On the Road 8 x 30; 24 x 7

02-22-2005 Golf at Acadian Hills Country Club, Lafayette, LA

Tuesday, February 22, I cannot tell a lie it is hot and humid here in southeastern Louisiana. There was supposed to be a heavy fog today but I was up and outside for an early morning stroll around 7:45 and there was not a whisper of fog. I sipped my coffee as I strolled past all of the RVs backed into their slots here. For the first time I noticed how many far north license plates are here. Two from Quebec! Others include Nebraska, Washington, Maine, Illinois, Indiana and Massachusetts. I've come to the conclusion they are wintering here because none of these rigs have moved since we arrived. At $240.00 per month I suspect it is one of the cheapest places along the Gulf Coast. And they may have a lower rate if you stay six months. There are a dozen or so Louisiana plates. Those poor people get up and go to work every morning. I even saw two plates from Texas. I'll have to stop by and chat if I see them outside.

After breakfast we put on our golf togs and headed over to Le Vieux Chenes, the golf course we scoped out the other day. Unfortunately, we did not take note that it was closed on Tuesdays. We went on down the road to see if we could find the one we missed the turn for last time; Links of Lafayette. We found it but it had changed names and is now Cajun Oaks. There was not a soul there except for the owners. We decided to just get a bucket of balls for the driving range after we saw the scorecard and determined the front nine was a Par 3 only. The place did not look like it was in very good shape either. So we hit our $5.00 worth of balls and left. We took Hwy 167 up north to 90 just north of I-10 and found Acadian Hills Country Club.

This was a very nice course with a brand new first-class clubhouse. The course seemed older than the clubhouse though. Bob played the blue tees at 6450 yds; I played the red tees at 5176 yds, shorter than usual for me. I was pounding my drive so I had short approach shots to the green. Unfortunately I left my short game at home. That's always the first thing to go for me if we don't play consistently for several months. The short game is all about feel and mine deserted me today. I did chip in for birdie on hole 15! Somewhere around that on the back nine Bob spied an alligator sunning itself on the banks of a pond. He was about 3 1/2 or 4 feet long. I will not be retrieving any balls out of the water here! I sure wish I would have had my camera in my golf bag. Another photo op missed.

It has been a very long time since we played in this kind of heat and humidity; high in the upper seventies with 85% plus humidity. We both wilted after about nine holes. Golf was a lot more pleasant in Iowa in the middle of August than Louisiana in the middle of February. After the driving range AND walking 18 holes we were famished. We tried to find Prejean's Cajun restaurant just north of the golf course on I-49. We saw a sign at the exit but never could locate the restaurant. We were too tired so we headed back down 90 to LA 89 and found Poor Boy's Riverside Inn, serving fine Cajun cuisine since 1932. The family started with a snowball stand in 1932 in Lafayette and now has two full-service restaurants (one in New Iberia.) The dining room overlooks Vermillion Bayou at Pinhook Bridge.

I tried a "New" item on their menu, Shrimp & Catfish Pirogue. Breaded eggplant was topped with crabmeat stuffing and grilled catfish, with a Pesto Shrimp sauce smothering the entire entree. It was heaven. I added a sweet potato, served with a shaker of cinnamon. Bob had the Shrimp Pasta Bienville; Rotini pasta, shrimp and Italian cheese sauce. The food was first-rate but a little pricey we thought. A great place for a special occasion. A group of ducks was begging at the door as we left. I wished we had brought them a cracker.

We were only a couple miles from home and were relieved to take refreshing showers and rest our tired bones.

It's 6:54 p.m. and 70.0 degrees.