THE GREAT RIVER ROAD and BEYOND - JUNE 3 thru JULY 8

It was now time to set out for the east coast. Crossing into Louisiana we went across the 25 mile Breaux Bridge. It is a four lane road raised above the Atchafalaya River and its watery surrounds. It gives one a sense of what lies in bayou country, a wild and unforgiving place. This is the area where exiles from Arcadia were allowed to settle. They were able to survive because they were hunters and fishermen. Hopefully, we will be able to explore this area more fully someday

Mike had thought the Great River Road would give us a sense of how the Mississippi River affects the places along it, much like we experienced when following the Natchez Trace. It turned out there were very few places to really do this as the road bypassed the towns, museums were closed on the days we wanted to visit and there were not many places to view the river itself. In Louisiana the look of the land was that of plantation country with stately tall oaks draped with moss, old lichen covered gravestones, and lots of vegetation. There were grand homes once former plantations, small wood cottages and ornate Victorian houses and businesses to be seen around St. Francisville and Port Gibson.




Our trip into Baton Rouge and the state capitol was done in the pouring rain. But southern hospitality was not dampened any. The security guard in the capitol building told us to look at a new bicentennial display showing the first Lone Star Flag that flew over what was then part of West Florida for 74 days. The observation deck up on the 27th floor of the 34 story building was closed due to the rain. The building resembles the Empire State Building, which was built the year before. We talked with Peggy, the clerk at the gift shop on the 27th floor, about herself and her travel dreams. We left with gifts of our visit with her. The officer outside the legislature escorted us in to sit near the pages to hear the business being done.

Baton Rouge on the Mississippi - Capitol in background


After the capitol visit it was time for lunch. We ate oyster Po Boys and crawfish etoufee to sample some Louisiana cuisine.



Traveling on through Mississippi the land turned to corn and cane fields. We found the Great River road to be mostly boring so we left it just north of Memphis, Tennessee. We drove through Kentucky on a previously traveled route to West Virginia.

As we traveled through West Virginia we marveled at the sight of houses and roads in the hollows far beneath us as our roadway took us across bridges spanning hill after hill. Why did they choose to live at the bottom and shadow of the hill instead of on its top? We thought we would stop and walk around downtown Charlestown as we missed doing that when we last came through. However we missed the exit and again missed seeing if Charleston was as interesting as advertised. But, that gave us time to later see Clarksburg’s historic district and to have dinner in a home turned into a spaghetti restaurant. The Italian miners who came to work in the coal mines took salami, pepperoni, or bologna with hunks of hearth-baked bread down into the depths of the coal seams in their lunch pails. The Pepperoni Roll, a Clarksburg favorite was thus invented and has endured till today!

In Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New Hampshire we visited with family and friends. A high-school graduation celebration, two christenings and several cookouts were main events. We had 8 year old Kate Levesque with us traveling from Yardley, PA to Nashua, NH. Her first trip in an RV was made longer and more exciting as we had to take several detours on the way. The detours were reminders that sometimes bridges on back roads can be too low or cannot support our 16 ton RV.

Kevin’s graduation party



Kristen, Tim and Charlotte Wood



Paul, Fran and Granddaughter Kate Levesque



Mariah, Kira, Erin, Johnny and Johnathan Baranowski








We drove into Trenton, New Jersey to visit the State House. Close by, in Hamilton, NJ, was Grounds For Sculpture. Here, more than 250 sculptures by renowned and emerging artists are installed in a marvelously varied landscape of exotic trees, flowers and waterscapes. Seward Johnson founded this parkland of art and nature. His life-like sculptures are scattered in sometimes hidden pockets of the park. In fact, when we were having our lunch at an outside table tucked in a corner beneath some bamboo, a woman stared at us for awhile and then apologized because she said she thought we might be one of his sculptures. Here are examples of some of the sculptures and their settings.





One hot day while in NH, we decided to drive to Providence, Rhode Island to visit the State House. The white marble façade and the many stairs leading up to the building were dazzling in the hot sun. We then learned that the public entrance was on the opposite side. Once inside we found it was not air-conditioned. We, needless to say, did not spend much time on our self-guided tour.

The steps and white granite façade of the Rhode Island State House


Though the downtown looked interesting we decided to stay inside our air-conditioned car and drive down to Newport where along Naragansett Bay and the ocean it might be cooler. Rhode Island is aptly nicknamed The Ocean State.