Deep in the Heart of Cajun Country

From Biloxi, we moved on to Breaux Bridge, Louisiana on Friday, April 11^th, setting up the Fifth Wheel at Poche’s  (“Po Shays”) Fish-N-Camp RV Park, a beautiful  setting out in the country 4 miles north of the small town of Breaux Bridge.  To all who are not familiar with Louisiana, this is pretty much the “heart” of Cajun Country. We were quickly taken by the rustic rural setting. The RV Park is set up around four man-made fishing lakes, and our "Fifth" backed right up to one of those lakes; in a word it was very quiet and peaceful there.

At Home on the lake at Poche's Fish-N-Camp

Street Musicians in the French Quarter

Just a few days after setting up at Poche’s Fish-N-Camp, we were off for five days in New Orleans staying at a Time-Share hotel there, and meeting our friends, Connie and Addison, who had also spent time with us in the Big Apple last Fall, for another joint mini-vacation, this time in The Big Easy.

Jackson Square, New Orleans

 We had a great time in New Orleans, but were soon headed back to our quiet little encampment in Breaux Bridge.  Connie and Addison stayed on for a couple more days before flying home to Eugene.  Right away we were sucked fully into local culture, namely a “Crawfish Boil” put on by our next-door neighbors that weekend.  They insisted we try some of the local delicacy; and who were we to say “NO”?

Crawfish Boil (or remnants thereof) at Poche's Fish-N-Camp

Connie and Addison at the Fish-N-Camp

After our good friends winged their way back to Eugene, and in between casting a couple lines out into the fishing lake that was our backyard,  Lanie and I set out on several quests, first exploring many of the back roads in Cajun Country.  Lanie’s ancestors on her father’s side were in this part of Louisiana for over 100 years dating back to the early 1800’s; and we were able to locate, from her family history research, many of the locales where her family lived during that time, like Bayou Duradl (below).

Back Country Bayou in Lanie's ancestral homeland, near Ville Platte, LA

 A second quest was our search for local music, specifically Cajun and Zydeco influences.  During a previous first ever visit to Louisiana 16 years ago, pulling our RV at the time, a tent trailer, and hauling our two then school age daughters with us on an extended family trip, we’d noted several iconic Cajun Music and Dance Halls along what they call the “Acadiana Trail”, a state highway traversing Cajun Country and many of its most notable towns, such as Opelousas, Eunice, and Kinder.  Alas, many of these Cajun Dance Halls that we remembered seeing back then were now boarded up.   

What we found instead is that we happened to be right in the middle of Spring Festival Season.  People here love two things above most anything else as far as I can tell, namely Food (often in great abundance… see Crawfish Boil above) and Music; and the festivals combined a whole lot of both. In a span of two weeks, and all within a radius of 30 miles from Poche's, there were as follows:

Friday night live music in a City Park in Opelousas;

Etouffee’ Festival at nearby Arnaudville;

Festival Internationale in Lafayette;

Cajun Woodstock in Church Point;

Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge;

And lasty, the not quite world famous 13^th Annual  Beef Tongue Cook-Off at Sherman’s Camp, a rural weekend bar, which was just across the horse pasture behind the Fish-N-Camp.

While we made it to most of the other festivals, I regret to say we missed out on the Beef Tongue Cook-Off… maybe next year… or not!

Geno Delafosse & French Rockin' Boogie entertain at the Etouffee' Festival

Little One's dancing to the Zydeco music in Opelousas

A third quest was for something even more unique to  Cajun Country, namely Boudin. We were introduced to this local delicacy during that earlier trip 16 years ago; and, with more time to spend in the area this time around, decided to pursue the mysterious Boudin a little more deeply.  To the uninitiated, Boudin (pronounced by the Locals, “Boo...dan or Boo..dayn ") is basically meat or other protein stuffed into a soft sausage casing along with rice and other seasonings, and then boiled and sold either hot or frozen.

