Cool and Fresh in Henry

A few days ago I decided to try and beat the heat we’ve been having by packing an ice chest, and driving my mother and nephew, to the community of Henry. They were both familiar with the area and helped me navigate through the bayous and green sugar cane fields to the Circle V Market. I was in the mood for a hamburger, and I figured they had the freshest.

“We grind and season the beef and pork for the hamburgers and boudin right here,” said owner, Jonathon Le Blanc. “And we offer a couple of different poboys at lunch with sausage we make ourselves, like the chicken, and the mixed beef and bacon.”

I had never heard of a beef and bacon sausage poboy, but it sounded genius and I wondered if others were aware of Jonathon’s creation. I had my answer a few minutes later when trucks began driving up both entrances to the Circle V. Before I knew it, the market was filled with workers from the surrounding area, and some from as far as Abbeville.

I decided that we would take our lunch to go instead of eating along the bar or at one of the tables, because I knew my brothers and sisters would never forgive me if I let my mother find a boyfriend at an actual meat market. So we told Jonathon and his staff Britlyn, Claire and Charlie good bye and drove a couple of miles down the road to the peaceful and serene Bancker Grotto.

After reading a plaque at the entrance of the shrine, we walked up a stone path lined with large crosses, and sat on a bench underneath a cool and shady oak tree. The grounds were surrounded by lush palmetto filled forests, cemeteries and the banks of the Vermilion river. The water looked clean and refreshing and I suggested to my mother and nephew that I might take a dip.

“Don’t swim in there,” my mother said. “You might get bitten by an alligator.”

“Yes ma’am,” I said. “But I have a feeling it might do more than just bite me.”

I wanted to know more about the grotto, and so the three of us loaded up and drove over to the Henry Church to speak with a young lady named Linda Choate.

“The shrine was been built in 1935 by Father De Vos to honor Our Lady of Lourdes,” said Ms. Choate. “It’s been through a lot of bad weather over the years, and was restored by Father Stemman and Barbara and Teddy Le Maire in 1996.”

I had never been to the Henry church and was glad we’d stopped by, because I found it architecturally interesting due to its brick bell tower and three separate roofs which create a stairway effect leading up to the sky. On the interior, sun poured through the large stained glass windows creating walls of green illuminated crosses.

We had one more stop on our trip and so we thanked Ms. Choate for her help and drove about mile up to Don’s Boat Landing, located on the Boston (not pronounced like the city is Massachusetts) canal. I was greeted by the smile of Flo Romero, the mother of Tony Romero who along with his wife Norma, own Don’s. Ms. Romero told me that many people who hang out at the landing didn’t even own a boat.

“Some people just come to play pool or cards or listen to music,” she said. “A lot of people wait for the shrimp boats so that they have the first and freshest choice of the catch.”

Ms. Romero said her son could tell me a little bit more about the place, and called him up. He told me that sometimes he has live musicians play, and hosts different fishing rodeos, like the Don’s Boat Landing Fishing Tournament this September 5th, 6th, and 7th.

“I love meeting the different people who come to the landing,” said Mr. Romero. “I’ve met people from all over and even a guy from England.”

While I was on the phone, a gentleman walked in who looked very familiar to me. I recognized him to be Cowboy, someone I had met at the Museum Café when I’d gone to Erath a couple of weeks before. I told him hello and asked him what he was doing there.

“I like to make my rounds around the area,” said Cowboy. “I want to make sure I share my company with everybody.”

When my mother, nephew and I stepped out into the parking lot to walk back to our car, I felt a cool breeze from the Boston canal. It occurred to me that although I had gone to Henry with hopes of spending time with my family and learning new and interesting things, I experienced something much more. I had found a community filled with natural landscaping, friendly and familiar faces, and places to buy the freshest food around.