FROM ARKANSAS ON TO LOUISIANA

Love the pipe organ!

After church our Sunday in N. Little Rock, we went to Red Lobster.  I always love that as I love lobster, but guess what!!  I did not order lobster.  I have never used the word decadent before, but there is a first for everything!!

And I even shared it!!

I ordered soup and salad so that I could order this desert and even took the soup home!!  Our waiter was a gem and gave us both kinds of soup since I changed my order from clam chowder to potato and bacon, since can can't stand clams!  And he also gave us four more biscuits to take with us. Another meal for home!!  And he got a good tip from Gary, certainly not our usual.
From there we went on to visit with Kelli and the kids for a while.  Sunday is Andrew's busy day and this was certainly no exception.

On Monday, August 17th, we moved on to Marksville, Louisiana for a week.  We are in an RV Park behind a casino.

It is very nice and clean, with good trees and green grass.  It is not a busy park right now, but they say that some times they are clear full.  The weather since arriving here has been rainy for three days. Gary does not mind as that is an excuse to go into the casino to pinch pennies!!  He goes early in the morning while I sleep in and he just went back a second time today as he is bored. They have shuttles driving through the park, but who wants to spend a dollar on that when we can put it in the slots?

We watched the storms rolling in
and home that we would be back home first!

Walmart is down the road about a half mile so have made a few runs to that also. Otherwise, we spent much of our time in front of the boob tube through the rain.

Thursday was finally a clear day so we went in to Alexandria to see the Kent Plantation House. The house and all of the other buildings have been moved to this location to show as a museum.  It was interesting and we sweltered through it even though it was climate controlled.  The furnishings were not from the actual Kent Plantation, but were actually from the same time period and donated by local people.

Slave quarters on the left, constructed of brick
made by the slaves.  Very few slave quarters were
made from brick.
Second from the left is a cook and laundry building.
Third from the left is the Plantation House with a milk house,
sugar processing plant to our right.

This was one of the slaves who helped build the
slave quarters.  She lived to be 114.  The top left
photo shows that the original roof was sheet metal.

Our tour began with a guide through the main house.

Fly catcher, with lure of sugar or homey water!

Sideboard with secret drawers in the center rounded
section next to the center doors.
We could not see them as they were
not able to be opened any longer.

Tea imported from the orient in block form.
It was then shaved off  for use and kept in the box next to it.

Sewing table where materials
and scraps were dropped into
the bag below.

Since the family was Catholic
there were several prayer benches
such as this.  

Homemade Pew Doll, made from
material only so that they could be
played with in church without any noise.

On to the cook house --

Many cast iron utensils used in that day
were on display.

This was a tin rotisserie used in front
of the fire.

Herbs being dried all of the time for cooking
and medicinal use also.

There were three herb gardens,
one for cooking, one for fragrance, and
a third one for medicinal use.

I just had someone ask what this was on FB.
Here I saw it again!  And I do remember
those days!!

I often see these at Craft Shows, but had
 never heard  what they were made for.other than
decoration.  Here I heard that they were
made clear back in the 1700's for the
whistling sound that came from them
in the wind.

Bag that was carried on one shoulder for the
cotton that was being picked.
I could imagine it getting pretty heavy when
full and if a child was resting on it.

From here we went on to the sugar plant --

Fire built behind these doors with the hottest being
at this end.

Thus the sugar cane after being crushed began it's process
with slaves stirring by standing over the kettles at the
location of the brick and jar that you see here.
It was then ladled with buckets on a pole
to the next step closer to the intense fire.

There were four kettles, back to front, with each one getting smaller in size to the smallest one with sugar crystalizing over the hottest heat source.
Before the process was begun the cane was crushed in this crusher when it was placed in the center opening.

Live oak of the south which has small oval leaves.  This one is over 150 years old --

Most plantations had cemeteries for their own, much like this one.

From this tour we went back to Marksville hoping to see a Mom and Pop restaurant on the way.  But we did not so stopped at Pizza hut for their deal of the day.  Thus we will be eating pizza for several days.  Yum!!
We also stopped in a couple thrift shops but only found two books that tempted me.
Since we can not find any other things of interest, we will move on tomorrow.  Pensacola, FL here we come!!  Just in time to join our friends at Olive Baptist Church on Sunday.