Many pictures Fast internet users only

Had a new hire with me all week so I was able to ride and mess with the cell phone. Took a few pictures of our area.

We still have farming in the area...





You can even find some cattle ranches...



We have a John Deere plant



Where they build new harvesters.



You might even see some old homes or buildings left over from our slavery days.



Sorry I could not get more pictures of the well built homes in the area many dateing back to early 1800's to late 1700's. They are built way off the road and have many large oak trees in front of them.

But what you will notice the farther and farther south you get is how the houses are built well off the ground.





Even mobile homes are raised well off the ground.



You will also notice that we bury all our dead above the ground in concrete tombs.



You will notice everyone may not own a tractor but most have boats.





Since fishing is a big way of life down here it is nothing to see a shrimp boat headed out to sea...



Or a yard full of blue crab traps....



Many own shrimp boats that cost well more than the house they live in.







Another big employer down here is offshore drilling so you will see lots of things related to that.
Yards of drilling pipe.



And many boats that service the industry.







And even yards where they build the offshore rigs.





With all the boat traffic you will notice a lot of our bridges are draw bridges. A pain if you are driving around because they are constantly opening.





Some are even pontoon draw bridges that float on the water. Sorry no trucks over 25 tons. You must take the long way around. And if you drive a big truck you better know where they are at or you will be turning around and traveling many miles to get back to a road that goes a different way.



And did you notice how close to sea level we are. Yes all these water shots are sea level.

Yep still headed south. Land is getting real scarce now but you can see the town off in the distance on the right of the picture.



Very few people live this far south. Mostly oil related business; fishermen and seafood houses; and a few camps owned by people that live back in town.
And roads mean nothing to some of these diehards. If you look real close you can see some of the camp roofs off in the distance. This is the closest road to said camps.





And did you notice all the trees (or lack there of) I think the great plains has more trees then this area. Hurricanes; salt water intrusion; and sinking land from the Mississippi river being leveed up are all to blame.
I hope you enjoyed your visit to South Louisiana.

John, Enjoyed the visit very much !

Thanks for posting all the great pictures !

Bill

Things seem to be leaning!

Thanks for the pics.

You got everything in those pictures but the heat and humidity.

Whereabouts is this? I had family that lived in Houma back in the late 70's.

(quoted from post at 06:15:49 09/01/13) You got everything in those pictures but the heat and humidity.

Click to expand...

And the musty smell

The telephone poles are leaning. They still hold the wires up; at least to the next hurricane.

The leaning of the farm buildings (picture near top) is from traveling 50mph down the road and taking a picture at the same time.
I think they came out quite well for a cell phone going 50mph.

Houma; Morgan City; Thibodaux; and down hwy 1 and 308 all the way to Port Fourchon.

I too enjoyed the visit, John. I'll post a tour of our neighborhood in a few days. Celery and onions growing/harvested.

Larry

And I wish we could send some of that heat and humidity to you also.
But our great season is just around the corner. Winters are the best down here.

I really enjoy the pics. Thanks for posting them. It's a whole different landscape from what we see here in NWIA. Were some of those pics taken in the delta south of New O? We journeyed way down to the tip a few years ago. One of our city friends down there wondered why we wanted to go there as there was 'nothing to see'. We really enjoyed it. We ate in a bar/restaurant that was way up on stilts. This was right before the BP explosion. One thing I wondered about when we were in the New Orleans area was how the surveyors ever got their bearings when they laid out those miles and miles of interstate roads up on pillars. How did they survey the curves in the road and get the banking angles right for a road that would be way up there when they were working in alligator infested waters? Jim

Neat pics--whole different world from Michigan

Great pics and story. I've traveled through the area a bit and enjoy it a lot. Love the accent you folks have, I could listen to it all day.

