We’ve had a wonderful summer at home in Georgia but the fifth wheel hasn’t moved in four months. It’s time to hit the road and do a little wandering in the RV.
We are heading to Virginia to spend a few days visiting our daughter’s family. We’ve made this trip several times before and although we could make it in one day we like to stop somewhere in North or South Carolina to break up the trip.
We enjoyed taking a walk around the pond in the campground
I love staying in new places so after I read a good review of the Little Cedar Creek Campground I decided we would check it out. The campground is clean and well maintained with friendly and helpful camp hosts. The sites are wooded, spacious and quiet. There are trails through the woods and at the bottom of a hill is a little pond and a creek. We decided to stay two nights so we could explore the nearby town of Ridgeway.
A Moose in the South Carolina WoodsDawg vs Gator
Downtown Ridgeway has some interesting old buildings, shops and a wonderful restaurant in the old town hall. We strolled around downtown and enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Old Town Hall Restaurant.
Old Police Station in Ridgeway, South Carolina
Right next to the old police station is the Ridgeway Police Department Today
Old Town Hall in Ridgeway, South Carolina
Ruff & Company Hardware Store since 1840
Old Ruff Hardware store on the left of the new store
“Skin me, Br’er Fox,’ sez Br’er Rabbit, sezee, ‘snatch out my eyeballs, t’ar out my yeras by de roots, en cut off my legs,’ sezee, ‘but do please, Br’er Fox, don’t fling me in dat brier-patch,’ sezee.”
– – from the story “How Mr. Rabbit Was Too Sharp for Mr. Fox” in the book “Uncle Remus: Being Legends of the Old Plantation” by Joel Chandler Harris.
When I was a child, my family spent a week every summer with my grandmother in Eatonton, Georgia. Back then, U.S. Highway 441 was a major north-south route through Georgia. The highway went through the downtown of many small towns and Eatonton was one of them. From the highway travelers saw the statue of Br’er Rabbit which sits on the courthouse lawn (the picture in the header above shows Br’er Rabbit is still on the courthouse lawn today).
Times have changed and these days a bypass goes around the town. Travelers who take the time to get off the bypass and explore the downtown area will find two interesting museums, a butterfly garden that is a certified Monarch Way Station, charming shops and an award winning restaurant.
Although I’ve lived most of my life in coastal Georgia, my roots are buried deep in the red clay of Putnam County in middle Georgia. My mother grew up on a dairy farm in Putnam County and after she and my dad retired there in the early 1970’s my children got to spend their childhood visiting Eatonton, the county seat, each year. I still go there several times a year.
Joel Chandler Harris and the Uncle Remus Museum
Brer Rabbit stands in front of the Uncle Remus Museum in Eatonton, GA
Joel Chandler Harris, the author of the Uncle Remus stories was born in Eatonton in 1848. Harris first introduced the characters of Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox, and Br’er Bear in a newspaper column. The column was so successful he later published several popular books of the stories. The 1946 Disney movie “Song of the South” brought these characters to life on the big screen.
Uncle Remus Museum honoring author Joel Chandler Harris in Eatonton, Georgia
A visit to Eatonton wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Uncle Remus Museum located in Turner Park, three blocks from the courthouse on Highway 441. The building housing the museum was created from original slave cabins from Putnam County. Two cabins were moved to the museum location and combined to make the two main rooms of the museum. Later, a third room was added from a Putnam County plantation home. In these rooms are many first editions of his books, interesting displays of artifacts from the 1800’s, and shadow boxes with wooden carvings of the characters.
Uncle Remus Museum in Eatonton, Georgia
The day I visited the museum I was greeted by Georgia, a delightful and enthusiastic volunteer who entertained me with many great stories. The Uncle Remus books were printed in at least 27 different languages and the museum has visitors from all over the world. In one of the display cases are several books published in other languages that were sent to the museum from visitors when they returned home after visiting the museum.
Georgia Writer’s Museum
In addition to Joel Chandler Harris, Eatonton is also the birthplace of Alice Walker, award winning author of “The Color Purple”. Flannery O’Conner’s home was in nearby Milledgeville.
The Georgia Writer’s Museum features permanent displays celebrating these three authors. In addition, there are books on display from many of other Georgia authors.
Again I was greeted by an enthusiastic volunteer who walked with me through the museum and told me some interesting stories about the authors.
