Many and More

My first stop in Louisiana was unplanned but very special.  A little town called Jena pulled me off the road because Miss Georgia's antique shop (the only antique shop I visited on the trip) had such a charming window display, almost everything white with a few touches of turquoise and green.  I spent a good while talking to her about her niece's cake shop (Emily's Place) in Cibilo, Texas, and Georgia's mission trips to Mexico that always involve fun visits to San Antonio on the way back.

A framed piece in Miss Georgia's store

Miss Georgia.
"Don't you forget me now," she said--prompting this photo.
"I want you to come back to Jena real soon." 

She recommended a lunch place right across the street--which was excellent.

Alway ask the locals where to eat in small towns!

Miss B's is owned by Bonnie--she and her sister moved there from California a few years ago to be with their father when he retired. The food was delicious (farm to table style) and the farmhouse decor was really beautiful, mostly whites and naturals and tin.

After Jena, I drove to Natchitoches, the oldest town in Louisiana, on the Cane River.  Carlene and I spent a fun day there three years ago.

Then following The Camino Real, I drove  west on Highway 6 until it turned into 21 and got me almost all the way home.

Just before driving into Texas, I saw some bird houses and did a U-Turn.  Here's Shirley who makes and sells these roadside houses near Many, Texas.

It's rare to find a town with an adjective for a name, and I'm curious about the origin of that name.  Loved the sign and thought about it for miles: "Welcome to Many!"

Two things that really enhance backroad travels: Stopping to talk to locals who make what they make (from cupcakes to bird houses to pottery to meals) and visiting local visitors' centers that will give you bags of brochures and maps and tell you what's happening in their towns.

What they don't tell you, because they don't know, is how many times you'll have to stop along the way to meet people who are makers of beautiful things and to enjoy the cretaions of the natural world in all kinds of different lights.

So much rain from the night before gave me beautiful reflections of
flowers and trees.

Crocket, Texas 

This may be my best nature photograph of the entire trip.
No color re-touching--this was the vivid blue of an
unrepeatable moment in time!