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Day 121 on the Mississippi River

Day 121


October 11 2022

Tuesday


LRM 27

2268 miles completed


26 miles today.


Monday was a zero day.


Breakfast was Thompson’s Kitchen. Pork chops and eggs with grits and biscuits.



I resumed from Davant Launch. At the start of the day, my goal was to reach Patti’s place B&B in Buras. I did not quite make it. I stopped about 2 miles short of my destination. The sun was going down and I was tired.


I hid my boat in the tall reed grass at Mile 27.8, just up river from Chevron Empire Dock. I had to carry it over the rocks. I left all my gear except the dry bag with my pills and lenses and bathroom stuff. (And, my Tennessee VOLS ball cap). Then I walked through the tall grass, without a path, to the levee.



Over the levee, I walked through someone’s yard over to Highway 11. There I found Alex’s lounge. I walked into the lounge with beggar lice all over my legs. There were five people: the bartender,

The Lebarge brothers, Gary and Brett, a woman named Tara, and two other people who didn’t give their names.


I called Mary Ann to come pick me up at the lounge. We sat at the bar and got to know some of the locals.


Brett Lebarge is notable for having survived two separate incidents of gunshots to the head. One incident was a hunting accident. The details of the other incident were not disclosed. He is also noted for building boats. He welds them out of aluminum.


Gary Labarge offered us something to eat. He went home and brought back shrimp stew and potato salad that he had made. The stew had whole hard boiled eggs in it. We sat at the bar in the lounge and ate the stew and potato salad, and took the leftovers back to Patti’s Place B&B.



Patty’s Place belongs to Nicole Williams. It is a very lovely place to stay. Parking is behind the house. Entry is by way of stairs in the back leading to a screened porch. From the porch you enter the house through a door with a keypad lock. Inside there are five rooms, each room has its own keyed door. There is a common room with coffee and maybe snack items.


Mary Ann and I sat on the porch in the dark and had drinks. While we were sitting there Nicole’s dad, Austin came up the stairs and sat with us. He lives there in one of the rooms. It was too dark to make out his facial features but we talked for a long time in the dark. He was very interesting and funny. He is 65 years old and has lived “in this hell hole” all his life. Austin is a welder. He has worked in the oil fields in the gulf. They called him Sparky. He has some interesting stories.


I did see him in the daylight the next day.


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