It's The Weekend!

Just a quick post about our most recent weekend adventures! The King Arthur cast enjoyed a quick visit in Natchitoches (pronounced Naka-dish), Louisiana. The City of Natchitoches was established in 1714 and I was surpsied to learn that it is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase Territory. I was even more surprised to learn that the movie Steel Magnolias was filmed entirely in Natchitoches! We walked along the Cane River Lake and stopped by the old court house, which is now a museum. While exploring the main shopping area, a very friendly store owner named Rita asked us for our autographs! For lunch I was brave enough to try the famous Natchitoches meat pie, which was surprisingly delicious. I got a kick out of this photo featuring the owners of the pie shop with the lovely Vanna White.


During the drive from Natchitoches to Bastrop, we saw a sign that said "Attraction: Winery." I insisted that we make a quick stop to check it out and I am certainly glad that we did! We happened to stumble upon the only vineyard in Northern Louisiana. Although it was after 6 pm and the tasting room was technically closed, we flagged down the owner (who was riding his tractor nearby) and he let us take a look around. The vineyard is called Landry Vineyards and we discovered that the man on the tractor was Jeff Landry himself. Jeff promptly poured us a taste of each of the wines he makes and even let us eat some of the muscadine grapes that he uses to make the dessert wines. I especially enjoyed the merlot and the blackberry dessert wine. Here is a photo of me, Jeff the winemaker and one of his four sons.






On Friday evening we had a really nice meal at the Waterfront Grill. I was enticed by the sign that read "Always Fresh, Nothing Fried with Best View on the Bayou." While enjoying a beautiful view of thel Bayou DeSiard, we feed lettuce to the turtles and ducks swimming by. I had an amazing BBQ shrimp po'boy and the spicy sauce was unlike anything I have ever tasted before. I did not get the chance to take a photo until it was almost finished. (The funny thing about eating with a bunch of guys is that you have to be very protective of your plate. Sometimes shrimp just disappear and they blame the turtles!)



On Saturday we explored Bastrop County and drove to the Indian Mounds of Northeast Louisiana. We also stopped by Lake Providence.



On the way back to the hotel we came across a local fair in Oak Grove.

We spent most of the weekend catching up on sleep and laundry. Luckily, we found two movie theaters nearby. I really felt like one of the dudes on Friday night when I went to see Warrior with Craig and Zach…until the very end of the movie when I started balling hysterically. Zach bought me a kiddie cone on the way back to the hotel. Hanging with the dudes can be tough sometimes. On Saturday night Craig tricked me into going to see Drive. He said, "Don't worry Eva, it's the new movie with Ryan Gosling and there is a love interest and all that." I guess he forget to mention all of the blood and guts! It was very scary. Next time, I want to see The Help or The Lion King: 3D.