In the Heart of Atchafalaya

 The Atchafalaya River Basin in southern Louisiana is the worlds largest swamp, with over three hundred species of wildlife and over one hundred species of aquatic animals. It acts as a relief valve for the Mississippi River, taking about a third of the rivers water as it approaches the Gulf of Mexico. 

It is also the home of Acadiana, the heartland of Cajun and Creole cultures. We are here to say “Laisses les bons temp rouler”…..”Let the Good Times Roll.”

221 miles south of Shreveport, our gps led us into Parkside RV park, site 38. It’s located in the town of Broussard, Louisiana, near the local sports complex. It’s a fairly new park,and so the sites are wide and private, with asphalt roads and sites throughout. We’re located on a bend in the interior road with a designated pet area on one side and a large triangular patch of grass on the other. Sasha loves it! The field behind us is sugar cane and just beyond that is the local airport.

Our first stop in Broussard was at the Vermillion Cultural Center, showcasing artifacts, houses, and history of Cajun people and their arrival in Louisiana. This typical Creole house has been restored but is original to this area.

The grounds of the Cultural Center are a magnificent example of the area almost 300 years ago.

The Broussard House belonged to the grandson of Joseph Broussard, the leader of the first group of 200 Acadiens that immigrated to southern Louisiana in 1763 after being deported by Britain from what is now called Nova Scotia.

Every Sunday afternoon a local Zydeco band plays and sings, much to the enjoyment of locals. It seemed as if everyone knew everyone and all were having a good time!

A walk through the required gift shop gave us this:

After a taste of Cajun culture, it was time for some Cajun food.

A crawdad pot pie smothered in fried crawdad tails was ordered, and should have been shared, but, oh no, we ordered more…

Fried catfish and shrimp etouffe left us with another meal at home!

Next day we booked a tour with Champagne (pronounced “sha pon” hereabouts) Cajun Swamp Tours. We didn’t expect much since the boatride was an hour and a half circle of Lake Martin a few miles away. We were surprised!

Way back in this protected hollow, a group of bird eggs caught our eye.

What a ride!

A plate lunch from Joyces Grocery in St Martinsville sent us on our way with four servings of roast beef, corn and rice. With a bottle of water: $9.00.

A picture of the moon resulted in a strange phenomenon. The moon is pretty, but just above it and to the right are three small “poofs” of what appear to be clouds. At the moment that I snapped the photo, those were three distinct, sharp, bright lights that immediately disappeared. I dunno….

Every morning about 9:30 a helicopter lifts off from the nearby airport and makes three or four trips south to the Gulf of Mexico.

We’ve since found out that it’s ferrying crews to offshore oil platforms.

The town of Abbeville, about 30 miles southwest is considered to be the beating heart of Acadiana, so we had to visit!

We were a bit surprised, thinking that the much ballyhooed town square was a shoppers paradise, but finding a quaint, quiet, cool area instead. Very nice since the temp was about 90 F with 80% humidity!

Sidewalk trees look as if they have been poured into the concrete!

This is sugar cane territory and Steens is a big name in retail sugar. These “barrels” were once used in the open pot method of producing sugar, where the cane juice is boiled in open pots. Now the cut cane is sent to Texas for crushing, and the juice returned to Abbeville for processing and packaging. Makes no sense to me, but…

Notable for history,

And the annual omelet cook off where every November 5,000 eggs are stirred into a huge omelet!

On the way back to the trailer, we passed through the town of Crowley, where a magnificent old house grabbed our attention.

Just west of Lafayette, the small town of Rayne competes for attention.

What’s next in this part of the world?

Orlandeaux’s Cafe

As we prepare to leave Shreveport, I must offer a shameless plug for a cajun creole restaurant that we had the pleasure of patronizing.