Georgia Writers Museum in Eatonton, Georgia
Georgia Writers Museum in Eatonton, Georgia
Georgia Writers Museum in Eatonton, Georgia
Uncle Remus display at Georgia Writers Museum in Eatonton, Georgia
Butterflies and Blooms in the Briar Patch
A fairly new addition to the town is a beautiful butterfly habitat created by local volunteers. The garden is Certified Monarch Way Station No. 9045 and is also an official site for geo-caching. When I visited there in August, 2015 several varieties of Swallowtails kept me entertained.
Smith’s Coastal Grill
Smith’s Coastal Grill, Eatonton, Georgia
Of course we have a favorite restaurant when we are in Eatonton. Smith’s Coastal Grill, located on Jefferson Street just a block from the courthouse, was recently named one of the 100 Great Plates in the state of Georgia and is featured in Georgia Eats, the Official State Culinary Guide for the state. They won this honor for their amazing fish tacos. Other favorites are shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, and Key Lime Pie that rivals any you could get in Key West.
Right next door to the restaurant is Smith’s Sweets with coffee, homemade pralines, pastries, ice cream and if you get there on the right morning, delicious chicken biscuits.
Smith’s Coastal Grill in downtown Eatonton, Georgia
Smith’s Coastal Grill in downtown Eatonton, Georgia
Inks Lake State Park in Burnet (pronounced BURN-it DERN it) was our home for the 4 nights before Easter weekend. Thanks to my friend Tim in Arlington for recommending this park.
We arrived early in the day and were able to get a beautiful waterfront site. The bad news is we would have to leave on Good Friday because the park was full for Easter weekend. I knew we would love the area when we saw bluebonnets lining the roads to the park.
Our waterfront campsite was a great place to watch ducks, geese and all the water activities. We saw people paddling canoes and kayaks, floating on tubes, and fishing from motor boats. The sunsets were gorgeous.
Mallards at Inks Lake
Dove at Inks Lake
Canada Geese at Inks Lake
Hooded Merganser at Inks Lake
Turtles on a log at Inks Lake
Sunset at Inks Lake
I love talking to locals to find out the best places to see. We stopped at Longhorn Caverns State Park one morning to ask about the tours. The ranger had seen me taking pictures of bluebonnets beside the road and he told us about a great scenic drive south of Llano. We were headed to Llano for lunch so we were off on a bluebonnet hunt after we stuffed ourselves with brisket and ribs.
Cooper’s Barbeque in Llano, Texas
Indian Paintbrush
Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush along Park Road 4
Bluebonnets beside a stream
Boots and bluebonnets
Beth in the bluebonnets
One afternoon we toured nearby Longhorn Caverns. During prohibition the cavern was privately owned and the cavern was run as a honky tonk and restaurant. In one of the large rooms was a bandstand with tables set up all around. When prohibition was repealed the owner gave the land to the state of Texas.
Crystals in Longhorn Cavern
This dog was formed naturally
Longhorn Cavern
Longhorn Cavern
Eastern Pipistrelle bat about three inches long at Longhorn Cavern
Eastern Pipistrelle bat about three inches long at Longhorn Cavern
Longhorn Cavern State Park
Built by the CCC in the 1930’s at Longhorn Cavern State Park
One morning we took a hike on the Valley Spring trail in the state park. The trail started out beside the lake and wound through the woods with wildflowers growing beneath the trees.
Blondie getting her feet wet at Inks Lake
Deil’s Waterhole on Inks Lake
Bluebonnets beside the Spring Valley trail at Inks Lake
Top of the waterfall
Beside the waterfall
Waterfall at Inks Lake
Inks Lake State Park has moved up near the top of my list of favorite state parks. Our site was a back in paved pad with water and electric hookups, a picnic table, fire ring, and lantern hook. We had a huge area beneath shade trees to set up our chairs and watch the world go by. There are two fishing piers, a marina and boat launch, canoe and kayak rentals, playground, camp store, and several hiking trails. Click to read my campground review of Inks Lake State Park.
After a rough ride traveling west in Louisiana on the worst section of I-10 in the United States we arrived at Poche’s Fish N Camp in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana for a couple of days. The campsites are arranged around a large fishing pond lined with Cypres trees. Most of the sites have a paved pad, full hookups, and WiFi. There are several ponds for fishing, a clubhouse, swimming pool, and laundry. The staff was great. Many thanks to them for recommending Fun in the Sun RV Repair to repair our heater and many thanks to the repairman who came out in the rain the same day we called him and got it fixed.
