although it doesn’t appear it will be much warmer in Louisiana, it will be warmer! So it is time to explore Cajun country. This will be a connect the dots tour, as there appear to be so many dotted roads in my atlas depicting scenic routes.It seemed a common beginning for a VW road trip. There was a new starter and a new alternator and still Jim, the mechanic, thinks I need a new battery even though the Battery Center told me that I did not. At least he was kind enough to leave it parked on a hill, so a pop of the clutch and I was headed south on a warm and sunny day. When I arrived in Hope I thought the battery must surely be charged but I didn’t plan on the motor dying when I stopped for directions to someplace that could check it. After asking several people that stopped at the Shell station for gas, a nice girl in a jeep had the necessary jumper cables to get me on the road to Walmart. And indeed, a quick check confirmed Jim was right, I still needed a battery.
This provided a nice opportunity to pick up some needed 5 lb. weights and a new handy aqua thermos with two handles and a drinking or pouring spout on top. The perfect addition for the trip. If only I realized then I had left my spatula at home.
Once south of Hope I meandered the back roads to Natchidoches, that is Nachadish to the locals I am informed. I stopped for gas and a guy offered to lead me around the bypass and I was off for the Kisatchie National Forest when along came rule #1 - Never travel after dark! As it was dusk when I turned down Longleaf Trail looking for the campground, when I spotted the sign that said 17 miles and I wasn’t sure of the directions to the camping area, I turned around and decided to locate the Dogwood campground. Well either it isn’t on that road or I missed it and a beautiful drive through the fresh forest with trees budding and dogwoods in bloom found me in Leesville at dark thirty. The Shady Lake RV Park was not far up the road and I was happy to arrive although I could have done without the nearby highway noise. Highways 30, 29, 3,2,371,514,507,71,6, and 117 had led me straight to the stop for the night . I ate cracklins for supper to celebrate being in Louisiana and they were still as nasty as I remembered - I couldn’t even finish the bag.
As I settled in I felt right at home again. I set up housekeeping but I arranged differently: upstairs would hold the crab net, roller blades, bike rack, weights and workout clothes in case I go to a Y. Too bad it was 100 % rain in the forecast.
On Friday morning the ducks and geese wandered around the pond not seeming to mind the morning rain which later subsided. After oatmeal I meandered on to DeRidder since I missed the first scenic road, 10, that I intended to take. There I found a tourist center where I picked up some brochures and picked some blooming yellow jasmine.
I followed 171, 26e, 104e, 13s to Eunice, a nice little town of about 30,000. I visited the chamber for more brochures and info and then next door stopped into the town museum. A nice and very friendly Cajun lady and her mother were delighted to share about Cajun life on the prairie with me. The daughter popped in a video about Mark Savoy and Cajun music and put on some coffee. There I learned that the flooded ponds I had seen with egrets wading and wire mesh traps were crawfish ponds. I looked over town treasures and also found out that in Eunice they do not have floats for Mardi Gras but instead ride horses out into the country where they beg for chickens and other groceries for the celebration in town. All is brought back to the down town area where a hog is slaughtered and community gumbo prepared, with thousand of visitors looking on.I then went next door to the small Cajun Music Hall of Fame where I
learned that it takes a fiddle, a triangle and an accordion to make a Cajun band. I practiced my French, Laissez les bon temps rouler! or Let the good times roll.Then I was off another block to the Jean LaFitte center run by the NPS. Here I viewed the typical well done national park display. I got directions to Lake Chicot State Park knowing that I would be back
the next day. The downtown area was clean, the azaleas and dogwoods were blooming and so far everything had been free. There was plenty of parking and all of the sites were within a two block area. I picked up pistolettes and boudin for lunch at a gas stop with, of course, a praline for desert. A pistolette is a puff pasty type fried thing with a choice of stuffed crab or other seafood mixtures for a filling. The boudin is the famous Cajun sausage that I enjoy. It was time to travel north. I took 13n to 10e to Ville Platte and then 3042 n to Lake Chicot State Park.What a pretty lake Chicot is with plenty of camping space and only a $12 fee as was true
in all the state parks in Louisiana with full hookups. I do like state parks. The gates would be locked at night and if I needed to go anyplace a combination would get me out. The only place I wanted to go was for a bike ride so I rode down to the boat landing. There a wooden walk out over the lake offered a peaceful view of the cypress trees, covered in Spanish moss and standing in moss surrounded by water lilies and water hyacinths looking for the sun. I thought how beautiful it must be when they are in bloom. The ducks called across the lake as the sun prepared to set and I prepared to settle down. What a way to end a day. More pistolettes, leftover asparagus, a piece of chicken and spicy fries took care of supper.On Saturday I awoke again to rain but could not let that interfere with the plans for the day. By 8:15 I was exiting the park when I heard the tornado warning reversing the same path I was intending to take. I stopped in the office at the gate and visited with a couple from Houma while we waited for the storm to pass. At 9:05 the warning was over, the sky looked better, and I left for a short drive to Mamou.
