A Day with Fay

Our friend Robin introduced us to the fabulous architecture of E.Fay Jones, several years ago, and we have been groupees, so to speak, ever since!  And it is good! This is our third trip to visit some of his inspiring structures, and I believe I've written about the other two here in the past.  This morning we left Mobile and drove west to Wiggins, MS and then a bit north to the Boy Scouts' Camp Tiak, where we 'found' the lovely Pine Eagel Chapel.  This structure was given in memory of L.O. Crosby by his daughter.  Crosby was an extremely successful lumberman who was very active in scouting and also had a fondness for Mr. Jones' style.  As you can see, it was a beautiful and deliciously cool morning, and our surroundings were peaceful.  We knew that the chapel was on the lake, but it was not immediately obvious from where we parked our car.  We wandered through the woods, down a lovely, wide path and when we turned the corner, the above scene greeted us.   

I walked through the chapel, admiring all of the typical Fay Jones details including the closet doors, light fixtures, and beams.  When I took this photo looking back through the woods, I noticed how the beams met and formed a lacy cross.  

a shot of the cypress knobs through one of the side 'window' openings

We drove on to Picayune and stopped for a little lunch at the Dockside

sort of the sublime to the ridiculous, no?

I had the soft shell crab on a roll and C had the shrimp po boy.  Both were yummy!!!

Next we headed just down the road to the Crosby Arboretum, where the Pinecote Pavillion is situated.

another beauty by Mr Jones!  The wonderful arboretum was a gift from Mr. L.O. Crosby....funny how these things work!

This structure is also situated on a lake, and there are wonderful paths leading around it, so that you can easily view the pavillion from many angles.  I shot this picture from a little dock, and as you can see, even the metal posts that hold the rope have Fay Jones' architectural style.  Before beginning our walk, we had stopped at the visitors' center/gift shop and the guide had given us a small baggy full of dried pellets to feed the fish and turtles.  That proved to be a lot of fun as well.

They were not shy!

The arboretum has two stands of long leaf pines, and so we refreshed our memories on facts about their habitat, including the nesting of the Red Cockaded Woodpecker and it's declining population as well as that of the Gopher Tortoise.

There are also many wonderful Pitcher Plants, which as you can see, are in bloom right now.

We are in Lafayette, LA tonight and enjoyed a terrific Cajun Crawfish dinner: etouffe, gumbo, and more.  Sorry, but I'm too tired to post any more pictures!

If you want to see more images of the architecture of E. Fay Jones, please go here.

PEACE