Took a little break but will catch up – otherwise I forget what happened. Sorry this post will be a bit long…..

On Monday morning we were up at 6:00 AM – that’s what time this commercial facility gets going. Although there are no amenities here we had a very pleasant night. I did see an out building that said men’s/women’s restrooms but didn’t go in. When I went to the office to settle up I noticed they had a few boating type supplies and that diesel was priced at $2.19/gal – pretty cheap but we didn’t need any so we pulled away at about 7:45 for our long eight hour journey to Morgan City.

The trip to Morgan City, Louisiana was pretty much the same scenery although not as much tug/barge traffic and we had a strong 1.3 knot current against us part of the way. We met a rig supply boat loaded with drill stem, which we haven’t seen much of so far. He was approaching at a pretty good clip and the captain called us on the VHF to say he would slow down as he got closer so as not to “wake” us. Michael responded– much appreciated, I can see your wake from here (1/4 mile away). He responded I’ll slow down pretty good for you and he did. Really nice!

We arrived at Morgan City Marina around 3:30 PM. It’s not really a “marina” but a wall with cleats, 50 amp power and water. Again no facilities and $25 a night. We could see what appeared to be a cute little town (old buildings) just beyond the wall where we tied up. Once secured we jumped off the boat to walk the dogs and find a grocery store. We found most businesses in this cute little area to be closed or boarded up. The employees in the hardware store/marine store said the town has been hard hit and is suffering because of the oil industry slowdown. We walked into the other open store – a trinket/costume jewelry store to ask about a grocery store. There were about a half dozen ladies in there buying things like crazy. Wow, I thought. I mentioned to the proprietor that business looked great. She said everything was 75% off. Store closing! Then she advised us that there was no grocery in the area but if we would come back when she closed at 5:00 she would take us to the store. Then she said – I’m serious, I really mean it – come back. Really nice!!!

We kept walking – no Uber or Lyft here. Good thing Michael and I have really BIG and WIDE feet cause we are definitely using them. We walked through a mixed neighborhood. Beautiful homes right next to shotgun houses and trailer houses. One was actually tagged with Blood Crips were here….good thing we have our two attack dogs with us. Anyway I took pictures of the pretty homes. Couldn’t resist.

It was pretty chilly. We hadn’t planned to go so far so when I saw a Dollar Store I ran in and bought some knit gloves. They were two pairs for $3.00 so Michael got a pair too. We continued to walk and found a fantastic market established in 1939.  It actually rivaled any store in San Diego with wonderful fresh produce and top quality meats. Problem was we were too tired to think about planning and cooking another real meal aboard so we got a frozen pizza, wine and Blue Bell vanilla ice cream. What a shame with all that wonderful food at our fingertips and only 6,200 steps round trip to find it.

We are tied up just beyond the railroad bridge, just off the ICW so we were up at 6:00 AM which is when the first train comes across the bridge. We did a bit more scouting about this morning and found yet another fabulous grocery store. We didn’t buy much since we had to carry it back and it was about the same 6,200 steps there and back.  Just before releasing our lines to take off we saw a sign “Fresh Jumbo Shrimp For Sale” on the shrimp boat that had docked right behind us. We bought beautiful jumbo shrimp for $5.00 a pound. Score!

We left Morgan City around 11:40 for Houma, LA about a five hour ride. We had our third lock to traverse today. This one the doors do open and close but we were the only boat in the lock so we were told to just stay in the middle. No need to tie off and no need for big balls…again.

The view is starting to change a bit. We saw ship yards and even saw a couple of air boats, a jet boat and 2 Bald Eagles diving for fish! Finally saw signs of civilization and beautiful homes just before Houma.

Arrived in Houma, about 4:15 PM and tied to the dock at Houma Downtown Marina. Again, it’s not a “marina” but a wall with 50 amp service, water and pump out service for $25 a night. It’s quite nice between the twin bridges on a lovely park with green grass which the dogs just love. We are literally right off the ICW – it feels like you could reach right out and touch the tug/barges that come through, yet we are quite comfortable – not much wake. Quite fascinating! We had early night – prepared Shrimp Fettuccini with the fresh jumbo shrimp we bought this morning. Hmmmm. So, so good!!!

Wednesday – still in Houma. Decided we needed a break and spent the day here. This morning we tidied up the boat then walked to Liberty Café for lunch which was wonderful! Then scouted about the town. Very charming.

We, again, have a ring side seat to the barge traffic. Tonight we watched a tug/barge that was 646 feet long and 72 feet wide go right by us under the two bridges and between the bridge supports that couldn’t have been much wider than the tug/barge. It was like threading a needle and quite amazing!!! We have a video that I will try to post in the next day or two.

We plan to travel to New Orleans tomorrow.