In Mamou I indeed witnessed what I had read earlier on the Internet. People at Fred’s Lounge were drinking beer and dancing to a live band at 9 a.m. It was at Fred’s Lounge that Cajun music was revived after World War II.
Then on to Eunice where I stopped into Marc Savoy’s music store on 190 east of town for the weekly Saturday morning jam session. The downpour kept the crowd small and here I realized that I was in the heart of Cajun music country. I thought Eunice was a well kept secret and realized that must only have been ignorance on my part. A couple from England were there to join in and Herb from New York had spent the winter in his rv to learn the music. A local music teacher and I visited as well as one of the local guys that participated. An old woman brought in some sweet dough pies and for $1.50 I chose peach. The jam session ended at noon and about a mile down the road I located the Cajun Campground.This would be a handy spot to spend the night so I went ahead and checked in. It was quite muddy as there was water everywhere. The rain subsided but the cold, north wind that followed did not. I fried some eggs and realized I didn’t have my spatula at that point. They tasted good with more leftover fresh asparagus and Cajun fries. What a delicious lunch.
Dry shoes prepared me for a trip back to town and a visit to the Jean LaFitte center again. There was to be Cajun music at 3 and Cajun cooking at 4 with samples provided. I watched a video that was quite well done about the history of the Acadians/Cajuns and shortly after 3 I walked across to the library to check the NCAA schedule. For a change it seemed the hogs were calling me. I finally learned that DC’s Sports Lounge was a few miles down 190 west and off I went to watch the basketball tournament.
I was entertained there by the softball team representing C’est Bon Restaurant in Mermentau. What a friendly group they became as they played pool, relaxed, and drank beer while waiting for their next game. They laughed at themselves as they left and assured me they played better that way because it relaxed them. They were definitely relaxed and some not exactly sober. I wished them luck and returned to the NPS hoping they had some leftover jumble, but no such luck for me or the Razorbacks.
Then it was time to go to the Liberty Center next door to purchase my ticket for the Rendezvous des Cajuns. This was an old theater on which the NPS had spent a small fortune to add restrooms in a very modern addition. The show was sponsored by the NPS. The tickets had gone up from $3 to $5, still a bargain in my opinion.I then went two blocks down the street where I enjoyed a fried oyster poboy and some gumbo for supper. I saved some for a later meal and dropped it off in the van as I made my way back to the theater. By now I was delighted I had brought my old pink coat.
The theater was crowded with people from all over the world and included a stage and the necessary dance floor. I took turns watching the crowd on the dance floor and the musicians. Three bands performed that night, one being the well known Dewey Balfour's daughter with her husband and band. The music was delightful but I never understood the Cajun two step. They sure had some extra steps. After the show it was a short drive back to my campground.
On Sunday morning I watched the ducks swim in the nearby ponds and puddles in the cold but dry morning air. I had a banana and breakfst bar and by 8 I was on 190e going to Lafayette. Not liking large towns, I chose to visit the city on Sunday. It was a delightful and shorter than I expected drive. I did pass one guy out in his flat bottom boat with what appeared to be a small paddle wheel on the back, sloshing across the crawfish pond and emptying his traps. This was the guy I had been looking for: actively engaged in the crawfish farming process.
I entered Lafayette on 49 after going thru some cute old towns and eventually located Surry Street. I had planned to eat breakfast in Enola Prudhomme’s north of Lafayette but wasn’t the least bit hungry. When I arrived at the Jean LaFitte NPS Center in Lafayette who was working but the two guys I had seen the day before in Eunice. I visited with them some after I toured the bayou country Cajun display and they provided me with better close up maps and info. One offered to teach me the Cajun two step at Randol’s that night and they suggested that I stay at a very nice Acadian campground near the center.
I went next door to the Vermillionville Acadian Village. There was a restaurant, several old buildings and of course a gift shop. It was nicely laid out along a bayou and was very scenic. I toured the buildings and visited briefly with the blacksmith. But with a windy 44 degree day I decided not to spend so much time outside as I would have liked to on a pretty day. They were to even have Cajun music at 2. I stopped in the bakery where a Cajun woman with a great accent that she had not lost while living in St. Louis sold me a pig’s ear. This was a dough pastry fried and dipped in boiling syrup and sprinkled with pecans just like her mother used to make when she was a child for after school snacks. All I could think of was having to wash a pan in which you had boiled syrup!The lady in the gift shop highlighted my map and suggested I take Pinhook Rd. to 182. It was a nice drive and I didn’t see much of interest once in New Iberia so I took a scenic run on highway 86 to 31 and continued to St. Martinville.
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