Relaxing in East Texas

 

We left Livingston, TX on 7 Nov on our way to Martin Dies State Park on B.A. Stinehagen Lake.  The drive was pretty short but not short on beauty.  We are continually amazed by the beautiful rolling hills and the huge trees.  When we got here the Park Ranger told us to go find a camp site and then come back and sign in.  We drove around the park and in typical fashion Stephanie couldn't decide which site she liked the most.  After about an hour she picked site #9, yes 9 out of 230 sites, all of which we were required to look at.  In all honesty, she did pick a great site.  The thing that made it all the more difficult was that there were only about 10 sites taken so the choices were pretty overwhelming.

View of bay at our campsite

Our Camp site #9

View from our front door

Now one of the thing that we learned about this state park is that there are a lot of both swamps and bayous, as such and being in the south there are alligators.

Eye opening sign

There are also numerous trails in the area which allow you to explore both the swamps and the bayous.  It was a little disconcerting taking our dogs on these trails.  It felt sort of like we were trolling for alligators with our little dogs being the bait.  Needless to say, we kept a very tight hold on their leashes.

Trail through a swamp area

Trail bridge through a bayou

We never did see any alligators while here but for us desert dwellers that was ok.  For those of you who might not know the difference between a swamp and a Bayou.  They both have water and they both have lots of trees and vegetation growing in them but a swamp is cutoff from a continuous fresh supply of water and a bayou is not.  Alligators live in both.  Just in case you were interested.

 

On Saturday, 9 Nov. we decided to take a drive down to Beaumont, TX for the day.  We were looking for a Hobby Lobby and a Walmart.  What we found was a Pappadeaux Restaurant.  Forget about Hobby Lobby and Walmart, we found Cajun heaven.  Bill ordered the Blackened Catfish with red beans and rice and Stephanie ordered a bowl of Crawfish Bisque with a salad.  For an appetizer we ordered the Boudain.  While our meals were exceptional the Boudain was challenging.  Boudain is a sort of sausage made of mostly entrails of a chicken or hog or deer or whatever animal you have mixed with spices and rice.  It did come with some really great garlic bread though.  After our meal we went to a whole foods store so Stephanie could stock up on gluten free products.  It was a really

wonderful day.




Today, Sunday 10 Nov. we leave Martin Dies State Park headed for Lafayette, LA.  I'm sure we will enjoy Lafayette also but we will really miss Martin Dies State Park.  I'm sure we will be back someday but until then we will just relish the memories.