Road Trip East Day 2: Ft. Stockton, TX to Lafayette, LA

I had very grand plans of waking up at 7am and getting on the road early but that didn't really go so well--I forgot about the 2 hour time difference and was still on Phoenix time. 5am was not happening, so I went back to bed and woke up at 9. I grabbed my free breakfast (bacon, a biscuit and grits--totally unhealthy but filling!) and hit the road by 9:30. The mountains I had seen the day before were gone, replaced by flat mesas that were only 100 feet high or so. As I continued east, the landscape became less arid with scrubby brush and more green. It even rained at one point, which I had forgotten actually happens in other states besides Arizona!

I stopped for gas in the morning and continued towards San Antonio. The countryside was not as boring as I thought it would be and I was keep entertained by a steady stream of cheesy rock hits from my iPod.

I arrived in San Antonio at 2pm and drove straight to the Alamo. The downtown area is quite small and the square around the Alamo is very touristy, with cheesy tourist trap museums around. The Alamo itself is smaller than I expected. Photography is not allowed inside, as it is a shrine to those who died defending it against the Mexican Army, led by General Santa Ana. The two most famous dead on the US side were Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie (inventor of the Bowie knife). The inside is run by the Daughters of the American Revolution and there are docents aplenty should you have any questions. Behind the Alamo is a nice garden with plenty of pretty flowers in bloom. It was warm and humid, but not too unpleasant in the shade.

After walking around and having lunch at Subway (second day in a row, argh), I got back on the road towards Houston. The drive from San Antonio to Houston was actually quite nerve wracking as there are only two lanes but a lot of traffic. The passing lane was crowded and prone to sudden slowdowns. I wasn't able to cruise like I had been for the past day and a half. Once I got to Houston around 5:30 the road widened out and became huge--10 lanes! The space was nice! But then, once you pass the downtown, the road is back to 2 lanes and is very small and crappy. Weird.

The landscape past Houston flattens out completely and is filled with pine trees. As I-10 approaches the Louisiana border you see tidal rivers and bayou country. By my calculation I-10 is 880 miles long in Texas! Wow!

I ate dinner in Sulpher, LA, which is about 20 miles across the border from Texas. I was drawn in by a bill board off the highway promising crawfish. Some Louisianan classmates of mine had a crawfish boil a few months ago and it was so delicious I figured I'd better have some now while I could. Well, I found the restaurant, called the Boiling Point, but it was closed. I decided that if I couldn't have Cajun seafood, I'd have BBQ instead, another Louisiana specialty. I found two BBQ places on Google Maps that sounded promising, but both were closed also! I guess 8pm on a Sunday night in bumf*ck, Louisiana is not the time to be eating.

I finally found a non-chain restaurant that was open, called Cajun Charlie's. I got 3lbs of crawfish for $12. SO WORTH IT. I stuffed my face with every single one. They were spicy and salty and just delicious! I'm so glad I kept with my restaurant search!

I'm now in Lafayette, LA, which is about 150 miles from New Orleans. I should get there around noon tomorrow and I'll have lunch, then check in to the hotel. So psyched to be staying in the French Quarter!