Thanks for the travelogue. Fantastic pics for a phone, as you say. Just wondering when I see all those fishing boats, aren't they suffering from that oil spill from the well? Or did that not touch this area? MK

The pic were wonderful. Really interesting country you have there. Lots going on with oil , fishing , farming and sugar cain production. Wife and I traveled from N. O., all the way to Grand Isle, then back to Thibodaux About 30 yrs ago. Drove the rental car in the gulf water for kicks.
Spent a long time at the J D dealer in Thibodaux. We were from the Midwest , growing soy beans , Beans were just coming in that area . He was asking how to order in new combines for bean harvesting . Had never done it yet.Thanks, clint

Neat pictures. I have been down to port Fuchion(spelling) twice. Great country. A lot different than Southern Il. Vic

Those raised houses are a pretty recent idea it seems. When my mom went down there for red cross jobs... some places flooded to the same level every time... like 4 feet 2 inches up the walls... twice a year sometime... I think she went to a place down there...Bayou La Batre? Or something like that, 4 or 5 times in 2 years back in the 80's, so if you jacked up the place 8 feet... you floor should stay dry then eh? All the ...reptiles?? That got into a flooded house and were too scared to run away- they drove her crazy... but speaking Acadian, she always got the best food she ever dreamed of... I wonder how many young people down there still speak French.. nice pics, thanks

Worked claims after Andrew blew thru, office was an empty grocery store in Morgan City, stayed in a rented house out by the swamp, learned to like coffee with chicory, shrimp po boys, crayfish pie, red beans and rice, hospitality, but NOT the smell of "fresh" air early in the mornings, thanks for taking me back, remember there was a great country radio station i could listen to on Saturday mornings, worked 20 days 1 day off, 20 days 1 day off 20 days and then left

I was in Army during WW II, with a fellow name of Lawrence Thibidoux. He lived in Houma, LA. I corresponded with him several years ago, but his answer letters stopped.
And then, around 2 years ago, a young lady who worked at a store i go to, said she was going home to Houma, LA. Said she was tired of this area. (W. PA.)

All them nice pics and not an air-boat in the bunch.

Last time I was in Louisiana was back in 1957.

Can't remember the name of it, but had Dinner at a big, fancy, famous Restaurant down in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Doc

and the Snakes & Skeeters.

This area was hit very hard by the oil spill but life is getting back to normal.

What city is the JD plant in? Neighbors brother runs Deere worldwide sugarcane division.

Depending what area you are in you can hear some French but it is mostly a dying language.
The parents teach English to the kids so they can cope in the outside world so every generation that passes knows less and less French. Many that speak it today can not read or write it well.
About 2 years ago 10 parishes started teaching French in grammar school but it is still a second language because everyone speaks English out in the real world.

Its on highway 3266 just east of highway 308 in Thibodaux La.

You ought to see the collection of tractors the owner of that John Deere dealership has at his house.
I made a delivery to him one day about a year ago. I was in awe when I walked into his shop/storage shed.
All looked to be in A1 straight off the showroom floor shape.
I know very little about the John Deere line but you could tell some of these tractors were very rare as I had not even seen pictures of these models before. Mostly tractors used in sugarcane farming from what I gathered talking to him.

Thank-you very much John in LA.

Really interesting. Thanks for posting.

Headed out your way next month for a few days fishing. Will be staying in Venice. The company I work for has a couple of fertilizer plants on the river been out to them a few times. You live in the only place I've been that has more humidity than Florida. But you sure have good food and great fishing and a lot less of them tourists!!!!

John
Thank you for taking the time to post....those piks were awsome. We enjoy our north country in the summer but it sucks in the winter... :lol:

When I was in the Army back in the 1950's we had a soldier from LA and he also spoke French. He said his family still spoke it at home. Your pictures are very nice. Hal

Thanks for posting very neat. I can see why u have to put the dead above ground. Prolly a high water table down there. Really interesting pics, thanks!

(quoted from post at 18:07:26 08/31/13) Had a new hire with me all week so I was able to ride and mess with the cell phone. Took a few pictures of our area.

Click to expand...

Must be the cell phone format but they loaded really fast! Thanks for sharing

Thanks, Bill

PS I have a 1/16 model of the harvester.

very interesting - thanks for posting!

Doc,
Was it Antoine's?

Could have been one of several famous restaurants in the quarter.

A few come to mind........
Antoine's
Court Of Two Sisters
K-Paul's
Pat O'Brien's
Arnaud's

But anyone that comes to New Orleans and does not try cafe au lait and beignets at Cafe Du Monde or The Morning Call has missed out.
The Morning Call is the better of the two if you ask me.