 We found a tourist guide that highlighted many of the famous meat markets in the area, all of which created their own special brand of Boudin, and other meats and sausages. So, in our final week in Louisiana, Lanie and I set off on what the tourist guide calls the Boudin Trail.  We went to maybe 10 meat markets spread throughout the region, bringing home offerings from nearly all of them.  As a result, we now have our fairly small RV freezer stuffed with Boudin, Andouille, and other sausages; and we’ve been over-dosing on protein for several weeks (hate to see what my cholesterol level will be when I have my annual physical back in Eugene in August… maybe I’ll overdose on leafy vegetables before then to balance things out… naw, probably not!).

Along the Boudin Trail

From the Trail - "Gee, Dear, do you think we're in Louisiana?"

We actually packed a lot of stuff, besides copious quantities of meaty protein, into our last week or so of Louisiana.  We had previously taken a Swamp Tour with friends Connie and Addison, which was quite fun, full of alligator and other wildlife sightings.  Then Lanie and I signed up for an encore tour on a bigger swamp just east of Breaux Bridge, where we found a few more alligators and some beautiful bayou and swamp scenery. Here are a few scenes from those two swamp tours.
 

A Genuinely Unique Cajun RV - puts Cousin Eddie's "R V" (From Lampoon's Xmas Vacation movie) to shame!

Sometimes the Gators blend into the logs

Sometimes NOT! Up Close and personal with Mr. Gator

 We also spent an evening at Evangeline Downs, the horse racing track in Opelousas.  Lanie had never been to a horse track; and it had been maybe 10 years since my last visit to one.  So it was kind of a novelty and a whole lot of fun watching the "ponies" and placing small bets on several of the races.

 The lucky charm on the night was Lanie, who had winning tickets on both of the last two races we watched.  I’d cashed in a modest return on the 2^nd to last race, conservatively betting one of the favorites to “show” (ie place 3^rd or better)…. He took 2^nd paying me back a grand total of $2.80 on my $2.00 wager… hey, never said we were “high rollers”! 

 

And They're Off, at Evangeline Downs

 But Lanie’s final horse, a fine Mare named Proud Princess, paid nearly 6 bucks on her “show” ticket as it stormed to the finish line first.  Unfortunately, she (Lanie that is) saw nothing of that 6 bucks because her doofus "betting agent" had a momentary disconnect from fiscal accountability, perhaps in part caused by emotional stress suffered because of the last place finish of his own pick in the same race.  His horse was all lathered up (not a good sign) before she even broke from the gate, and was clearly finished before the final turn... in horse racing parlance, I’ve learned, this is called “stopping”! Anyhow, the doofus mistakenly threw the wrong (winning) ticket away on the way to gather up his “client’s” winnings, then handed the lady at the payoff window his sorry ticket instead, only to have it thrust back at him with the words, “LOSER”, scrawled across the top (not really, but that’s probably what she was thinking).   The winning ticket, wagered by Ms. Jones on one really Proud Princess, was buried in the waste basket track-side.  The garbage bin was too deep and too full of (mostly) losing tickets for the disgraced bidding agent to go “dumpster diving for the 6 buck payoff.

And she sprints home first!  Now where's that winning ticket?  UH OH!

Possibly we saved one of the best, most unique, Cajun Country experiences for last, a Saturday morning trip to Fred’s Lounge in Mamou… to me, that is the coolest name of all the little towns we visited in this part of Louisiana.  Mamou also bills itself as being the “Heart of Cajun Music”, and perhaps rightly so, given our experience during the couple of hours we spent at Fred’s.   First of all, Fred’s is kind of a “hole-in-the-wall/dive bar”by all outward appearances.  But it has been in existence for over 50 years; and, on Saturday mornings at least, truly appears to be,  quite literally, the “heart of Cajun Music”.  Thing is, Fred’s only opens on Saturday mornings, and closes in early afternoon… that’s IT… it’s closed on all other days!.  But on Saturdays it has musicians playing live music from about 9 AM until closing time at 2 PM, and the small dance floor is usually filled with locals and visitors alike swinging and swaying to the beat. 

Music and Dancing never stops Saturday mornings at Fred's

All great fun; and a great way to help bring our Cajun Country time to a close.  Less than a week later we would be on to other adventures further west in Texas Hill Country.

Biloxi, A Gulf Coast Gem!

