Bayou Teche from Jenerette, is my most photographed subject. I take its picture everytime I go by. I telescoped this shot. I think that including more of the trees enhances it. It is something else.

La.87 in front of Bayview, the house above. More info is in that article I tried to get you to look at.

This is an unpaid advertisement. Go.

The museum belongs in a museum.

This one might be new, yep look at the date at the bottom. Reminding folks of how international we are is important work.

This is the "LSU Bridge. It is the first time I've seen it open. Must have some traffic coming or maybe it needs work.
It is called that because it is on the LSU Farm.

Sorrel is on most maps. At this point on La.182, cross the bayou and go west on La.87 to see a magnificent Greek Revival home which is 100% working farm. Keep going a short ways west looking toward the bayou and a home owner has an exposition of old farm tools, including a saw mill. I love it when folks share there past.

One of the few sugarmills left running. Here it is seen slumbering.

Just before Christmas it was Rockin' and Rollin'.

Same trip, Jenerette was lit up.

More investigation needed here.

I am pretty sure it is a private home and not open for tours.

The Plantation Stores were sometimes the center of a self contained monetary system.The plantation would pay its hands in plantation money that could only be spent at the plantation store.
There may be more exploring here. I think I saw a road going to the back that might have had other very old buildings on it. I always see something new on this road.

This is the lock where the Teche crosses the Wax Lake Outlet from Grand Lake, an important location in the Battle of Irish Bend. Oops, sorry, I wasn't suppose to mention the Civil War in this one.
Speaking of, a ride down Irish Bend Road is next.

Andy is an experienced Old US 90 rider. He sent me these recollections: "Was not long ago I ran the old 90 from Jennings to Morgan City. Brings back so many memories of chasing drilling rigs in that area back in the 70's and early 80's. My last [recent] mission was doing old 90 from Jennings to the Texas border. A few places still address themselves on the Old Spanish Trail. In fact, part of the original OST is still in place from Mermentau to Esterwood in spots on the opposite side of the tracks from US 90".
Thanks Andy for another great addition. If any of you have stories of life out on Old 90 in Louisiana, please send them to me. This just might get to be a project. My E-MAIL ADDRESS Replace the "AT" with "@". (done to prevent spamers)

Andy also sent me THIS LINK TO THE OLD SPANISH TRAIL SITE.