Saturday, 1 February 2020
Last night's campground seems to be catering primarily to working folks, because even on a Saturday there was a veritable parade of pickups leaving the campground very early. No ambiance at all but it was a good campground for me because so many people leave during the day, there's a lot of roadway for the dogs and me to walk on, and it looked like wild animals were likely minimal. Actually, I was a little sorry I wasn't going to stay longer because an older couple was in the pavilion cooking in large containers, and I'm guessing they were fixing something like red beans and rice or maybe BBQ for the campground. But I'd already paid for our reservation at the state park.
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| today's route |
This state built most of its economy around the oil & gas industry; then plummeting oil prices in the 1980s brought a statewide economic crisis. Public schools were among the worst in the country; political corruption was rampant; crime soared; social services couldn't meet the needs. In 1992, desperate for revenue, LA legalized gambling. Casinos now seem to be everywhere: a few miles from the campground I saw several truck stops that had casinos attached.
I passed a plant labeled "UOP - A Honeywell Company." Curious, I looked it up and learned that Honeywell has been very busy in the last 20 years. I'm used to them being an electronics company, but UOP stands for Universal Oil Products and that seems to be Honeywell's main focus now. The history of mergers and acquisitions is interesting. https://www.uop.com/uop-history
Heading east I passed a sign saying "Baton Rouge Corp. Limit" which reminded me I've long been curious about this corporate thing regarding cities. Several states in the Northeast do this, too. From a little research I've concluded it's referring to the fact that Baton Rouge is an incorporated town, unlike the unincorporated towns around the state. And that seems to be it - I can't tell that there's any other significance to it.
Through Baton Rouge and on through Denham Springs, US Hwy. 190 took me past a long series of strip malls, car dealerships, subdivisions from the '50s and '60s and '70s, several tortillerias, car washes, a Veterans Home - you get the picture. After Denham Springs the road was more peaceful; not less heavily traveled, just less consumer oriented. In some towns it seemed to function as one of the town's main roads, based on the stores and buildings I saw.
For an hour of today's drive I listened to some nice old music on a radio program called Rhythm Review. Today's program consisted nonstop of songs that reached only #2 on the pop charts, some just barely beaten for #1. But it was good music including Bob Dylan, the Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison, Blood Sweat & Tears, 5th Dimension - a real mix, and a real pleasure.
A lot of the length of Hwy 190 braids with a railroad track, and at one point I saw a side road crossing the track that stopped abruptly about 20 yards from the track, right at the front door of a small old house. Maybe the house was originally built as a RR station, but it looked like it's always been a house, So incredibly close to the track!
I drove through the town of Albany, where Boyd Wild is running for Chief of Police. I know because I saw at least a dozen signs posted in this very small town urging people to vote for him.
Albany has 1,100 residents, and it looked like about half of them were at Carter's Supermarket when I drove by - the parking lot was completely full and I was glad I hadn't planned to stop for groceries there.
I passed a sign that said just "Hungarian Settlement." There didn't seem to be anything in particular around it, so I looked it up. It's a part of the town of Albany that was settled by Hungarian immigrants beginning with 11 families about 1900. By 1920 there were around 200 families, many of them living on farms. Their culture began to die out, but a resurgence of interest at the Bicentennial led to renewal of traditions. There's an interesting article about the settlement and its strawberry farming at this link. https://countryroadsmagazine.com/strawberry-fields-forever
Pumpkin Center
I've been curious about this place for years. When Momma and I used to drive to and from Florida, I'd see the I-12 exit for Pumpkin Center and wonder why on earth folks would give that name to their town. I assumed it was a farming community that grew a lot of pumpkins. So today was my chance to go take a look.
It's neither a farming community nor does it grow pumpkins, unless somebody's got them in their home garden. The story's well told in this Wikipedia entry, so I'll let it do the telling. https://en.wikipedia.org/Pumpkin-Center
I found a map online that's used by local realtors, that gave me an idea of the main streets of this community, and that's where I drove. It seems to be entirely residences, most of them spaced widely apart, some modest and others quite nice. I think there's some money in this town, because I saw an old Corvette in beautiful condition and several new luxury cars.
It reminded me of some rural towns I visited in the Northeast, with residential areas serviced by very narrow roads closely bounded by people's wooden fences and utility poles (meaning I was almost forced to drive in the middle of the road so my side mirror wouldn't knock into anything). The roads could just barely accommodate 2 vehicles across, if they were both cars and not RVs. And it was a Saturday so residents were out and about, doing errands and so forth, and there was a lot of traffic. But they were all very nice to me even though I clearly didn't belong there.
So now I've seen Pumpkin Center. I wish Momma and I had taken the exit so she could have seen it too.
Ponchatoula
We drove through the nice little old town of Ponchatoula (pop. 6,600), Home of the Strawberry Festival, they say. Actually, they host this festival every April and it's now the 2nd largest festival in the state (Mardi Gras is 1st, of course). I saw lots of strawberry vendors by the side of the road, though not in a place where my RV could stop.
I later learned that Ponchatoula calls itself America's Antique City. (Since the town was founded in 1820 and incorporated in 1861, it's antique in more ways than one.) Apparently believing folks needed a party between Mardi Gras (February) and the Strawberry Festival (April), Ponchatoula hosts Antique Trade Days during the first weekend in March. They expect lots of crafts, antiques and collectibles. Probably a lot of fun.
Back on the road
After Hammond, I was driving on State Route 22 the rest of the way to the campground. For a change of scenery, I saw a small herd of cows in a small field near Bedico. At another point, I saw Dexter alert to a yard full of goats. I don't know how he knows these are animals to pay attention to since he's never gotten anywhere close to one.
I passed by lots of subdivisions with tract houses - but these houses were really fancy and must have cost money to buy. It's just they looked like they were all built at the same time by the same builder using the same 4 floor plans. Being fancy instead of ordinary doesn't change that.
Route 22 has been designated a Louisiana Scenic Route. As far as I'm concerned, there was nothing wrong with the scenery along Hwy 190. The only difference I noticed is that this road is narrower.
I crossed the Tchefuncte River, designated a National Scenic River. I'm including this link https://en.wikipedia.org/Tchefuncte-River because it has not only the pronunciation of that name but also a photo of what I saw crossing the bridge. Lots of fancy houses and businesses crowded along the river, including a company called Nunmaker Yachts, which provides triple-decker storage of people's shrink-wrapped yachts.
When I got to Mandeville, I saw campaign signs practically wall-to-wall. Turns out there's an election in April with 5 candidates for mayor alone, as well as candidates for most of the city council slots. According to newspaper articles I found, the mayor and council members have been at each others' throats for some time now. Most are blaming the current mayor for the fighting, and he's term-limited out of the mayor's post. But he's running for an at-large seat on the city council, so the election in April will show whether Mandeville's voters are truly tired of the infighting. I love local politics - it's so entertaining - as long as I don't live there.
I passed a place called Northlake Nature Center and was surprised to find the parking area filled up. Apparently there are a number of trails through forests and swampland, and it is a pleasant Saturday, but I'm still surprised so many folks wanted to go here.
And so to the nearly filled state campground for a couple of nights.
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