Community Forums

Jerry Burks · 07-12-2021, 10:30 AM

I am planning a trip from Galveston, TX to Lafayette, LA and looking for a scenic route (avoid the I10). Traveling with a 35' 5th wheel end of September. I know there is a risk of severe weather that time of the year.

The idea right now is to take the ferry to the Bolivar peninsula, then Highways 87 and 73 to Port Arthur, then 82 - 27 - 82 along the Louisiana coast to Lafayette.

I hope to get answers here from folks who know the area:
- is the route actually scenic and worthwhile?

- Any must-see stops along the way?

- is it suitable for a 13'4" tall 5th wheel (I did see some possibly low trees on Google street view)?
- any other good or better route for this trip?

Thanks, JB

carybosse · 07-12-2021, 11:04 AM

It has been 40 years, but it wasn't the most scenic of routes along 82 to me.

The ferry on google maps satellite view from Holly Beach to Cameron looks a lot nicer than I remember. You would not have taken an RV on the one I remember. This one looks nicer.

I stopped at Avery Island when I took that route. It was a bird sanctuary as well as the home of Tabasco Sauce.

Not sure if the road to Avery Island is RV friendly. I think a call to the Island could answer that.

(Note: Island in this case is a piece of land jutting out of the swamp, not an Island like Hawaii.)

Isaac-1 · 07-12-2021, 02:09 PM

Cameron no longer looks nice, Hurricanes Laura and Delta both hit within 5 miles of Cameron 10-11 months ago, Laura was the strongest hurricane to hit Louisiana in over 130 years with wind speed at landfall of 150 mph (1 mph below the speed needed to be considered a Cat 5), I have no idea how passable the roads are there post storm, but even pre-storm those roads in Louisiana were rough in places.

Note I live near the north end of LA hwy 27 about 80 miles inland, the eye of Laura went over our house with 130+ mph winds and things are still a mess here, with lots of houses still having blue tarps on the roofs, and many still being rebuilt. From what I hear it is a lot worse south of Lake Charles, I have only been as far south as the southside of Lake Charles since the storms, and there is still a lot of storm damage even there.

see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUfehHZnCtA

kewlbreeze · 07-12-2021, 02:59 PM

Unless you are a fisherman who loves shallow water - the marsh in LA and TX is just that - a marsh. There is not a lot to see .

In general, the roads in LA are very poor.

As has already been said - Avery Island is interesting from a historical point of view. If you have never seen the marsh - it is interesting for a day....

The food in that part of the world is great.

AS has already been said - the hurricanes have been really rough on LA the past few years. Road construction or repair is not high on the list of priorities

IMHO - when heading east from Houston - I try my best to go north then east.....South LA roads are poor and the bridges scare me silly. The bridge in Lake Charles is scary - I mean really scary and man o man does it see some traffic......

Just my two cents worth...free advice is worth what you pay for it.

Dennis
Planet Houston

**hamm2018** · 07-12-2021, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry Burks

I am planning a trip from Galveston, TX to Lafayette, LA and looking for a scenic route (avoid the I10). Traveling with a 35' 5th wheel end of September. I know there is a risk of severe weather that time of the year.

The idea right now is to take the ferry to the Bolivar peninsula, then Highways 87 and 73 to Port Arthur, then 82 - 27 - 82 along the Louisiana coast to Lafayette.

I hope to get answers here from folks who know the area:
- is the route actually scenic and worthwhile?

- Any must-see stops along the way?

- is it suitable for a 13'4" tall 5th wheel (I did see some possibly low trees on Google street view)?
- any other good or better route for this trip?