The 100 year old restaurant is currently operated by the fifth generation  under the name of Orlandeaux’s Cafe. As each generation passes, the restaurant is renamed for the previous owner, in this case, Orlando was the current owners father, who passed away last year. “Choppy”, the owner, came to our table to greet us and inquire about our meal and ask where we were from. He told us the story of his father, grandfather, great grandfather and great, great uncle and the work they did to build a great restaurant under trying conditions in the south. You see, Orlandeaux’s is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Shreveport and the longest continuously operating black owned restaurant in the country!

First of all, the location is spectacular, on the bank of Cross Lake just north of Shreveport and west of Bossier City.

Right away, you know this is gonna be good.

We were seated at a huge window overlooking the lake, and immediately ordered sweet tea and jumped into the menu. All of the meal offerings are cajun creole recipes, just what we wanted!

Donna ordered shrimp and grits and proceeded to dispose of about half of it. The servings were very generous!

True to form, I ordered shrimp creole because it’s a bit spicy.

Let’s just say I didn’t need to add hot sauce….

A delicious meal and a wonderful introduction to the South. Our server was gracious and pleasant, and brought us souvenir glasses of sweet tea to go!

If you’re ever in the area, stop at Orlandeaux’s!

Shreveport, Luzzyanna

 247 miles southwest of Conway, Arkansas, we dragged ourselves into Shreveport, LA. The temp was 88, the feels like temp was 96, and the humidity hovered around 86 percent. Pull in, set up, plug in, sit down with iced tea! We have driven through Shreveport a bunch of times but never stopped to check it out. Now is our chance. It’s supposed to rain and storm off and on over the next week, but we’re going to do our best to get’r done.

We’re in site 101 of the Shreveport, Bossier City KOA. I believe it’s the nicest site in the park, although most of the other campers left within hours of our arrival…

This region is informally called ArkLaTex because the weather and the events are so intertwined from Shreveport to Texarkana and down to Marshall, Texas. In fact, several of the local tv stations are repeats of Texas stations, so we found out that there’s going to be a Mudbug Festival in Texarkana on Memorial Day. Sorry we’re going to miss it…..

We drove through downtown Shreveport on a Sunday afternoon, avoiding the busy business and government activities during the week. Some of the century old homes are still decorated with the billboards of the day.

One of the things we needed to do in the area is visit Monroe, LA, home of the Robertson family of Duck Commander television fame. Well, ok, that was the excuse. Monroe is one of those old southern towns, with old homes and bayous in the backyard.

After oh, 20 minutes or so in the Duck Commander building, we slipped out and explored more of the area. We did, however, learn that there’s a whole lot to a duck call than blowing through a piece of wood.

Leaving DC, we headed toward the Garden District to check out the fancy houses along the Ouachita River.

These homes once had riverfront access in the front and fields of cotton in the back, but the homes have been preserved and are beautiful.

A bit northeast of town, the Black Bayou Wilderness Preserve gave us a glimpse of the “real” Louisiana.

J

As we checked out the swamp,

a quiet movement in the water brought a visitor to our party.

The other bucket list item in the area was a visit to Nachitoches, pronounced “Nack-a-tish” after a local Indian tribe. This is a beautiful town, again on the banks of a navigable river, with many old homes dating back to Plantation days. 

One of the best preserved older homes is the Steel Magnolia, featured in the 1980’s movie of the same name. 

Known as “El Camino Real”, the town was a stop on major trade routes.

And downtown buildings and churches reflect the age of Nachitoches.

Old Town, along the banks of the Cane River, is a great walking area, with shops and restaurants.

We checked out several stores, including the oldest hardware store in Louisiana, the Kaffie-Frederick store. Reminds me of the old hardware store in our home town.

The street is a wonderful nod to New Orleans architecture.

One building was illuminated with genuine, original gas lamps!

After a Muffelleta lunch at the Mayeaux deli, we took one last look at the riverfront and headed home.

Well, ok, it’s a long way back, so we stopped for a mocha at the StoryBrew Coffee House. It’s almost a library unto itself, with hundreds of pocketbooks available, as well as some kid-type stuff for the smaller set.

Its a great place to visit, with many old plantation homes now converted to Bed and Breakfasts. We want to visit again!