Today we drove through Atchafalaya Basin along Rt. 10 to Houston. This is a prime crawfish farming area. I learned that they say “crawfish”, not “crawdad”or “crayfish” below the 38th parallel. Wild crawfish have provided sustenance for Native Americans in the region for centuries. European settlers did not start harvesting crawfish from bayous and swamps until the 1880’s.
Today, crawfish farming is a major industry in Louisiana, producing 100 million pounds of crawfish annually. In addition to farming wild crawfish, it is farmed in ponds that are flooded and drained. Ninety percent of U.S crawfish production is in Louisiana.
Somewhere along I-10.
Some farmers grow crawfish and rice in the same fields.
From cajuncrawfish.com Traditional Crawfish Boil
There is an art to eating crawfish, a hands on experience. A crawfish boil seems to me to be rather like a traditional New England clam steam, only messier. We did not have an opportunity to participate in a crawfish boil, but it was described to me. A big platter of crawfish, corn on the cob and boiled potatoes is brought out along with an empty pan for the refuse. Then the eating commences with everyone digging in with gusto. The proper way to eat a crawfish is to pinch the butt, break off the head and suck. I saw a t-shirt that said “it won’t suck itself”, which I assume was referring to a crawfish.
In the morning we visited our friend, Michelle at their beautiful home in the West Bank area of New Orleans.
Then we visited the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans. Fifteen years after Katrina, parts still look like a third world country. What were once city streets lined with houses, are abandoned lots and roads that are barely drivable.
We did see some new construction in the lower 9th ward, such as these houses Brad Pitt financed.
Instead of staying in New Orleans for the parade tonight, we drove to Lafayette, Louisiana and danced to some great Zydeco music at the Blue Moon Saloon. We made six new friends who had grown up in the area- southern hospitality is really a thing it turns out, but….. earlier in the evening before the band even started playing there was a scuffle and a two guys were thrown out by the bartender. Haven’t seen that in a while. A great time was had by all but the guys who were thrown out.
Dancing at the Blue Moon Saloon to Terry and the Zydeco Bad Boys.
Today we learned that King Cake, a blend of coffee cake and cinnamon roll, is only eaten during Carnival that starts January 6 and ends on Mardi Gras. The name King Cake is a biblical reference to the three kings who brought gifts to baby Jesus. There is a surprise inside every cake- a baby! Whoever gets the baby in their slice gets to buy the next King Cake to keep the party going. This afternoon we arrived on Arabella Street in New Orleans at our friends Eileen and Dusk’s beautiful home. We went to a neighborhood restaurant, Frankie and Johnnies, and had poboys, gumbo, red beans & rice and some delicious char-grilled oysters.
We learned that Mardi Gras is preceeded by 21 days of parades in New Orleans. We look forward to the first parade of Carnival tomorrow night.
Today we went to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is well worth a visit. We’ll have to go back a second day next trip to take it all in.
Standing on the banks of the Ohio River, the unknowing can appreciate the power and majesty of the river, but there is so much more. I am in awe of the the significance of river, which seperates Ohio (was a free state) from Kentucky (was a slave state). Crossing this river meant freedom to countless enslaved people. Here is the poem, Eliza Crossing the River by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Many of us read Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and learned that most conductors on the underground railroad were White. Today we leaned that more often than not, it was Black folk, both free and enslaved, who risked their lives helping people to freedom. While many Quakers did settle in Southern Ohio and many White people of all faiths did help freedom seekers, this is not the whole story. Today we learned about John Parker, a formerly enslaved person, who helped hundreds of people cross the Ohio River. You can read more about John Parker here. The Freedom Center featured an excellent dramatization of the work of John Parker and Rev. John Rankin in a film called “Brothers of the Borderland”.
Did you know that this bridge in Cincinnati served as a prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge? It was designed by the same engineer, John A, Roebling in 1867. At the time, it was the longest bridge (1057 feet) in the world.
En route to Cincinnati. Still winter! Actually , the next four days in Cincinnati, Nashville and Memphis are going to be in the 40s. Hopefully no snow.
