oh the places we go

Our adventures are often planned out. There's the place. Then there are the places to go when we get to place, knowing that we'll find other places in between the places. That's what makes these trips adventures. The unplanned events make for the best stories. Our recent excursion was something different. We had the place. Madisonville, LA. We had the place there that we wanted to visit. We wanted to see docked ships on the riverfront. We never really landed at the riverfront. This adventure ended up being entirely things found upon our way. We had a better time for it. 

Home

We made it to Madisonville, but instead of turning left, we went right. Okay, technically straight, but you get the point. We went in another direction with no real reason why. This is where we stumbled upon the Lake Pontchartrain Maritime Museum.  They're closed on Mondays, but most importantly know that they close daily at 4:00pm. We just happened to have been lucky enough to find it before then. 

The giant anchor and mini-lighthouse outside the museum is what caught our attention. Of course we had to stop to take pictures with them. Even better, if you're asking Eric, was the Jurassic Park Jeep that was parked there too. Turns out that one of the employees there owns it. If you catch Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom on opening weekend in the Madisonville area then you can get a look at it too. It will be parked outside of the theater.

Didn't know it was a documentary, did ya?

The museum will set you back $5, so I'll call it affordable. The museum concentrates on the Lake Pontchartrain Basin, the lower Mississippi River Valley and the Louisiana Gulf Coast. You'll find photos, motors as old as time itself, a film room to hear the oral history of the area and there's even a submarine from the civil war. They also offer a robotics camp where kids have the chance to build their own underwater remotely operated vehicle. Complete with lights and camera. How cool would that be to take to the beach or a local lake?!

Restored light house lamp.

I asked about the local lighthouses that are featured in the museum. We were pointed down the road where we could get a view of the Tchefuncte River Lighthouse. It isn't accessible by car, but you can see it from the shore or a closer look by boat. It was even featured in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Who knew?!

Civil War Submarine Surfaces (colorized)

On the way to the lighthouse, we came to a bridge where cars were pulled over and people were out looking at something in the water. We knew what that meant. Gators! So, of course, we jumped out and got our gator fix. These had some size to them that our previous encounter did not (see our Jungle Gardens and Scorpion Sauce blog post). These were adult sized. The one that came the closest looked to be about ten feet long. Once he/she went down under water, we hit the road again. 

That there's a light house.

We reached the end of the line only a few minutes from the museum. We walked out to what I'll call the sea wall and there it was. The lighthouse in the distance. Damaged in the Civil War, it was rebuilt with many of the original bricks. It wasn't close, but it was definitely close enough to get some good photos. There were a couple of nearby homes/camps that need to be on Airbnb for a quiet getaway. 

Airbnb anyone?

Rain was on the way and it really seemed to add to the experience. The spray hitting the wall. The gathering wind. Graying skies. I'm pretty sure that I almost became one with the sea that day my friends. Or I could be over dramatizing. I'm not saying Eric was suddenly in a wool turtleneck and smoking a pipe, but I'm not saying he wasn't. 

We headed out, not sure where we were going. One thing was for sure though, the rains had come. It was nearly blowing sideways as we drove into Abita Springs. Perhaps it was the wind, probably the wet roads, but I've never seen so many cars in ditches. We managed to stay upright and on the road while Eric found that we were too late for a tour of the Abita Brewery. You need to get there early in the day for tours. I don't drink, and I'm pretty sure Eric just didn't want to get out in the rain, so we passed on stopping by their tap room. If you find Abita beer in your area then please give it a try. Eric's go-to is the Amber.

Stop in for some pub grub and suds.

The brewery has grown quite a bit and had moved to a larger site after about eight years. They now brew one hundred times the amount of beer than they did their first year! That's what happens would you make good beer. Eric's testimony. We also stopped by the original site. It is now the Abita Brew Pub. We were kinda losers here, because we didn't go in. It wasn't dinner time and we were needing to head back to Baton Rouge. We'll treat you right next time Abita Springs.

Windy day with a tiny light house back there.

Sometimes the unplanned trips turn out to be so good that you run out of time do to more. A perfect excuse to go back!