Something Old, Something New

Let's start with something new.  When I'm traveling for work, I often pull off I-10 to fill up with gas at a station in the small town of Lacassine, Louisiana.  The station is local, new, clean, and the people running it are friendly.  There is a restaurant associated with it called, "The Dairy Barn," and they serve good food, like fried shrimp poboys, fried pickles and milkshakes.

Something caught my eye in the back of the station and I drove around back.  Something new, indeed.  A 16 bay charging station for electric vehicles.  I've not seen a bigger one, although I admit, I don't see that many charging stations around.  In my neck of the woods, there aren't a whole lot of Electric Vehicles on the road.

Progress, I guess.  Things keep moving forward and moving quickly.  I backed out of there and decided before driving home, I'd motor a few miles south.  Not far at all from the progress is a place I like to go where time almost seems to stand still.  Lorrain Bridge.

Lorrain Bridge is named after the Lorrain family that moved to the area from France.  In 1895 it was originally built as a wooden drawbridge.  It connects Jefferson Davis Parish and Calcasieu Parish and enabled farmers to bring their crops and cattle to market and to serve a local sawmill.  It is on the list to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The drawbridge was taken down in 1955 and was later put out of service in 1998.  In 2004 it was rebuilt, fortunately.  Many local people drive out to the bridge.  It is a favorite place to take graduation photos, Family Christmas Cards, and prom photos.

As quickly as time seems to move, I have a theory that some people have a nostalgic hankering for a time when things moved slow.  Lorrain Bridge is the place to find exactly that.  Bayou Lacassine lazily sits beneath it.  You can't really call it flowing.  Its murky and muddy waters slowly creep into the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge.

You can look over the rails and see alligators waiting for lunch and watch the occasional catfish surface.  Spanish Moss drapes from the cypress trees that line the banks of the bayou.  There is a public boat launch and a park with picnic tables where you can slow things down a bit from the hurried pace of I-10 only a few miles to the north.

It's as if two worlds are colliding.  The paved super highway that never sleeps and the old dirt road just on the east side of the Lorrain Bridge.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."  -- Robert Frost

Slowing the Pace Down on Saturday

Saturday afternoon I was ready to slow down the pace.  It has been busy and I just felt like we needed to slow down and do something old-fashioned.  We jumped in the car and headed into town to the Rocket Drive Inn to get Root Beer Frosties.  Russ got a deep fried twinkie.  We enjoyed our snack and then headed due west on old Highway 90, over the overpass, through Roanoke and on to Welsh.  We enjoyed looking at the old live oak trees that lined the highway, planted back when Highway 90 was the "main road."

When we got to Lacassine, we turned due south at the caution light and headed toward Hayes.  Then we turned left on Lorrain Road.  It is a shady two lane country road that slopes downward.  I told the family that before we all got so busy and distracted with cell phones, the Internet and entertainment, people would take weekend drives and take in the sights and sounds.  Well, that's just what we did.  We got out of the car at Lorrain Park and sat on the dock and watched alligators.  There were two or three of them out in the water, swimming back and forth.

This one came pretty close to us.  Almost close enough to become a pair of boots.

Lorrain Park is a beautiful place.  It is a historic site that features a cool, old bridge.  The bridge was built in 1895 and links Calcasieu and Jefferson Davis Parishes.  In 1920 it was reconstructed and used as a wooden draw-bridge.  The wooden bridge was rebuilt in 2004.  Many seniors go to take their senior pictures here as the scenery is spectacular.

On the other side of the bridge - the Jeff Davis Parish side, the road turns into a gravel road.  The road is shrouded by cypress and tupelo gum trees, draped in Spanish Moss.  Palmetto and cypress knees fill the bayou all along the side of the road.

We stood on the bridge and watched the alligators swim and fish splash in the muddy water.  Water bugs swam in the duck salad floating on top of the water.

Lorrain Bridge crosses Lacassine Bayou.  As we've had no rain in a while, the water was low.  We could see by the water mark on the trees that the water level was about 4 feet lower than normal.

Lorrain Bridge is a beautiful sight...

And the slow moving bayou that meanders through the cypress beckoned us to slow down, match its pace and enjoy the scenery.

There's no rat-race at Lorrain Bridge.  We enjoyed our afternoon.