Say Hello to Mr. Charlie!!

Morgan City, Louisiana is an important city with regards to offshore oil drilling and production in the Gulf of Mexico. Many large companies that provide equipment, technology and personnel to offshore drilling and production platforms are based out of the area.

So when we discovered that the "International Petroleum Museum & Exposition" was located in Morgan City, we decided that we'd better give it a visit. It's a good thing we had our GPS because we twisted and turned our way through the downtown and then neighborhoods of Morgan City until we had no idea where we were!  We needed to get there in time for the 10:00 tour (they only do two each day) and we finally came to a dead-end and found this:

Not much to look at, but a couple of other folks were waiting on the tour, and we quickly found the tour guide, Bryce.

Bryce showing us a tiny drill bit.

It turns out that Bryce has worked in the industry for many years as a commercial offshore diver working on the rigs and production facilities, and later as a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) operator. There is such a difference between taking a tour led by a guide who has learned the material but never done the work, and someone who has actually worked at it for decades. We were off to a good start!

Our small group started inside of the building where historical equipment was on display, like this hand-operated air pump which fed air to the diver below the surface. The divers certainly hoped that the operators on the surface were paying attention to their job!!

Several types of diving helmets were on display, including the Mark V Diving Helmet used by the US Navy and made more famous by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the movie "Men of Honor". 

In addition to historic items there is more modern equipment like this control console for an Underwater ROV. It turns out that remotely operated vehicles are now used to accomplish many of the tasks formerly performed by divers, so there is a large demand for operators. Bryce hopes to get this station hooked up to a robotic arm mounted outside of the museum so that folks can try their luck at performing tasks with it. 

After finishing his introduction, Bryce led our group out to the star of the show, Mr. Charlie. Mr. Charlie was the first transportable, submersible, reusable oil drilling platform, and ultimately drilled hundreds of oil wells in the Gulf, with a cumulative depth of 2.3 million feet!

The concept of a transportable, submersible drilling rig was developed by Alden "Doc" LaBorde, a graduate of the Naval Academy and a veteran of WWII. He was working for Kerr McGee, a large oil production company when he came up with his idea for the rig. He was unable to interest any of the major drilling companies (including Kerr McGee) so he resigned and went off in search of investors. He found Mr. Charles Murphy, of the tiny Murphy Oil Company of El Dorado, Arkansas who committed $500,000 dollars to the project. Together they formed Ocean Drilling & Exploration Company "ODECO" and built the rig, named Mr. Charlie after Charles Murphy's father. 

And the rest is history!  Mr. Charlie could be placed on a barge, floated out to water up to 40' deep, and then sunk onto the bottom. From there it became a self-sufficient island for the crew of 58 men. In addition to the drilling equipment itself, there were crew quarters, a kitchen and dining room, recreation room, etc. 

Room for Four Roughnecks

As you might imagine conditions were pretty primitive on the rig. Bryce noted that the men worked 12 hour shifts, with no television, telephones, internet, etc. for entertainment in their off hours. 

Mr. Charlie drilling in the Gulf of Mexico

We were amazed to see young men working on Mr. Charlie during the tour, and learned that it is still used as an on-shore training center for oil platform workers! Classes of prospective workers spend several weeks on the rig getting used to the spartan conditions and learning various tasks like welding, equipment maintenance, drilling, etc. Sometimes they are able to get culinary students on board to prepare meals, but the class that we saw was being fed with food that the owners wife cooked at home and brought in. 

Kitchen

The business end of the rig is the derrick and drilling floor. Bryce explained how drilling pipe was hoisted up into the derrick, a drilling bit attached to the end, and then lowered onto the sea floor to drill. 

30' Lengths of Drill Pipe

Drill Bits

We learned all about the life of a oil platform worker, including what a "Billy Pugh" basket was used for. In good weather helicopters were used to transfer crews on and off of the rig. But in bad weather the Billy Pugh Basket was used to hoist men from the deck of the rig and lower them to a bobbing crew ship waiting below. 

Billy Pugh Basket

Apparently the ride could get pretty wild, and occasionally the crane operator would have to dunk the basket full of men into the ocean to stop it from swinging violently. Bryce mentioned that rig workers always looked forward to getting home after their weeks aboard the rig, but did not look forward to riding "Billy". 

