Floribama Riders

I have a question... is it the ride, or the destination that makes one of these weekends so special?

To recap what Joe, Susan, and Bekay said, we took a nice ride southbound on Saturday down to Loosiana to sample some authentic acadian culture. Joe Mac, Silk, Mully, Big Daddy and Bekay, all departed with Big Dan Bowman at 6 AM. (We waited till 10 after to catch any potential stragglers) The ride down to Mississippi was chilly, with a light mist fogging our helmet's shields. I could tell Bekay was uncomfortable with the way she was moving around behind me. Our first gas stop was at 120 miles due to a bit of an abbreviated range on Dan Bowman's KTM dirtbike. We did make good time when we were in the saddle, averaging (ahem) well over 70 mph most of the trip. During the first stop, Bekay put on some frogg toggs over her riding gear to cut the chill.

Mississippi saw us leaving slab about 40 miles past Meridien, taking Ms Hwy 35 southbound down to Bogalusa. The road was mainly through rural countryside and it gave a distinct difference to the Mississippi I grew up with in the Delta. The road had some good moments, allowing us to "ride" and not just "cruise". By the time we reached Bogalusa for lunch, we had pretty much shed all of our winter gear and we were all riding in quasi-summer mode. The wonderful weather made for a happy group of bikers.

From Bogalusa, we headed west on La. Hwy 10, a VERY nice jaunt across the rural backroads of south Louisiana. The terrain was varied, and occasionally would tease us with excellent altitude changes, as well as some nice curves. There were several sections that saw the century old oak trees growing together over the road to create an emerald tunnel, all softened by the hanging moss. A wonderful visual experience and also a nice break from all that dang sunshine. :)

JoeMac most succinctly pointed out the large number of tractors.... I would guess we saw between 300 and 500 tractors during this stretch... as well as large herds of dairy cattle. By now, our group had really reached a good road rhythm, and we dispatched cars in front of us with ease. After about 150 miles of fine riding, we slowly made it through St Francisville to take the ferry across the Mighty Mississippi. St Francisville is a treat... antebellum homes, antique stores, wrought iron fences, and those ancient old oak trees festooned with moss made for a very pleasant few minutes as we soaked up the ambience of a time long gone. All of us made a comment on the ferry about how St Francisville is a place that we would all like to make a return visit to spend a few well placed hours.

The ferry ride was unique in that it is one of very few that still are DOT links on the river. Apparently, they ferry around 1400 vehicles a day at 1 dollar per vehicle. We took the opportunity to get some snaps of us pretending to be Huck Finn, cast adrift on the mighty, muddy, river.

The ride down to Breaux Bridge saw us riding along a huge lake with tons of boats, houses, and recreation spots. Again, the views were terrific, and the soul surfing was top notch as we enjoyed the vistas. We finally hooked up with I 49 for a quick dash down to Lafayette, then another VERY short Interstate run on I 10 over to Breaux Bridge.

When we arrived at the Bayou Cabins, Scott and Kelly had just arrived with Roadkill Tony Roberts. Nothing but big smiles and hugs as we all had a chance to swap sugar and back slappin with each other. The proprietors at Bayou Cabins fix each cabin a tray of boudin, hog's head cheese, sausage, cracklin', and home made root beer. A nice treat to relax and enjoy the warm sunshine as cajun music was played over the speakers.

We really lucked into a special little place with the Sonnier's. They have about 14 cabins, all decorated in quaint antique ways, that form a semi-circle around a large grassy common area with a fire pit and large old oak shade trees. There was a family celebrating a birthday, and by the end of the night, we were all best friends.

My buddy Ralph brought his family over to be injected with a big dose of FBR hospitality, but he turned the tables on us and ordered all of the appetizers from Mulate's. Catfish, alligator, boudin, and hushpuppies all made for our pre meal treats, and came dang close to filling us up before our cajun offerings began to arrive. While we were visiting, the band started to play and the lilt of a cajun fiddle with an accordian provided a nice background to our food and conversation. After dinner, Bekay and I did our best to dance, not really giving a crap what people thought...just enjoying the mood and festive atmosphere. We had lots of smiles and "attaboys" from the locals when they found out we had ridden from Birmingham just to share a meal with them on the bayou.

Earlier in the evening JoeJames made several classic comments in his impish manner.... and yeah, there NEEDS to be a bumpersticker that sez, "Will Fellate for Real Estate". That comment, as well as his impertinent discourse with a local cajun queen made for good entertainment. If Lloyd is Puck, then Joe is definetly a wood imp.

We walked to Mulate's from our cabins, and when we returned, our neighbors were out in full force. They had a big fire in the firepit, a guitar, some fruit jars, and lots of brotherly love to share. Needless to say, we accepted their hospitality and tarried a bit, singing (badly) along with their songs and laughing at the antics of the cajuns, as well as the wry observations shared by Roadkill, JoeJames, and others. Fun? Yeah.... Hello Joe, me wanna go.....
Bekay looked at me, dropped a Lortab, and moseyed down to the cabin around 10:30... I think by 10:35, we were both chasing little Z's all over the room.

Breakfast was part of the deal, and the Sonnier's did a fine job of eggs, toast, country ham or cajun sausage with stout Community coffee. Bekay had the beignets, and we enjoyed cutting up with the birthday party from the night before.

After heartfelt good-byes, we mounted up for a quick 30 mile ride south to Avery Island, home of my beloved Tabasco sauce. The video, tour, and factory walk through take about 15 to 20 minutes. We made our way over to the Tabasco country store to partake of their chili, etouffee, boudin, and sausage for lunch. Did I tell ya the food was good? Yo, cher.... it was F I N E. It was now 1 oclock, and we had a long way to go to get home..... good byes were passed around to Scott and Kelly, and a big ole hug given to Roadkill. Man, it was GREAT to see those guys. Long time, oldskool FBR from the coast. We then made our way back to I 10, and did an 8 bike freight train across the Atchafalaya swamp to Baton Rouge. Roadkill on his KLR, and Scott n Kelly on the Cagiva, peeled off.

I then wicked it up, a bit, to take us into Hammond on I 12. Joe and I had a bit of fun with a souped up Mustang... we were cruising at 95... Mustang blows bye at about 125.... I pat Bekay on the ass and light a fire under the 'bird. Whammo... I think Joe and I hit 135 before we tucked in behind the 'stang and gave him a nice little howdy. harumph. Cars.

Susan elected to split off from us to take slab through Mobile then back north on I 65 to avoid doing a cross country alabama nightime ride.

That left Big Dan, Joe, Mully, and Bekay and I, as the last 4 bikes to head north on I 59. From that point, I put the XX on 100 and let her hum. zooma. We made great time, and only had the Passport 8500 chatter at me twice as a reminder that performance awards might be in order from either Louisiana or Mississippi' s finest. My cohorts did not complain about the pace, so we pretty much kept the hammer down till we reached I 459. At this point, it was about 8:45, and luckily the temps were still very warmish. We unloaded, packed up Big Dan's KTM, and ordered a Pizza Hut pizza. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhh. Home.

My body was tired, my neck was tired, but my soul was renewed. Great riding, great company, great friends, great destination. .... just a very nice way to spend two days. My bride kept telling me what a wonderful weekend she was having... sunkist, wind burned, sore assed, and happy. Wonderful club, wonderful group. Hey, anyone wanna do a redeaux? TRTEAR, here we come!!!!

Ya'll ride safe... BD