Hanging Out in Cajun Country
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Deep in the Heart
I am a city girl, and proud of it. Yet February this year found me in the backwoods dancing a funky waltz with a 70-year-old man in a purple and green checkered shirt. The venue was tiny, the people as friendly as family. Fiddle and washboard music swirled in the smoky air, and at my table, a bag of fresh-cooked pork cracklin's waited by an icy can of $2 Budweiser.
And if you're wondering what could induce a born-and-bred, city-slicker Californian to down $2 Bud out of a can and LIKE it ... well, I was in Cajun country, and that's just how it's done.
Up Next: Let the Good Times Roll! -
Let the Good Times Roll
"Laissez les bons temps rouler" (LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!) is the longstanding motto of the Cajuns. It evinces itself in the many festivals and street parties, the mouthwatering regional cuisine, the nightlife, the music, and especially, the warmth and generosity of the people. Ask a Cajun to recommend a good nearby restaurant, and they might just invite you home for dinner.
Up Next: Bayou Calling -
Bayou Calling
Cajun country is in the south of Louisiana and don't confuse it with Creole country, which is around New Orleans. The Cajuns descend from Acadians -- French colonists who were persecuted in their home country for being Catholic and fled to eastern Canada in the 18th century. When the English took control of these Canadian provinces, the Acadians were expelled because they didn't want to take allegiance to England . They wound up in Louisiana , where they established a French-speaking, largely Catholic, avidly nonconformist community. And they remain there today.
Up Next: All About the Music -
All About the Music
Any Cajun cultural venture has to stop by Mamou, the self-anointed but undisputed epicenter of Cajun music. Fred's Lounge bills itself as the Cajun Music Capital of the World. The doors of this down-home red brick landmark are open Saturdays till early afternoon; but the rest of the week, you've got to do your drinking in the other main-drag dives, like tiny but soulful Diana's Brass Rail. This is no hardship, as the drinks are cheap, the people are friendly, and the music--whether it's crunk hip-hop or live Cajun fiddle and accordion--is always good.
Up Next: The Best of Cajun Country -
Star Attractions
The tiny township of Houma is known as "the heart of America's wetlands." Even the most jaded explorers admit themselves bowled over by Alligator Annie's Sons Swamp Tours. This is not for the faint-hearted! Out on the bayous, your tour guide holds a piece of bait just over the water, and *SHA-ZAM* an alligator launches itself upward to claim its dinner. If you prefer your cultural experiences to be less blood-curdling, check out the restored plantations in the area. One of them, Madewood Plantation, has been turned into an inn that counts Bob Dylan among its guests.
Up Next: Cajun Cookin' -
Cajun Cookin'
So many little shacks serve up Cajun food, you can pretty much throw a crawfish and hit one. Frenchie's in Mamou, Bubba's in Mowater, Guidry's in Church Point ... Have gumbo at all of 'em, and try to choose a favorite. It's tough. To dine in Houma, locals recommend Abear's Café. The Catfish Abear is a signature, and the chicken and sausage gumbo a delight ... but you have to try the homemade desserts. It's practically a rule. Eat yourself into a slumberous stupor on peanut butter cheesecake, bread pudding with rum sauce, blackberry cobbler ... You'll be fuller than full, but you'll never stop smiling.
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