Two Great Walks Today and Some Misty Rain, Part 1 - Saturday, January 15, 2022

I am continuing to catch up on blogging about our Louisiana Parish walking weekend. 

On January 15, we did the 10k Hammond Volksmarch in Tangipahoa Parish and the 5k Port Hudson State Historic Site Volksmarch in East Feliciana Parish. All of the walks we're doing this weekend are north of Lake Pontchartrain in southeastern Louisiana, except Monday's walk which will be in southwestern Mississippi.

It was COLD this morning. I decided to do the 5k. Susan went out early to do the first part of the walk, then she came back to the hotel to pick me up and we checked out. It wasn't far to the start point, so we were there in a flash.

Historic Hammond Station.

The walk started at the old train station. A number of people were just getting started, so we walked with the group. 

Within two blocks, we came to Southeastern Louisiana University. The walk took us through the campus. The most popular majors at this university are Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services; Health Professions and Related Programs; Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities; Parks, Recreation, Leisure, Fitness and Kinesiology; and Education.

New Computer Service and
Technology Buiding.

A beautiful old oak tree with benches
is at the entrance.

Mims Hall.

RT Pursley Hall - Chemistry & Physics, 
behind it is the Science Building Annex.

Fayard Hall

Sculpture on campus.

Magnolia tulip tree 
is blooming.

The school mascot
is named Roomie.

Sims Memorial Library

Chinese Lion Foo Dog statues in 
front of the library.

Chinese Lion Foo Dog.

Ralph R. Pottle Music Building.

The lion sculpture below is 65" tall, and 82" from head to tail, the size of a very large, adult male lion. The sculpture weighs 800 lbs., about twice the weight of a real-life lion. It is located in the school's Friendship Circle. There was a line of people waiting to have their photos taken with the lion.

Southeast Louisiana University Lion was
designed by Matt Glenn with Big Statues. 

We are now in the university's Art & Design Quad. I love the sculptures on display in the "Louisiana Sculpture Garden." Below is the "Angel of Discovery" statue. The sculpture looks different from the side than it does from the front.

History of the sculpture (from ByLion, faculty/staff newsletter of Southeastern Louisiana University, June 13, 2001): This eight-foot statue of an angel was carved from Carrara marble by Russian-born sculptor Alexei E. Kazantsev. Kazantsev said...he had originally intended to call the statue Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. "But nobody understood. They think it is a brand of shoes," he said, laughing. "So after that reaction from 10 or 15 people, we decide it is Angel of Discovery."..."Maybe we will have a new tradition at Southeastern," said Lazantsev with a twinkle in his eye. "Students can visit the angel to ask for good grades."

"Angel of Discovery," by 
Alexei E. Kazantsev (side).

"Angel of Discovery," by 
Alexei E. Kazantsev (front).

Another sculpture in the 
Art & Design Quad. 

Lucius McGeHee Hall.

Strawberry Field (forever?).

Alumni Field.

After we exited the college, a decision had to be made by Susan Medlin and me. Did we want to continue on and do the 10k with the group or finish up a 5k? I was raring to go on the 10k and Susan decided to do the 10k as well. She will finish this walk with 15k by the time we finish.

Holy Ghost Catholic Church,
Hammond, Louisiana.

The Holy Ghost Catholic Church (above) has beautiful stained glass windows. The tall stained glass window on the right of the entry door was donated by the men of the church, and the one on the left of the entry door was donated by the women. It says so at the bottom of each window.

Lovely stained glass.

We walked through Cate Square Park where we found the butterfly bench and some statues.

Cate Square Park, Hammond, LA.

Memorial bench.

Joe DeMarco statue. He started
one of the three strawberry 
associations in this area.

Walter Reed, M.D. statue.

Charles Emory Cate
(the park is named for him).

Charles Emery Cate was the 19th-century developer of Hammond's Crossing which became Hammond, Louisiana.

We continued walking through downtown and then into a neighborhood. It was starting to drizzle (and still very cold!). 

Landscaping at a restaurant.

Downtown Hammond, Louisiana.

Former Ford dealership.

An old Conoco station was repurposed.

Quite a home!

DJ Moore on the Louisiana Northside
Quilt Trail, Louisiana's first Quilt Trail.

It was just a few blocks later that DJ and I got a little lost. Our directions told us to turn onto Oak St. However, there wasn't a sign on Oak Street and we hadn't been counting the blocks. (We were too busy learning about the Quilt Trail.) We ended up walking a couple of blocks too far. 

There we were, two ladies looking perplexed, and a very nice gentleman on a bike asked if he could help us. We explained we were on a walk and trying to find Zemurray Park. He was thrilled to be of help and explained all about the best way to get to the park. When he found out we were from out of town, he started telling us good places for lunch and things to see. We think he was lonely because he kept on talking. We finally had to tear ourselves away.

Anyway, the next few photos are from when we were lost and you probably won't see them on anyone else's posts, unless it's DJ's. LOL.

Art on bike racks in town.

Description of the bike rack art. 

This is where we crossed back over the railroad tracks that we shouldn't have crossed just yet.

Great ironwork on the arches!

Businesses with railroad-track siding.

We found our way to Zemurray Park and entered. Our instructions told us to circle the lake counterclockwise. As we were entering, the rest of our group who didn't get lost were exiting. They told us to be careful of mud on the other side of the lake. It rained off and on for the rest of our walk, becoming more steady at the end. 

Zemurray Park pond.

 

DJ Moore continues around the pond.

Great white egret.

Nice artwork for this business.

This alley had art.

The best of the alley art.

Downtown Hammond building from 1899.

I had to pose here. Too bad
my eyes are closed.

We walked through the Farmer's Market
and saw the guy on his bicycle again.

As we were leaving the Farmer's Market, a lady stopped us to show us the license plate below. You can see what this says when you look at it in your rear-view mirror. Some things you just can't unsee.

DJ and I were ready to be done with this walk because of the rain and cold. The wind had flipped my umbrella inside out a few times. Thankfully, we were only 1/2 block from the train station. Susan Medlin was waiting for me. Their group got back only about 10-15 minutes before us. We weren't too far behind them.

Overall, I really enjoyed what we saw on this walk: art, university, Quilt Trail info, homes, downtown, and the park. 

This is where I'll end today's blog on the two walks. I'll continue with the Port Hudson State Historic Park walk in Part 2. Stay tuned.