Money in a Jar

The object of all of this equipment and technology is oil, extracted from beneath the Gulf of Mexico. As drilling moved into waters deeper than 40', Mr. Charlie became obsolete and was retired from active service in the mid-1980's. But it carries on as a training center for young roughnecks as well as a museum for those of us interested in offshore oil production. 

Rip's Rookery and What Is That Noise???

Just outside of the Rip Van Winkle Garden gates, is a small pond that contains "Rip's Rookery".  Unlike the man-made rookery that we visited on Avery Island, this one seems a little more natural, with the birds nesting in trees rather than on wooden platforms.

Roseate Spoonbills

The primary nesting birds at this rookery were beautiful, pink Roseate Spoonbills. We could see around 100 individual birds, but couldn't see into large areas behind the island in front of us. 

One thing that seems common around rookery islands in the southern US is American Alligators. It is thought that alligators prevent predators like raccoons, skunks and opossums from reaching the nests and eating eggs and nestlings. The trade-off is that weak and careless birds become food for the gators!

We arrived early in the morning and watched the rookery for 90 minutes. There was constant activity as birds flew in, out, and around the rookery. Plenty of "Bird-in-Flight" photography practice!

In addition to the spoonbills we saw a few Great Egrets and Cattle Egrets building and tending nests.

Great Egret with nesting material

Cattle Egret

While we were at the rookery we got to witness one of nature's great spectacles. A large American Alligator began to "bellow", which is a way of demonstrating size and dominance. They inhale a large amount of air, and then create an amazing low-frequency rumble as they exhale. The rumble can be heard from a long distance, and sometimes the water "dances" around the alligator from the vibration. 

We first noticed this big gator swimming quickly across the pond, doing a good bit more splashing around than usual. 

Then it started to bellow. We could see it inhale, and rise up in the water because of the inhaled air. It would then bellow, sending out the rumbling sound and sinking as it exhaled. 

It finally occurred to me to take a video of the alligator bellowing.  The frequency is very low, and it is easier to hear it with headphones. Play the video and see if you can pick up the rumble!

And with all of this Alligator Action going on, the Roseate Spoonbills continued to feed in the shallows and fly around the pond!

See ya' later...

Rip Van Winkle Gardens on Jefferson Island

Entrance

Joseph Jefferson, built a hunting lodge on Jefferson Island in 1870. He was an actor and played the part of Rip Van Winkle on stage over 4500 times. That is where the island got it's name: Rip Van Winkle Gardens on Jefferson Island.

We arrived at the Gardens just in time for lunch. 

Gift shop and dining room.

We walked through the gift shop and into the dining room only to see every table but one taken.  A tour bus had just arrived.  We were assured they were taken care of and we would receive our food in a timely manner.  Our food did arrive quickly.  Mark ordered crawfish etouffee.  It was very good.  I don’t like to try new foods so I had a chicken panini.  It was very good too.

The dining area is a glassed-in porch sitting in a grove of ancient live oaks with views of the gardens and Lake Peigneur.

While waiting for our lunch one of the many peacocks that roam the gardens walked by.

Did I mention there are a lot of peacocks?

We paid our entry fee to walk the gardens and to view the Jefferson mansion.

The Joseph Jefferson Mansion was built in 1870 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jefferson mansion

Tours are every hour and it turned out that the big bus group had the next tour to themselves.  We didn’t want to wait almost 2 hours before the next available tour so we decided to skip it.  We really weren’t disappointed since we have toured many of these types of homes before.

We spent some time walking around the 15 acres of semi-tropical gardens.

There are many fountains.

We found another Grover Cleveland tree!!  Remember the first Cleveland tree we saw at the Jungle Gardens after the Tabasco tour?

Another Cleveland Tree.

Grover Cleveland would visit Mr. Jefferson and nap under the massive old oak.

Jefferson Island, like Avery Island, is not an island.  It is another salt dome.  But, this salt dome has a disastrous past. 

On November 20, 1980, a 14-inch drill bit from a Texaco oil drilling rig on the surface of Lake Peigneur cut through a working salt mine 4,000 feet below.

The Jefferson Island salt mine had been operating under the lake since the early 1900s.  There were dozens of shafts going several thousand feet down.

