Southern Tier across the USA Part 5 - Coldspring TX to Gonzales LA

Thursday 29^th May

Another long day with little of interest on the way. The rain held off, but it was very humid and storms seemed to be imminent for most of the day; fortunately they did't happen. The route, on minor roads all day, led past many large modern churches like this one:

This was clearly serious Bible Belt country, which became even more apparent when, at the end of a hundred mile ride, I arrived in Kirbyville and, when I asked for a beer at the local restaurant, was informed that I was now in a dry county. Well the occasional alcohol-free day won't do me any harm I guess.
Distance today 100.5 miles, total so far 1962.5 miles

Friday 30^th May

About 20 miles from Kirbyville I crossed the Sabine River and entered Louisiana:

The next town, DeRidder, had an impressive old courthouse and a well preserved main street:

After 2 consecutive 100 mile days I decided to call it a day when I reached Oberlin, a very unremarkable town which had nothing to offer except a convenient motel:

Distance today 78.5 miles, total so far 2041 miles

Saturday 31^st May

Continuing east from Oberlin along small, quiet roads, the next town, Mamou, has a reputation as the cajun music capital. This very unprepossessing building, Fred's Lounge, is a renowned centre for cajun and zydeco music, and when I went past there were some fine sounds emanating from it, even at 10am.

Plenty of huge, modern churches continued to be dotted along these minor roads:

After Mamou I took a detour from the recommended Adventure Cycling route that I'd hitherto been following. The route heads slightly north east and bypasses Baton Rouge and New Orleans, both places I wanted to visit. So I headed south east along state route 104 to Opelousas, a former state capital during the Civil War, where there were some fine old antebellum houses, then east along US 190, a busy road which did have a wide shoulder for most of the way, apart from a 4 mile section of floodway across the Atchafalaya river where there was no shoulder at all; this isn't a recommended cycling route:

But the rest of the road, despite being mainly across swamp, is quite safe for cycling:

I arrived at Port Allen, just across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge, around 9pm and found accommodation in a motel there:

Distance today 103 miles, total so far 2144 miles

Sunday 1^st June

Crossing the Mississippi via the Horace Wilkinson Bridge was a bit intimidating, owing to a very narrow shoulder and lots of fast-moving traffic; this is a section of Interstate 90:

Once across the wide river, I was in the centre of Baton Rouge, state capital of Louisiana. There were some good historic buildings, including the old post office:

The old State Capitol:

And the superb current state Capitol, the tallest in the entire US:

From the top of the 450' building there are great views to be had:

Inside the Capitol there is a beautiful marble entrance hall:

The assassination of Huey Long, the State Governor under whose orders the Capitol was constructed, took place within it, and there's a plaque to mark where the incident occurred; a marble pillar still bears damage from a stray bullet:

And there's a statue of Long outside, in the beautifully-landscaped gardens:

I had a very nice lunch at a downtown restaurant then set off for New Orleans, along US61, reaching Gonzales in the early evening, where I decided to stay for the night.

Distance today 31.7 miles, total so far 2175.7 miles