I stayed at the Centenary Inn in 2022 on my Great Rivers South ride - recognized your photos of it - a very nice place indeed! Fortunately for me, there was a nearby Mexican restaurant by then. https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/warriorsdeathii/day-3-baker-la-executive-inn-to-jackson-la-centenary-inn-bb/

Got any use for that? Some Texan left the state because he didn't! :-)

I started a bike tour in Louisiana once. I liked the state, but it seems I missed some of the good stuff. Paper thin sliced duck wrapped in jalapeno sounds pretty good. I think I'd like to visit Brittney Spears' hometown for no other reason than to see what kind of tourists go there.

Lesson definitely learned!

One of the things I've learned is to always verify that there, are, in fact, no vacancies.

Several times I've encountered the same situation you found here.

Great post for this day. Not so great was that a town with the same name as one of the greatest writers in the English language was so dismal.

Nice Benchley quote hidden in your narrative.

I agree with Jeff regarding your motel experience. Except for the lizards and insects, I had a similar room in Leland, Mississippi. I wrote about the thin walls, loud conversations on the other side of the walls, sketchy characters hanging outside of my room, etc. There was one thing I didn't write about though. Unlike you, one of the first things I do when entering my room is turn the TV on. To my shock, the channel that came up was 24-hour hard core porn. So was the next channel. I should have known, considering the motel had rent-by-the-hour rooms. I'm not exactly a prude, but I was relieved to find some sit-coms to watch as I flipped through the channels.

If handcuffs are good enough for arrested criminals, they're good enough for bikes.

Head is kinda beat up, but looks like maybe a pine snake, or close relative.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_pine_snake

Crayfish (crawdads) living in flooded rice fields are harvested using the traps.

https://cajuncrawfish.com/crawfish-and-rice-a-perfect-agricultural-match/#:~:text=Rice%20is%20planted%20in%20March,the%20whole%20process%20starts%20over.

I love a good terrible-touring-motel writeup.

This is a great one!

Noosing green anoles is easier than grabbing. But if you see one on a tree, you can circle around behind where it can't see you and then approach to within inches of the tree (keeping an eye on the spot) and quickly reach around to grab before it can react. Caught lots of them like that over the years.

I grew up with these things, and as a kid thought they were really cool because when we'd try catching them their tail would sometimes come off and wiggle, presumably to attract whatever predator was chasing it. I always felt bad, though, and tried to trap them very carefully.

Green Anole. Fun critter, and good insect disposal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anolis_carolinensis

I'm SURE she doesn't read his books. :-). And, by the way, Bryson is a home-grown Iowan, raised in Des Moines.