The lake itself averaged about 10 feet deep and contained about 1 billion gallons of fresh water.

Experts believe that either there was a miscalculation in where the drill rig was placed, or the drill angled off in the wrong direction. Whatever the case, the drill bit was some 400 feet off course when it entered the mine.

Over the next few hours, the entire lake drained into the salt mine. In addition to the oil rig, over a dozen barges were also sucked into the maelstrom including the house of J. Lyle Bayless, the owner of Rip Van Winkle gardens at that time. The chimney of that home is still visible in the lake. 

After walking the grounds for a while we headed to Rip’s Rookery outside the entrance to the gardens

The Rookery.

Mark took a few pictures but the afternoon light wasn’t great for pictures.  We came back the next morning to much better light and many more birds!

Next time:  Pictures from the rookery and an amazing video.

America’s Oldest Operating Rice Mill

The Conrad Rice Mill in New Iberia, Louisiana is the oldest operating rice mill in America.

We didn’t know what to expect so we arrived in plenty of time for the first tour of the day at 9:00 a.m.  Tours are given 5 times a day and there is a small fee.

When we first walked into the gift shop a very energetic woman called out to have some coffee and that the day's rice sample would be ready soon.

The gift shop.

We quickly figured out this was a very small operation.

They take gumbo seriously around here.

Kesla was the enthusiastic woman who greeted us, and she would be our guide for the tour.  We were the only ones on the tour. 

As we started the tour we walked back outside past the parking lot and to the rice mill.

Although this is an operating mill, they weren’t processing rice today.  Apparently, they only process rice on an “as needed” bases.

In 1981, the Mill was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

P.A. Conrad founded the Conrad Rice Mill and Planting Company in 1912. He would cut the rice by hand and let it sun-dry on the levees before putting the rice in the threshers. The rice was poured into 100-pound bags and taken to the mill. At that time, the mill operated only three to four months out of the year. Conrad would sell his rice from inventory, waiting for the next crop to harvest.

Today grain is bought from growers in the area.  The trucks drive onto the scales and drop their load through this hole into the basement of the mill.

The mill is very dark inside.

Kesla went over all the steps in milling rice.  She explained how the elevators moved the grain between the three floors and how the augers moved the grain from side to side to the elevators.

Whole rice out of the field.

First you take off the husk.  Sometimes this takes 2 or 3 times through the machine.

Husk.

The pearler removes the bran.

The rice is graded.  Broken rice is sold to breweries.

The finished rice is sent to the packing machine.

The elevator is for moving grain up and down and the auger moves grain sideways.

Her hand is on the outside of the elevator.

This is the conveyor belt with attached buckets that are inside the elevators.  This belt was laying on the floor to be repaired.

The green packing machines automatically form the rice bag, fill it and seal it.

The gray packing machine with the sewing machine attached is semi-automatic.  It drops the rice into a kraft paper bag, trims the top of the bag, and sews it closed.

These machines can pack from 7 oz to 25 lbs. of rice.

In the 1950’s, “KONRIKO” was trademarked as an acronym for “CONRAD RICE COMPANY.”

A few years later, P.A. Conrad retired and left the business to his three sons.  After many years of operating the mill, the brothers were at retirement age and eventually only three New Iberia grocery stores remained as customers.

In 1975 Mike Davis bought the mill from the Conrad brothers. Within 10 days of the purchase, the mill was back up and running after laying dormant for two years.

The original part of the mill was built in 1912 and received additions in 1917 and 1930.

After our tour we headed back to the gift shop.  Today’s rice sample, wild pecan rice, was ready for testing!

Lots of different spices can be sprinkled on the cooked rice.

Kesla explained to us that the mill’s claim to fame is that they only produce brown rice and that it cooks in 25 minutes instead of 40 minutes like other companies.

It is very good!

Wild Pecan Rice is neither a wild rice nor does it contain pecans.  The name is intended to conjure up images of the wild pecan trees flourishing in the fertile rice growing areas of southern Louisiana.

We made a few purchases.

The wild pecan rice is very aromatic and has a rich, nutty flavor.  The yellow rice is their regular brown rice with saffron and turmeric.

I wish we had been able to see the mill in production.  It would have certainly been magnet worthy! 

I did buy a magnet - they were pretty.

Next time:  More Louisiana attractions