Madisonville August 2010

We have been here in Madisonville Louisiana for a few weeks and have been having a good time. Here is some of the things we have done.

We only have our bikes here so we have been riding around to the neat little old town of Madisonville. Lots of nice homes and marinas full of all kinds of boats. Rode our bikes to get groceries, museum, restaurant, bar, hardware store & marinas. We have to cross a swing bridge to get to most of them.

We had Chris, Kerry, Lisa & Eddie (Kerry's parents) down to the boat. Karen cooked a pig butt using Jeff Aufil's recipe. It was great. We all went for dingy rides up the Tchefuncte River. Where we saw John Goodman's home on the river with his boat named Redneck Cowboy.

Went to the Tchefuncte Maritime Museum where we learned a lot about this area. Like most of the wood and brick that built New Orleans came from here in Madisonville. They used sailboats to ferry it back and forth to the canals that went into the French Quarter. The site of the Maritime museum used to be a shipyard that built 300 foot military ships on the river. Then they would be placed on a barge and taken out to the gulf to be launched.

We spent an afternoon at a sand bar in the dingy near the entrance to the Tchefuncte River and Lake Pontchartrain, where lots of people hang out to party. Then went over to a water front bar named Friends for some kick ass Daiquiris.

Went out to dinner at Keith Young's Restaurant for our anniversary were we got to hang out at the bar with the owner and his wife.

Steve & Elizabeth drove over from Houston to visit. We went to eat at Friends for lunch and Commanders Palace for dinner on Friday. Spent the afternoon at the New Orleans Aquarium and drove around the garden district. After dinner we went out in the French Quarter to the Pirate Bar for a hand grenade, Pat O's for a Hurricane and Cafe Du Monde for coffee & Beignets. We saw the after party for the red dress run in the picure above on the way to the French Quarter.

Karen, Kerry & Elizabeth went to a Southern Living Home on Saturday while Chris, Steve and I went out to a remote subdivision and saw a hug gator, while enjoying a Fat Tuesday Daiquiris. We are really making use of all the drive thru Daiquiris places Texas doesn't have.

Sunday I rode back to Lake Charles with Steve & Elizabeth and picked up my truck. Karen had her brother Ricky & his wife Donna down to the boat for a visit. Man is it nice to have a vehicle in the parking lot! Thanks to Chris & Kerry for loaning us their car and hauling us around.

We took an overnight trip to visit our cousins Scott & Darlene in Long Beach Mississippi. We had a great time with them. By the way, not a tarball in sight on the beach. They had crews on the beach looking for them.

We went to the Abita Beer Brewery in Abita Springs and enjoyed all the different kinds of Abita beer they brew for an hour.

Took the boat up the Tchefuncte river on Saturday. Lots of boats out. Stopped at an anchorage, swam and cleaned the hull for a few hours. It's nice to be on fresh water.

We're planning on leaving here Sept. 1st heading to Pass Christian Marina. From there we're planning to head to LuLu's for the Labor Day Weekend. Then on to Florida.