Day 54 - Longview, TX (Day 2)

It was cool and humid overnight and overcast this morning.  It looked like there was a light shower overnight.  We're planning to explore Caddo Lake anyway.

Geography update ... we've been in the Texas Hill Country, now we're in the Texas Lake Country.

The drive to Caddo Lake took us through Marshall and Karnack to Uncertain.  We went to Uncertain specifically to find a lake/river/bayou/swamp tour ... and became certain that Uncertain is no place to be at night, and maybe even during the day.  The area looked really run down with closed and derelict  buildings.

Graceful Ghost Steamboat Tour ...
We found a tour that took us down part of Big Cypress Bayou.  It was on a replica of an 1800's era paddle-wheel steamboat that departed from Big Pines Lodge.

Big Pines Lodge

Our ride

Captain Ron
steers and narrates

The bayou handled riverboat traffic from
New Orleans to Jefferson, TX in the late 1800s

A sampling of Bald Cypress trees

Caddo Lake is infested with giant salvinia weed.  It has affected lake access and we were led to believe boat tours were severely limited.  The bayou tour was nice, but not what we had hoped to see.  We drove around looking for more.

The Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge was closed due to the federal budget impasse.

Next, we went to the Caddo Lake State Park and struck pay-dirt   A ranger described the many tour options available in spite of the salvinia and let us drive through the park to see Saw Mill Pond (similar in appearance to the lake itself) and the campgrounds.

We went by this state park boat ramp
on our steamboat tour

Saw Mill Pond

This is salvinia
It "chokes" the surface

This 1st grader is going fishing
with his uncle

Dinner ...
RiverBend Restaurant sits along a quiet back road on Caddo Lake.  It's a fooler ... how could a nice place like this make it in such a remote area?  They were quite busy.  Our dinners were very good and far more food than we could eat.  Our server was delightful and attentive.

The dining room is bright and cheery,
outside seating looks out on a river

Reflection ...
We would do things differently if we return to Caddo Lake.  

1 - Start at the State Park to learn more about the lake
2 - Call ahead to plan a lake tour

End of Day:
OSU 40 - Northwestern 30.  Whew!