Thanks, JB

Keep us in mind, we are scheduled to go thru there after Christmas. We will be going from Gulf Shores, Ala. to Galveston Island for New Years week. If you remember please let us know what to expect when we travel thru that area

Isaac-1 · 07-12-2021, 03:41 PM

If you want to miss I-10, and most of the hurricane Laura damage area consider taking the ferry across out of Galveston, then 124 to 73 at Winnie, on across to Bridge City on up 87 to TX 12 over into Louisiana on LA 12 where it meets US 190 in Ragley, then across on US 190 to Elton or Eunice before turning back south.

p.s. note the Bridge at Bridge City is tall, but the north bound bridge is much more modern (built in the 80's), wider and not as steep as the southbound Rainbow bridge which was the tallest bridge in the south when it was built in the 1930's see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bridge_(Texas) (looks like the IRV2 link parser is dropping the close ) off the link. I really hated driving over the Rainbow bridge when I was younger and it had 2 way traffic.

Jerry Burks · 07-12-2021, 07:06 PM

Thanks All for the replies. Need to think about that.
When I mentioned "scenic" I was not expecting something like Grand Canyon but rather unusual scenery and local life. For that matter we enjoyed a trip across Kansas on minor highways...

But if the roads are really that bad I think the more northern route could be better. I guess the food is not that much worse farther north

Actually that leg of the trip will not end up in Lafayette proper but rather in Palmetto Island State Park a few miles south.

Isaac-1 · 07-12-2021, 08:57 PM

Important Pre P.S. Cameron Ferry is very hit or miss on service, make sure to check their twitter feed https://twitter.com/cameron_ferry?lang=en before heading that way if you opt to go that way also the state ferry DOTD page La DOTD - Ferry / Moveable Bridge Status

Note they are now showing a 50 ft max length for the Cameron ferry, not sure if this is new, I know I have seen longer semis on it before.

We love Palmetto Island state park, at least we do in the winter, we have spent the first weekend in February there 3 out of the last 5 years. It is located in the part of Louisiana with the warmest winter temperatures, on average 7-8 degrees warmer than where I live and it is only about 125 miles away driving distance. The only thing I hate are the roads south of I-10, every time we go there something shakes loose on my coach (turn signal bezel, cabinet door screw, etc.). I have yet to find a route in and out of there that does not include at least a couple of miles of washboard like pavement, either on Hwys 82, 14, 35 or 13. Hwy 167 or 14 from the east are likely ok though lots of surface street traffic lights on 167 in Lafayette, and way out of our way to get there. When I last drove them (2019) Hwy 14 and 82 were a mix of nice new wide pavement, older rough wide pavement, and some sections of narrow tight rope walking feeling road with no shoulders, where you really don't want to meet an 18 wheeler coming the other way. Basically it seems they are widening and improving the road whenever they have money to do a 5-10 mile section on 82 and 14 over the last 30 years or so leaving a real mix where it is now mostly widened, but leaving a few narrow sections, and some widened sections deteriorated to the point of needing repaving.

A few food suggestions in the area, Suire Grocery at the intersection of 35 and 335 https://www.facebook.com/SuiresGroceryandRestaurant/ or Suire's Grocery & Restaurant This place is a hole in the wall, falling down shack in the middle of nowhere (if you go in check out the public restroom, it is smaller than many RV bathrooms) Not much parking, so you probably don't want to try to stop with the RV in tow unless you happen to be outside popular dining hours. The good part is they have some fantastic authentic traditional cajun food, and they have a lot of it in frozen warm and serve containers.

For a completely different cajun dining experience try lunch at Cafe Jefferson at Rip Van Winkle gardens (nice small - mid size botanical gardens with lots of tropical plants), this is upscale modern fusion Cajun dining, on popular weekends expect up to an hour wait to get a table.

For something in between try out Landry Cajun Seafood and Steakhouse in New Iberia, not to be confused with the fake cajun national chain with a very similar name.

If you do take I-10 and want good working class cajun food at a fair price, stop in Sulphur at Holier's Cajun Kitchen about 2 blocks north of I-10 on the left at Ruth St. (I think exit 20?). Also if you take I-10 take the I-210 bypass around Lake Charles, the I-210 bridge is not as steep as the I-10 bridge and is wider being built in the 1970's vs 1949.

p.s. food is much better south of I-10, Holiers is a rare exception