2019 gulf coast - part 12, Morgan City area: racing planes, Spanish moss, cypress trees, and best dessert ever - Travel With Us

We wanted to stay indoors today since it’s so cold out, so went to a Louisiana State Museum in Patterson, LA, showcasing the history of racing planes, the uses of Spanish moss, cypress trees lumber industry, and the best dessert ever (on this trip). Let’s explore!

history of racing planes

This half of the museum features the Wedell-Williams aviation company. Jimmy Wedell designed and built airplanes, and Harry Williams invested the money to form the company.

Partnerships between the one with the ideas and the one with the money.

Their company became Delta Airlines and eventually Eastern Airlines.

The Wedell-Williams #92 helped Jim Haizlip win the Bendix Race in 1932.

Even women raced and moved the industry forward. Jim’s wife, Mary “Mae,” won a race flying the same plane.

In 1934, this model debuted at the First Annual Pan American Air Races.

The Wedell-Williams built the #45 around the new Army Air Corps pursuit-place specifications.

In the early 1930s, the U.S. military recruited top racing plane designers, such as Wedell-Williams, to develop a suitable fighter plane for military combat.

We met Kenneth and Denise as we were walking around and reading about these planes. Kenneth was a wealth of knowledge about those who flew these planes. Must have talked with them for about an hour.

Spanish moss as a crop

Who knew that Spanish moss could be an industry that supported people in southern Louisiana?

Gathering moss was a way of living for those living near the swamps.

Curing process took a long time after bark was removed.

In some cases, a tall platform was added to boats so men could gather moss from the tops of trees.

It could even be made into a horse’s collar.

cypress trees for lumber

At first, 2 men would balance themselves in separate boats and saw down the giant cypress trees. The balance required would have been amazing.

Eventually power sources were used to cut down the trees and pull them to boats to take to the lumber mills.

This cypress tree was around 4000 years old! Many of the trees we saw in a movie from 1920 were hollow in the middle, so this must have been common.

The use of this cone is in the next picture.

This cone was added to end of tree so it could be pulled through the marsh.

saws

This old reciprocal saw was used on logs.

This huge saw blade was used in a lumber mill.

This machine was used to repair the saw blade.

Even back then they had office desks high enough so workers could stand.

The cypress boards cut at the Brownell Lumber Company are significant because of their size since the trees were probably 400-500 years old when they were cut down.

Even in the early 1900s, the people were amazed at the great size of the cypress trees. They’re huge!

best dessert ever (so far on this trip)

We were so hungry after learning so much that we asked for a recommendation for lunch and were sent to Boiling Madd’s. Their specialty was crawfish boils, but that item wasn’t available until dinner time, so Barney had some delicious gumbo, and I had a plain old BLT that was delicious.

Inside looked pretty plain, but the paper towels on the tables gave us the hint that we were in for a treat if we had been able to come in for dinner.

And then our server asked about dessert. We thought we were ordering one, but got one order of three beignets, deep-fried pastry dough (like a fritter) covered in powdered sugar. We shared one and took the other two home for later.