Coastal Louisiana

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April 21st 2012

Published: April 30th 2012

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WilliamandChristina

Steamboat Bills, Lake Charles, LA

Just over the border from Texas, about supp'r time, we HAD to stop & try some local craw fish!

It feels different here...

William: We crossed the border into Louisana on February 21. The border crossing was obvious right away as the highways were old & much bumpier than in Texas and other states. We bounced & jounced along in the motorhome making it harder for Christina to prepare food and dance around the house as we went down the highway (har!), but she can & does actually go back & fix me snacks while we are driving. This is an oil state, like Texas, and that was evident in the gulf refinaries dotting the city of St Charles Lake not far over the border on Interstate hwy 10. It was a monday, and the last hurrah of Mardi Gras was going to occur that night. What timing, right?

In the month of February I did only three or four shows. Two in the cities of Texas at a couple RV parks, and in Louisiana only one which was in a retirment community in New Orleans. Still, this was good for keeping us going till we got to Alabama & Florida where I had many shows lined up. As usual - the show is always well received

Counter @ Steamboat Bill's

After studying the menu, we placed our order here.

and I have been selling a lot of CD's!

Christina: Our first stop in Louisiana had to be a down home restaurant (well I think someone told us about Steamboat Bill's & how good it was) where the featured specialty was the crawfish. You could get them in a variety of ways but, the local favorite was boiled and served with some sauces on a big tray. We went for this style along with some little samples of a few other things like the Etouffe - which is a sort of seafood stew in a rich roux base. Eating crawfish is like eating mini lobster tails - very hands on - but much easier than eating lobster! We certainly did enjoy that meal though I later regretted sucking out the salty juice from too many of the crawfish bodies! That was an opps. By the way, we learned that the crawfish are a fresh water delicacy not from the gulf, but came from inland streams (or maybe farms). We told the waitress that we were from California where a lot of people prefer to avoid fried food. She said, "oh my gosh, almost everything here is fried"! Well, it's

Sucking the juice out...

after eating the little tail - tasty but SO SALTY!

not hard to see that people in Louisiana love their fried foods!

After that typical, but unusual to us Louisiana fare, we drove over to the area of the city where the Mardi Gras parade would take place. It turned out to be a bit of a disappointment (though I don't think we expected much). We watched large truck after large truck with costumed people on top throwing plastic beads to the exited people lining the street. Everyone seemed to be endlessly enjoying this but, for us foreigners is was not greatly entertaining! I make fun of all those plastic necklaces as a wasteful thing, and did not want to catch any to take back with me, but, you know what? After a while the guy in front of me started giving me some & after another 20 minutes of this I ended up taking away a bunch in spite of giving the toddler near me some of them! Now they are all just hangin' around in our motorhome cause you can't throw the dang things away! Even dumber is: when we were in New Orleans I didn't even think to wear some of 'em.

'Stranger in a Strange

Got the picture?

They're pretty small critters, so no problem for us to eat the whole tray full!

Land'

Well, I can't speak for William, but I myself often feel like the stranger in a strange land when traveling away from my familiar turf. William always seems to be comfortable, at ease & at home anywhere, but this is not so for me. Even in my own country, I always feel and wonder: WHO are these people that live in this place, & what are they about?.. they often SEEM so different, (though inside I KNOW they are not). Well, I can say that entering Louisiana, this feeling was heightened - even the look of the place was different. Louisiana sometimes felt like a foreign country, though I must say that in the party atmoshpere of New Orleans, with a great blend of ages, colors, & cultures of people there was a special warmth, openness and friendliness that transcended all that. New Orleans seemed to be a great example of the American melting pot but in an old European atmosphere (at least in the tourist areas of the French Quarter). But that flavor was not to be found in the small towns.

The culture and atmosphere here in LA was noticably different right away -

Mardi Gras at St. Charles Lake

a place rich in it's own unique heritage, blend of peoples and cultures unlike anywhere else in the country. We've all heard about that, but to experience it was very interesting. It's Catholic land way more than other parts of the u.s. and people here seemed less interested in reaching out, & more into their own world of close knit family & friends. We did discover however that, as in other warm southern states, many people from northern climes spend winter months in these parts & love the fun atmosphere. Fun, because while many Louisianans may be devoutly religious, they also love to party, and live music seems to be an important part of that. Natives & northerners alike mingled and had a good time at the down home cafe in Beaux Bridges where people danced partner style with many different partners throughout the evening of live music.

Louisiana is the land of the Fleur de lis, Crawfish, the Creole peoples - who are a mixture of the French with either Spanish or Carribean blacks - and the 'Cajuns'. Each have their own distinctive cuisine, and language derivations. The Cajun folk are Acadians - French colonists that had been

More of the same that went on & on!

banished from eastern Canada by the British a couple hundred years earlier for their desire to practice their Catholic faith but were welcomed in this region by the Spanish who held it in the 17th century before giving it over to the French sometime later.