I still can’t believe how much we loved staying in Biloxi, Mississippi for almost a month this past Spring!  I mean we'd heard a lot about Florida, and all the beautiful spots there... and we'd found a few ourselves, for example Port Canaveral and St. Augustine... but Biloxi had seemed, to me at least, the "un-sexy" cousin to places like the much more publicized Gulf Shores in Alabama just to the East. We had looked at RV resorts along the Gulf in Alabama, most were either over-priced or booked solid through Winter/Spring of 2014; Biloxi wasn't.  So we booked a month's stay at Cajun RV Park right across Beach Blvd. from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, hoping for the best.

Our "Home" in Biloxi, MS

 Yes, Biloxi it was, and I’m glad to say we made a great choice. We were instantly comfortable with the town and the RV park; and, as advertised, we were literally right across Beach Boulevard from the beautiful white sand beaches of the Mississippi Gulf; what a treat!  

Almost all alone on the beach, Biloxi, MS

And right away, as well, we glommed on to some of the best seafood dining we’d experienced so far during our lengthy adventure into retirement living and nationwide travel.  Just down the street was a seaside bar and restaurant called Shaggy’s that became our go-to place for relaxing in the late afternoon with a glass of wine and some delicious seafood; the seared ahi and seaweed salad (yes, “seaweed”!) appetizer was divine, and the entrees were good as well. 

Ahi and Seaweed, a perfect combo for the Beach!

 Then, we happened to venture down to a place in downtown Biloxi called Half Shell Oyster House,  and I was “in heaven” with their char-grilled oyster sampler plate; a dozen oysters… on the half shell of course… prepared 4 different ways… outstanding! I could go on about the seafood offerings, but I’m “drooling”… not so cool… so I’ll reluctantly continue.

Grilled oysters on the half shell, Biloxi

Anyhow, where was I?..... oh yeah….  Over and above the great white sand beaches and wonderful seafood, we experienced something in Biloxi that I would label the “open lot syndrome”.  Specifically, and, admittedly it took a week or so for this to sink in, but we began noticing two things in Biloxi soon enough that;  1) there was of whole lot of prime seafront real estate that was empty… or containing just paved areas and/or foundations… and nothing else…; and 2) there were these decorative tree carvings… birds and other animals carved out of tree trunks, lining Beach Boulevard.  As it turned out, the two were related.

Soon enough it all began to make sense.  For one, all the empty lots we were seeing, many carrying for sale signs, were a result of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina back in late August of 2005.  I remember hearing, back then, all about the levees failing in New Orleans, the flooding and devastation there… to recall the news reporters  then, it was all about New Orleans…  yet somehow Biloxi  quiet little un-sexy Biloxi, did not enter my conscience at the time.  But the reality is that Biloxi, and nearby twin city, Gulfport…. NOT New Orleans… drew the brunt of Katrina’s fury when it reached the mainland in that area. 

There was widespread devastation, whole neighborhoods wiped out, buildings, both commercial and residential, completely leveled; by the storm surge, which sent gulf water surging inland for over a mile, wreaking havoc everywhere.  Here is a pic, gleaned off a Katrina Website, showing a floating casino deposited on top of a two story motel.  This was only a few blocks West of our RV Park.  Now, eight years later, this is an empty lot, marked only by the concrete slab under the former motel... the Casino and Motel are long gone!

Katrina's aftermath - One squashed Motel!

And then there were those carvings.  We noticed them, sea birds and other animals carved out of hardwood tree stumps along Beach Boulevard.  We soon found out that these were carvings of trees damaged by Katrina, her winds and storm surf leaving only tree trunks in many places.  So the City and State commissioned local artists to make use of the trees and create the artistic carvings.  Very nice!

Katrina embraced! beach carvings in Biloxi

Yes,  Biloxi has rebounded, clearing the rubble, resolutely rebuilding in so many cases, and carrying on with a whole lot of resilience.  And we gratefully soaked in the essence of Biloxi, old and new, the pristine white sand beaches,  great seafood, and underlying spirit. It was a wonderful experience overall; and we were somewhat reluctant to leave in early April and head further West.