Texarkana Trip 2026 - Day 4 (LaPlace, LA - Houston, TX)

Day 4 would mainly be a travel day - traveling from LaPlace, LA (just outside of New Orleans) to Houston, TX. We had a handful of quick stops planned - fun things along the route that wouldn't take too much time out of our schedule, but would give us a chance to stretch our legs and see something out of the ordinary as well.

Our first big decision for the day - which route to drive out of LaPlace. Matt had driven Interstate 10 from Houston to Florida when he lived in Houston, so I suggested driving a different route (south of I-10) so he could hit new counties (which is something he keeps track of). This added an extra 40 minutes to the drive, but he agreed to that idea, so we drove Hwy 90 south of LaPlace to I-10 at Lafayette. 

Approaching the Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River in Destrehan, LA

Sections along Interstate 10 are elevated to compensate for the swamp land that is prone to storm surges and flooding. 

We stopped for lunch and photo ops in Rayne, LA - the Frog Capital of the World.

We stopped for a few photos of the frog statues throughout town (there were a lot of them!)  as well as the colorful murals.

As Midwesterners, we are always fascinated by the cemeteries that have all of the vaults above ground. 

We stopped in Lake Charles, LA to find "Little Richard the Alligator" - a lifesize fiberglass alligator name "Senator Gator" but looks more like Little Richard. Sadly, we couldn't locate the statue and continue towards our next stop. 

Once in Beaumont, TX, we stopped at Forest Lawn Memorial Park to pay tribute to JP Richardson, Jr - aka The Big Bopper. The Big Bopper died on Feb 3, 1959 in Clear Lake, Iowa (just a few hours from our home). The plane that he was in crashed - fatally killing him and and 3 others (Richie Valens, Buddy Holly and Pilot Roger Peterson). This day will always be known as "The Day the Music Died". As a family, we visited the crash site in 2013. Matt & I also visited the grave of Roger Peterson in 2025.

From the cemetery, we continued into Beaumont and found this larger than life Fire Hydrant!

Saw this incredible tree as we were leaving town. Wow!

Leaving Beaumont, we hopped back on I-10 to continue heading towards Houston. We made a quick pit stop at the Chambers County Safety Rest Area and enjoyed reading some Texas history.

Before heading south to Seabrook, we turned north to go to Deer Park to Grand View Memorial Park. This stop was to pay our respects to a co-worker of Matt's who died in 1996. Hillory Farias (17) died when her drink was spiked with GHB (Date Rape Drug). Her story has been shared and legislation was passed (signed in to law by President Clinton 2/18/2000), aptly named the Hillory J Farias and Samantha Reid Date-Rape Prevention Drug Act. It was sad to hear Matt share Hillory's story but I am so thankful that her death was not in vain! 

Matt lived in Houston for half a year in 1996. He has wanted to go back for a few years now to see how things have changed since he lived there, as well as show me where he lived and worked (he lived in Houston and worked in Seabrook). 

Coming towards Seabrook, we crossed the Fred Hartman Bridge at Baytown.

Our first stop in the Houston area was Kemah & Seabrook. What a fun area! Kemah had an amusement park, boardwalk and lots of shops and restaurants. We walked out to this dock to admire the view, watch the pelicans and feel the breeze for a bit. It was wonderful!

From Kemah, we crossed the bridge to visit Seabrook. Below is a picture of Seabrook on the left and Kemah on the right. About where the yellow backhoe is stood Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, where Matt worked while he lived here. 

The next three pictures Matt took 30 years ago from this same vantage point.

Hurricane Ike came through the area in 2008 and took out a lot of the Seabrook & Kemah properties (see below pictures). While Kemah has rebuilt, Seabrook made the decision to not rebuild at "The Point" due to the damaging storms that come through. The second picture shows Pappadeaux, the restaurant that Matt worked at on The Point of Seabrook. Ike destroyed the building and it was never rebuilt.

We drove down to The Point in Seabrook and then drove a few miles on Todville Road, admiring the houses (such ingenuity!) and impressive views.

Waterfront Drive in Seabrook - Pappadeaux would've been at the end of this road, to the right.

We were getting hungry and the sun was setting, so we headed towards Nassau Bay to grab dinner and see if we could get some pictures at Johnson Space Center. The Space Center was already closed for the day, but they have a few displays outside of the gate and we were able to see those and take pictures.

Here I am, taking the above picture. Matt turned around and found the woman directly behind me...we were the only ones in the whole park and she stood directly behind me. OMGoodness!

We crossed the street to snap a few pictures of the astronaut at McDonald's.

We ate a late dinner and checked in to our hotel. Day 4 has come to a close!

Favorites from Day 4:

Matt: Nostalgic & Full of Memories!

Becki: Driving around Seabrook area, Rayne (loved that the city embraced the Frogs!)