Road Trip Wrap-Up

We spent a few days with friends.  Nothing really of note to blog about!

On the Thursday our friend wanted to take us to a local Cajun place in Port Neches that she had not take us to before, Larry's French Market and Cajun Cafeteria. (the site says Cajun Restaurant but the signon the building says Cajun Cafeteria :-)  )

Larry's French Market and Cajun Restaurant

http://www.larrysfrenchmarket.com/?nomobile=1

As we pulled up, we saw a parking lot filled with workers' trucks, usually a good sign.  The place is huge.  Three parking lots, a big dining room, stage and dance floor.  Several nights a week there is live music and dancing, and it looks like the place is hopping.

Unfortunately, our lunch there got mixed reviews.  5 of us went, and one of them because he heard we were going to Larry's and decided to wait a bit before going back to work so he could join us.  

The first thing was that we were definitely misled about whether it was a buffet or not.  We could have ordered off the menu, but they presented the buffet as a buffet so we thought we could try some different things.  There were no signs explaining the lunch line.  As it turns out, it was not truly a buffet. The salad bar was extra, the gumbo was extra, the etouffee was extra, the drinks were extra.

The second thing was that the food itself was really inconsistent.  The gumbo and dirty rice were delicious.  Someone had cornbread that they said was good.  The mashed potatoes were awful.  Some of us got shrimp, and some of it was really spicy and some of it was not.  There was some corn mixture that a couple of people had that looked awful and they reported it was not good.

So would we go back?  Well, I would but I would just get the gumbo and a salad and be done.  Steve and John would not because they felt we were deliberately misled.

The Schooner

Usually the last night in town we go to a local seafood restaurant, so Friday night found us at The Schooner.  The Schooner is old school, nothing fancy, and consistently good.  Steve for some unknown reason ordered the Captain's Seafood Platter, which was far too much food even for him!  I went with the fish Pontchartrain, which was broiled fish topped with crab and shrimp, in a white wine cream sauce.

Other items at the table included gumbo, catfish, and fried oysters.  It was a nice final evening before hitting the road.

http://theschoonerrestaurant.com/main/

Driving Home

The weather continued to wreak havoc with our plans, and icy rain was predicted for Sunday through much of the route we would have to travel.  So, we made the decision to leave Saturday instead.  We were on the road by 7 am.

We drove through Texas.

Most of East Texas, bordering on Louisiana, is covered in pine.  We crossed rain swollen creeks and lakes, and eventually crossed into Arkansas.  We drove through the Boston Mountains and Ouchita National Forest.

We passed many frozen waterfalls.

And made it home a little past 8.