2013 Louisiana State HOG Rally

Jerri and I have talked about heading to Louisiana for the past few years for several reasons.  I’ve been talking about making a pilgrimage to the Tabasco factory for over 20 years and a state rally gives us a chance to hit the back roads we probably wouldn’t take on our own.

We left Bowling Green on the 3rd of April at 7:00 a.m. and 31 degrees.  That wasn’t bad until we hit rain in Mississippi on the Natchez Trace - 5 hours of rain in the mid-40s is a mental challenge!  We had nice cool weather when we arrived in Houma, Louisiana on Thursday the 4th where we registered and went on the opening day ride followed by food and a band at Bruno’s Harley-Davidson.

Rode the marsh ride on Friday and heard how the marsh is being eroded by the influx of salt water and the history of the Houma Native Americans in the marsh area.  They were Choctaw who headed for the marsh to avoid relocation to the reservations in Oklahoma.  We rode another ride through Houma to the square for music - also had great Cajun food (crawfish and shrimp) for lunch.

On Saturday we headed for a swamp ride and plenty of back roads followed by lunch at Zam’s Swamp tours.  Great buffet of cajun food (gator, catfish, shrimp creole, jambalaya, etc.)  We headed back to the civic center for a Mardi Gras parade, drum playing by the Houma Native Americans, closing ceremonies, and a great concert by Jo Dee Messina.

We certainly enjoyed cajun country and may consider going back next year to the the rally in Lafayette.

Sunday we headed for Avery Island and tour of the Tabasco factory and ride through Jungle Gardens.  More good food for lunch - boudin and crawfish-corn maque choux.  We stopped in Jackson, Mississippi for the night.

As we headed up the Natchez Trace on Monday morning I saw a turkey take off from the right, rolled off the throttle, and ducked.  As I ducked Jerri did the same and we missed being struck by the turkey by just inches.   Great ride home with a food stop at the Loveless Dinner.