We learned a lot about the Cajun way of life, customs and history at the Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette. It had many well done exhibits though we found the film about the Acadians in Canada overly dramatic & redundant. Like most of our country several hundred years ago, these people farmed, mainly rice, with unique methods in their lowland bayous and swamps. A special feature of the landscape in S. Louisiana that we began to observe in east Texas are the huge old oaks draped with Spanish moss.These are everywhere and lend and other worldly feel to the place. People of bygone eras harvested this moss for many uses. I wondered, if the moss might eventually kill the trees, it is so prolific on some, and doesn't seem to be harvested as before. I have come to call the trees so heavily laden with this moss "ghost trees" & I'm just realizing now

Charming town of Breaux Bridge

Tasty Louisiana cuisine & cajun music at the down home Cafe Des Amis

that they remind me of trees that I/we might have seen in a scary movie or cartoon - a little spooky. They have a sort of cartoonish and other-worldly appearance, but also in their own way, are very beautiful & regal, draped in nature's lace.

Mardi Gras anyone?

Mardi Gras or "fat tuesday" in French, is celebrated around Louisiana, and always on Feb. 21st (but this year it's monday). It is the last hurrah before the beginning of lent on Ash Wednesday, but the carnival aspect dates back to the Lupercalia Festival of pre-Christian Rome honoring the god Lupercus. Later this holiday was blended with the Christian lenten season. I found a good website that tells much more about Mardi Gras and it's origins, for you who are curious: http://www.novareinna.com/festive/mardi.html

I think the Mardi Gras festivities we observed in St Charles Lake were probably mere child's play compared to what it must have been like in times of old or even modern New Orleans! A playpen version of the racious festivities, and complete abandon that Mardi Gras is known for - or so we've heard! But, we couldn't make it, or didn't feel the need

Lake Fausse Pointe State Park

We mostly stayed at state parks in LA - lower cost, hiking trails, & lovely scenery.

to push on to New Orleans itself for this occasion. As it was, being in N'Awlins the weekend following when remnants of the celebration hung all about the place was close enough to the drunken party for us!

What else is here?

We only had a week & a half to enjoy passing through the coastal areas of Louisiana. We use several different books: America from the Road, and 1,000 Places to See Before You Die in North America, to guide us in choosing interesting places to visit. In the St. Charles Lake area we enjoyed a night or two stay at the nearby State park then moved on east to the area around Lafayette which is slightly north of the coast. This town wasn't much of an attraction itself but did have the the Cajun museum and other historical attractions. The little town of Beaux Bridges was more fun & the night at the Cafe Des Ames was packed with people coming out for the music & the food.

The next day we went to Avery Island - the privately owned McIlhenny family estate which features the infamous plant where Tabasco is made and the

One of the parks

200 acre jungle gardens that E.A. McIlhenny, in the late 19th century, had the vision to cultivate into a bird sanctuary helping to save the snowy egret from extinction. Now, "around 20,000 snowy egrets and other water birds nest on the island each year on specially built platforms in a pond nicknamed 'Bird City'" (that's quoted from their brochure). Now this family has been SMART in business and really got the branding thing with the Tabasco figured out a long time ago (at least a century)! The whole place was very impressive. After walking through the preserve where we did see some small alligators, we took a tour of the plant and learned everything one could ever wish to know about the making of Tabasco sauce, & quite a bit about the family as well. The plant and buildings for the public tour were all quite new and very immaculate. Before the tour began I said to William "I bet we're going to get some samples". He said "nah, I doubt it". Sure enough, when the tour started and we were led into the room to see a short film, the tour guide held out a dish with tiny bottles

Some plucky geese!

of various flavors of Tabasco sauces for us to take a handful of (like Chipotle - smoky, Habanero - even hotter than regular Tabasco, & the milder green pepper sauce among the varieties of their newer creations). We learned about the history of the company, where the peppers are grown (some right there for seed development), how the sauce is made and why it's so special, & more, on the tour & in their historical exhibits. In the store, where one can buy anything and everything branded Tabasco, we tasted Tabasco ice cream, jellies and the like. And we walked away without buying anything, but I bet we were the exception! It was fun and Avery Island was definitely worth visiting.

As you may recall, the outline of Louisiana is a boot shape. New Orleans is on a large bay and at the outlet of the Mississippi River. The coastline is very fringed in that part of the boot. Needless to say, in the short amount of time we had, we only got a taste of this interesting state. I was glad that we were visiting in the cool weather of February when it was pretty comfortable and not

parked at Avery Island

unlike our northern California weather this month (maybe a little warmer). Despite the greyness and familiar oaks, one sign that we were much farther south is the presence of tropical sounding birds & their calls. We also noticed this in the more southerly parts of Texas. Throughout LA we stayed primarily in State Parks which were all very nice. We enjoyed canoeing, biking & walking in the Lake Fausse Point State Park in spite of wet weather. This was a great park. There was even a State park only a half hour drive from New Orleans where we camped which was very convenient.

