Boats, Balls, Beignets and Alligator Tails

One of our bucket list items has been to take a ride through an honest-to-goodness swamp on an airboat. Well, we can scratch that from the list as of today!

We boarded our boat at the Atchafalaya Basin Landing and Marina which overlooks Henderson Lake, a small part of the Atchafalaya system. It's said that eight major rivers, including the Mississippi empty into this area, creating a huge swamp since the water moves so slowly toward the Gulf.

Two boats traveled in tandem, leaving the dock at a slow speed.

We were placed in the forward seats, and looked back on a dozen or so of our closest friends!

As the engines revved up and the fans began to move, Donna decided to do her Jerry Lee Lewis imitation!

I can't begin to tell you how beautiful the Basin is. From time to time, the captains would shut down the engines, and we would float slowly through the Cypress trees with their decorations of Spanish Moss, and listen to the quiet. Oh, now and then we would hear a "plop" as a creature slithered into the water….

The airboats are extremely agile in this environment, and can navigate through trees and bushes with ease. It's difficult to imagine that this water is 13 to 16 feet deep at the moment!

As small and confined as the swamp may appear, there are large expanses of open water.

An Osprey family has built a home in a lonely tree, and Momma is taking care of business.

Part of our tour took us under Interstate 10, a major east-west highway. The bridge that we passed under, and that crosses the swamp, is eighteen miles long and was completed in the 1970's. You can see that the water has been a few inches higher in the past few weeks, but is beginning to recede. Our captain told us that by September, most of this will be mud instead of water.

Several times we rounded a bend at high speed and it looked as if the "road" had disappeared! Water Hyacinth and a number of other invasive plants have choked a lot of the channels.

We took a break from the boat ride, tied up to a convenient branch, and the captain smacked the surface of the water a few times with an oar, and called in French "Come to papa, Sweetie!". I know this because I speak fluent….ok, he translated for us. And here she came!

The captain has a great deal more nerve than I do!

The Girls swam around our boat as if asking for another treat…the captain has shared some raw chicken with her!
Gotta give the tourists a good show!

After a last longing look at the chicken container, the girl slowly drifted away.

Leaving Basin Landing about 1:30 pm, we looked for something else to do this afternoon. Coincidently, the town of Scott, just a mile or two west of Lafayette, is known as the Boudin Capitol of the world. Every year about this time, they have a Boudin Festival, with music, food, and carnival rides. We bought four Boudin Balls for a snack, and stopped to listen to the music.

Now, the pronunciation of the word Boudin is nothing like I thought. A very nice local Cajun lady corrected me, telling me it's pronounced "Bow-Dine". However, it takes the form of a sausage link, or is formed into balls and deep fried. Neither is healthy, so we chose the ball version so that the portions would be smaller. Sooooo Goooood!

We had to have dessert, of course, so an order of Beignets filled the bill.

Post Script: After writing the above earlier this afternoon, we were "forced" to go to another local restaurant that is considered a "must do" in Lafayette, PreJean's.

Pronounced "PrayZhahn" in the french style, it has served entertainment, political, and military icons for years. So we had to try…..the Croc de Jacques. Filets of alligator, breaded, and served with alligator boulettes. Hmmm, you gotta try it once. Tasted like chicken, yeah?

Donna ordered Catfish Oscar PreJean, a filet with lump crab on top, mesquite grilled asparagus on the side, set over a brown butter Madeira wine sauce and served with a baked potato and drizzled with Bearnaise. A mouthful in more ways than one, but so tasty she claimed to have goosebumps!

Meanwhile, I had to content myself with crawfish enchiladas. Tails, chilies and cheeses rolled into flour tortillas, topped with Crawfish and Creole sauce and cheddar. Baked and served with rice dressing and Corn Maque Choux, which is a Louisiana dish made from corn, green pepper and onions braised and then simmered in chicken stock. This was prepared as a small pot pie with spices and a sweet crust for an unusual and wonderful taste. The enchiladas were absolutely wonderful!

The restaurant is decorated nicely and has a small stage where a band was playing Cajun music while we ate.

So, while I know it's not all about the food, sometimes you just gotta do something special! This has been a busy and enjoyable day, one that we shall not soon forget.