Earth Day and Plantations

Day 18. 4/30/22 50 mi. 5:10 AIS. 249 ft. 9.6mph

Leaving Baton Rouge around sunrise. The route took us on a very short bike path on the levee. Then we rode through the Athletic Complex area of LSU. Near the enormous Tiger Football stadium, past the Baseball and Soccer stadiums too. Very quickly we were out of the city on River Road. The levee was always on our right and then for miles we went past chemical plants and refineries and who knows what other industries! But most remarkable was the heavy truck and dump truck traffic along river road. Constant for miles. Ugh. Between that and the no shoulder to tiny bit of shoulder to rough road surface, the riding was not our favorite. We missed the Louisiana farmland roads as of scenery.

One of todays highlights was our quick little snack/rest stop at 15 mi. We were at St Gabriel’s original grocery store. The ladies inside were super friendly. They get cross-country cyclists all the time. They fixed us up our lunch sandwiches to go and off we went. Headed to plantation land.

We did stop and take a plantation house and garden tour at Houmas Plantation. We toured the gardens and then had a guided tour of the house. I figured we should see at least one historical plantation and it was right on route. Once again the Live Oak trees on the plantation were amazing! 500 years old for one of them.

I was grateful for the shorter ride today. I think we all were. The last 3 days were long ones. We found a RV Park to camp with a historical old plantation house, little cafe and showers. Tent camping here was our most pricey yet..$40. Gulp…for a tent? We had to bite that bullet. 20 miles to next option.

Tomorrow we ride to New Orleans. About 60-ish miles. Jim says we will have 30 miles of bike path in the levee getting into the city. It will be another large city type day. Winds are never in our favor this week. There is a big event…The French Quarter Festival. We will be staying in the heart of it. Should be a terrific evening.