N'Awlins

Our next stop was the exciting New Orleans or, as some of the natives say: N'Awlins. We drove the motor home several times right into the downtown and were able to park in a parking area next to a city RV park while visiting the French Quarter. It would have cost us around $30. to park there for the day, but by some stroke of luck or gift of God, on several occasions they decided not to make us pay it. We both loved New Orleans and would now say that it is

Flowers bloom in winter here

An example of the lovely landscaping & gardens on privately owned Avery Island

one of our very favorite cities in the u.s. that we have visited so far! Our time in the city was one of the highlights of this trip! Because, because, because: the FANTASTIC MUSIC, the unique food and the EXTRAORDINARY atmosphere in the French Quarter with the old world architecture, and the many different and interesting people. Kind and friendly people. All the bands and musicians were exceptional! Auto drivers were considerate of pedestrians, and police seemed scarce (fine with me). We didn't see any on Sat. night or all day sunday, but the black & white cabs faked us out till we got used to them.

Our first evening there was Friday night and we had fun mingling in the varied crowds of people milling and walking the length of Bourbon St. which was closed off to traffic, and the adjacent Royal St., walking back the other way. We stopped in at various joints to hear music which on Bourbon is primarily of the rock variety. The length of Bourbon St. and its parallel streets was long - about 12 blocks, so lots & lots of walking! On Sunday, we spent the whole day and evening in the

There's a little crockodile in the background

A big deal for some of the tourists! Partly cloudy skies, and cool air, but still too bright for me.

city starting with walking along the open air markets near the waterfront, & on to other areas, snacking and sampling music here and there. Famous French style cuisine found everywhere includes things like the "biegnets" a sort of pastry/doughnut thing that William had to try (I didn't even want one bite), and the candy like Pralines which we did not try. But the seafood, and traditional cajun, & creole dishes were irresistible! We sampled some great appetizers at Mojitos Bar & Grill on the Esplanade at Frenchman St. & sat in the courtyard where a jazz trio was playing. The Black Paella, Aruba Scallops, and Seafood Gumbo were all outstanding. We heard at least 5 bands on this rainy sunday, mainly in the clubs on Frenchmen St. which was a great day for a variety of old style jazz. Wow! It was impressive, and no lack of festivity or crowds for the rain. The Spotted Cat featured bands all day and all night long changing about every three hours. Around 8 p.m. we got hungry so walked to the outskirts of Frenchman St. about a block north (I think) of the Spotted Cat to an upscale, modern but comfy looking

Bird sanctuary on Avery

bar/restaurant that featured no music (see pic for name of it). We walked in to have dinner and found that the bar big screen was playing the Academy Awards show. That was a great surprise since William loves, and I too, enjoy watching the Academy Awards, but we had completely forgotten about them this year. To top off an already exceptional day, we had a delicious meal at a table in the bar relaxing for 2 hours while catching the show! It was positively serendipitous!

We talked at one point that day with a local woman artist who still lives near Frenchman St. on the edge of the French Quarter. We asked her about what hurricane Katrina was like. She said she lost everything she owned but eventually was able to move back to the area where she was a renter. The water/hurricane in this area destroyed the roofs, damaging peoples possesions inside. But the worst damage to so many homes (even in coastal Alabama) was in outlying areas affected by the levies breaking. We know it was devastating for so many but as tourists we were unable to observe any damage within the city. In fact, the areas

I enjoyed watching these birds

in nest making mode

along the bay were beautifully restored, and many new buildings such as the convention center were there. Everything looked perfect, but I'm sure there are many other tales of Katrina and this time lurking somewhere, though not at all evident on the faces of the people in these parts of the city.

Now What?

After four days around New Orleans we were headed for Alabama - the narrow section of the state that has a bit of gulf coastline. William had a show to do at the Bella Terra RV Resort - a primo - very nice smaller facility about 5 miles from the beautiful white sand beaches. We had no idea Alabama had such a pretty coastline! We, or I should say, I stayed at this resort for 6 days while William had to fly to Eugene Oregon for the weekend to attend a fair convention where he and his agent were promoting his shows, and he had been chosen to present a sampling of his show to the fair and event organizers. Clearly, this was something not to be missed, just because he was clear across the country! While he was away I enjoyed some

More of the bird haven @ Avery

blissful solitude. And after he returned we went on our way, through the rest of coastal Alabama and crossing into what is known as the "pan handle" of Florida, also considered to be the part of the state where the "old Florida" can still be seen. More about that in the next entry!.....