It rained off and on the whole time we were there so we couldn’t do too much exploring in the area. I had to do my bird watching at the campground. A Snowy Egret walked along the pond right behind our campsite in the afternoons and Cormorants and ducks were in the water every day. A Great Blue Heron even made an appearance.
Office at Poche’s Fish N Camp
Clubhouse at Poche’s Fish N Camp
Our site from across the pond
Campground at Poche’s Fish N Camp
Ducks on the pond
Picture taken through our back window of Snowy Egret behind the camper
Great Blue Heron
The rain couldn’t stop us from enjoying some amazing Cajun feasts! Crawfish etoufee, rice dressing (dirty rice), slaw, fried catfish, fried shrimp, chicken and sausage gumbo, Boudin, Andouille sausage and more! We ate several delicious meals at Poche’s Market and Restaurant. Their market has a large selection of sausages, meats and seasonings so I filled the freezer with Andouille sausage and Boudin to take with us and now my pantry has some of their seasoning mix and File powder.
It’s so good we had three meals here!
Poche’s Cajun Cuisine
Our meal at Poche’s – Crawfish Etoufee, Dirty Rice and Slaw – Sooooo good!
A visit to the Tabasco Factory on Avery Island was a must see on this trip. Henry is a hot sauce aficionado and Tabasco is a staple on our table along with the salt and pepper. We visited the factory 30 years ago when our kids were young and we both have memories of walking into the aging room with the aroma of the sauce so strong that most of the other people in the tour got out of there as fast as they could. Not Henry! He loved it! Unfortunately, they no longer take the tours through that room.
The sauce is aged in barrels that were first used to age Jack Daniels Whiskey. We watched a short video and then watched original Tabasco sauce being bottled and labeled before browsing in the museum. We had our first taste of Boudin sausage (yummy and spicy) from a food truck and spent a few dollars in the gift shop before heading back to Breaux Bridge. A stop at Walmart for some necessities and we were back at camp in time to watch the rain come down the rest of the day.
Avery Island, Louisiana
Visitor’s Center at the Tabasco Factory
Can we take this bottle home?
The world’s best known hot sauce
Even Queen Elizabeth uses Tabasco Sauce
Waiting for the tour to begin
The sauce is aged in barrels that were used to make Jack Daniels Whiskey
Original Tabasco sauce going down the assembly line
The peppers are made into a mash
Lunch was delicious Boudin from the Tabasco food truck
After feasting on country cooking for lunch and James Beard Award winning barbeque for dinner with coconut pecan pie for desert on Monday, hot tamales were in our future for Tuesday.
We broke camp in Marianna, Arkansas and pulled the fifth wheel about 130 miles south to Lake Village, Arkansas where we set up camp at Lake Chicot State Park before getting back in the truck to drive across the Mississippi River into Greenville, Mississippi. Our destination was Doe’s Eat Place, another restaurant featured in Alton Brown’s “Feasting on Asphalt the River Run.”
Doe’s Eat Place, Greenville, MS
We were greeted by one of the employees as we entered the front room which was once was a honky tonk. She told us a little about the restaurant and invited us to look around. After placing our order of 3 dozen hot tamales to go, we wandered through the 3 dining rooms. The lunch rush was over and the employees were busy getting ready for the dinner crowd. We were the only customers. A large gas range is the focal point in the main dining room. Photos and other memorabilia covered the walls.
The original Doe with 2 of his famous Porterhouse steaks
The front kitchen Doe’s Eat Place used to be a honky tonk
A wall dedicated to the sports stars who have eaten at Doe’s E
Doe’s Eat Place James Beard Award
Doe’s Eat Place has a very interesting history that goes all the way back to 1903 when Doe’s father moved to Greenville and opened a grocery store where the the restaurant is today. The building has been a grocery store, honky tonk, and now a restaurant.
In addition to tamales, Doe’s is famous for their Porterhouse Steaks. Doe’s won the James Beard American Classics Award in 2007 and their food has been recognized by publications such as Southern Living, Men’s Journal, and Bon Appetit.
The 3 dozen tamales to go are served in a large food container about the size of a 2 pound coffee can. The tamales are hand wrapped and tied into bundles of 3. The beef tamales are cooked in a delicious sauce that has just the right amount of heat. We enjoyed some for dinner and brought the rest back in our freezer.
Tamales are hand wrapped and tied in bundles of three
Before our visit to the Mississippi Delta, we have probably never eaten in a James Beard Award winning restaurant. Now, in 2 days, we have enjoyed food from 2 award winners!
Wandering Dawgs 