Tomorrow we leave for our cross country trip from upstate New York to southern California. Looking forward to saying goodbye to winter for a bit. We planned 10 stops: Cincinnati, Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans, Austin, Big Bend National Park, El Paso, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, and San Diego. Excited to share our trip with you!
We have arrived home safely after our 3,500 mile trip. We had a really great trip, but I have to say there is nothing like leaving to make us really appreciate home. I realize that we see more wildlife here than we did on our trip. Something I have taken for granted. We also had a great sleep in our own bed the first night home, something most of us experience. I must say it is much quieter here than in most campgrounds!
Sight out of my dining room window as I write. We actually could do with many fewer deer than we have in our back yard!
There is no place like home, but Ithaca is truly an exceptional place. It was chosen as prettiest place in New York by Architectural Digest magazine. Living in such a special place makes it really nice to come home. We should explore this area with the same enthusiasm as when we travel. Signing off until the next adventure!
We visited the Wisconsin State Capitol building in Madison. While we are not impressed with the politics currently going on in the building with Governor Scott Walker at the helm, the building itself is awe-inspiring.
Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison Wi
Being in the building has made us reflect on the curious political history of Wisconsin, one of extremes. It has swung wildly from leftist to far right politics several times in its history.
The state started off with very left-leaning politics. In 1854, six years after Wisconsin was granted statehood, what was to become the national Republican Party was formed in Wisconsin by anti-slavery activists. The new party was formed to fight for the rights of African Americans and abolish slavery. The newly formed Republican Party’s presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln won. Republicans dominated congress, forcing “radical reconstruction” policies for the south after the civil war and passing the 13h, 14th and 15th amendments to the constitution granting full human rights to everyone. Sadly, that tremendous progress was very short lived. It is sad to reflect on what this party stands for today in the era of Trump.
At the turn of the 20th century, Wisconsin was a model for democratic leadership. The progressive movement, which took root here, fought corporate power, political machines and political corruption. They advocated for average working people and championed women’s suffrage.
Then, in the late 1947, Joseph McCarthy was elected U.S Senator from Wisconsin. He was the face of the oppressive anti-communist campaign that resulted in many progressive politicians, movie stars, artists and others to be defamed and lose their reputations and jobs. McCarthy was a demagogue who sowed fear through reckless, unsubstantiated accusations on his political opponents. He was eventually censured by the Senate and died a lonely death as an alcoholic.
In 1958, the Appleton John Birch Society carried on McCarthy’s paranoid anti-communist witch hunt. In their pamphlet, The Politician, written in 1963, they claimed that Dwight D. Eisenhower was a communist tool.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee, just 100 miles south of Appleton, had a strong socialist labor union tradition brought by German immigrants. Milwaukee elected socialist mayors for 50 years. Socialist Frank Zeidler served as mayor from 1948-60, and oversaw the construction of the County Stadium, library and park expansions, and the creation of a public television station.
Recent history as seen another swing to the right. The current Governor Scott Walker, was elected in 2010, and almost immediately unveiled a fiscally conservative budget catering to the interests of his wealthiest backers and removing many of the collective bargaining rights so dear to Frank Zeidler’s socialists. Walker’s budget prompted hundreds of thousands of protesters to descend on the Capitol where they occupied the rotunda and marched in circles around the building, chanting “This is what democracy looks like”. More than 900,000 signatures were collected against Walker, and the governor faced a recall election in 2012, which he survived.
In spite of, or perhaps because of the right wing politics at the state and national level, there is a movement afoot in Wisconsin for local control of the economy in the form of cooperatives. In both Madison and Milwaukee, there has been an increase in all kinds of cooperatively run businesses offering an economic alternative to traditional capitalism.
It makes sense for us all to pay attention to what happens in Wisconsin. Is it a harbinger of what is to come nationally?
We camped at Mirror Lake State Park near Baraboo where it was cold (31 degrees) and raining again.
Two sleeping bag night
Sebby met us for a hike around Devil’s Lake in Baraboo. It was so nice to see him again!
The purple and green quartzite bluffs around the lake are over 1 billion years old!
One thing we have discovered on this trip is that we are fair weather campers! Too old for camping in this weather! We are looking forward to a warm dry airbnb in Madison tonight!
Perspectives on the Road 