Places Visited:

Louisiana: Lafayette, Breaux Bridge, Whiskey River, Henderson,
Atchafalaya Swamp, New Iberia & Abbeville

Friday, December 6, 2002
Acadiana City Park operated by the City of Lafayette (50-amps, water
and central dump station for $9.00)

We started the day with a walk in the park. The walk not only took us
through the RV section but also along the coulee (small stream)
located in the park. What Louisiana calls a coulee Texas would
classify as a major river. The main difference that I see is in how
fast the water is flowing. In Texas, indeed out west, water in rivers
and streams flows fast. In Louisiana, like everything else, the water
moves slowly.

Robbins started arriving yesterday and today the park is full of them.
Robbins do not usually arrive this far south until late January or
February. I suppose the severe weather north of here quickened their
timetable.

Joyce and I had pretty much worked out our restaurant schedule for
Lafayette. However, there were one or two "open" meals on our agenda.
We had not decided whether to make our big meal today lunch or
dinner. Around here that makes a big difference. Then Joyce
mentioned Edie's. Although we have wanted to try Edie's for lunch we
had never gotten around to it. We were near Edie's so we decided that
today would be the day. Edie's claims to the "Lafayette's favorite
lunch house" - they might be right. Edie's features daily lunch
specials served with salad and a vegetable. No one leaves hungry. As
we ordered I questioned the waitress about bread pudding since we did
not see it on the menu. She laughed and said we would not need it.
That wicked laugh portended that she knew something we did not.
Shortly it was evident why we would not even consider bread pudding.
Before she delivered the heaping plates of food she placed a large
bowl of fresh hot biscuits on the table. Biscuits! Now I know what
the big container of honey was for.

Somewhere during our meal the waitress stopped by to ask if I was
still interested in bread pudding. Now I fully understood that truly
wicked laugh.

Lunches cost around $6.25. Edie's is located in a strip mall (1895
Pinhook Rd.) near the intersection of Kaliste Saloom. It should be
easy to find since both roads are major arteries in Lafayette. Edie's
is a LUNCH only place open 11 A.M. to 2 P.M.

After lunch we stopped by to see a special exhibit at the museum
located next to St. John's Cathedral. The special exhibit was nice
but--if you are as culturally challenged as I am, it just did not cut
the mustard. Now St. John's Cathedral is another story. It is a
magnificent Dutch Gothic structure built in 1916. Now that is
something special. The Oak tree next to St. John's Cathedral is also
SPECIAL. I think that this oak tree is the third oldest/largest in
the nation. It is purported to be 475 years old, has a girth of over
28 feet with an 8-foot diameter. The limb span exceeds 210 feet. The
largest branch is said to weigh in excess of 72 tons.

When the video was giving details of this special live oak tree it
seems that they said the largest/oldest was located in Mandeville,
Louisiana while the 2nd largest/oldest was in, I think, Charleston,
South Carolina. Does anyone have any information on either of these
trees, or for that matter any other "champion" trees?

Saturday, December 7, 2002
Acadiana City Park operated by the City of Lafayette (50-amps, water
and central dump station for $9.00)

The temperature in Lafayette briefly got down to freezing last night
but when the sun came up temperatures got comfortable.

Joyce had our morning planned. This was Saturday and Joyce knows that
Café Des Amis in nearby Breaux Bridge has a Cajun band on Saturday
mornings. We absolutely love to eat at Café Des Amis but have never
experienced a Saturday morning. We arrive by 9:00 A.M. to find the
place packed and rocking. A black band is playing Otis Reading,
Temptations and other Motown music complete with saxophone. This
Zydeco band added the ubiquitous fiddle and accordion to the mix of
instruments to give the original "rock and roll" music a distinctive
Zydeco flair.

Breakfast food at Café Des Amis can be traditional but it can also be
totally unique, your choice. Joyce chose to go traditional Southern
with eggs, ham, cheese grits and biscuit. There is no way I am going
for a traditional breakfast at this place. This is the first time we
have seen couche-couche on a menu and I am going to try it just to say
I have. Couche-couche was the name of the band back in Houma at Jolly
Inn. Back in Houma the locals told us that it was pronounced
(kush-kush) and that it was a breakfast item made from cornmeal. To
prepare it you mix cornmeal and water with a little salt. Put this
mixture in a cast iron frying pan and fry the mixture while stirring
continuously. The mixture will form a light crust as you cook. Scrape
the bottom of the pot clean every time you stir and fold the crust
over the mixture. When it gets crumbly dump it in a cereal bowl. It
is served with syrup and milk. Our friends in Houma had given us this
much information. The rest of the experience was up to us. Our
waitress brought the couche-couche as a breakfast appetizer. Upon
arrival it looked to me like they were serving cornbread dressing in a
cereal bowl. I immediately put some cane syrup on it then added some
milk. After the first taste I knew that some major doctoring was in
order. I added more cane syrup and took another bite. It did not
help. One more bite and I knew I had experienced all the
couche-couche I needed. I coaxed Joyce into trying a bite. That was
her first and last bite. When our young waitress came back she
laughed. She said couche-couche was a dish that older Cajuns liked
possibly because they grew up with it. The waitress admitted she
could not eat it either.

I ordered my special Cajun breakfast right off the menu: Eggs over a
large patty of boudin over a biscuit with cheese & andouille grits.
Since we did not like the couche-couche the waitress wanted me to try
a side of crawfish a gratin with my breakfast. I agreed but crawfish
a gratin like the boudin just did not seem to me to be breakfast foods
compatible with eggs and grits. Let me say that Café Des Amis could
serve their crawfish a gratin any hour of the day and pour it over
anything and it would be out of this world. I poured mine over a
biscuit and it was to die for even if it was breakfast. The cheese
and andouille sausage grits were great. In the Panhandle of Florida,
our home, cheese grits are a staple at fish fries so cheese grits were
familiar but not as a breakfast food. The fried eggs over a boudin
patty and biscuit were OK but I probably would not try boudin and eggs
again. Boudin is wonderful for lunch but is a tad bit strong for
breakfast.

For those of you that are new to these travelogues boudin is a Cajun
food. It is more popular than hamburgers within a 100-mile radius of
Lafayette. Outside of that area you may never see or even here of
boudin. Boudin (pronounced boo-dan) is a mixture of pork, rice, and
seasonings stuffed into casings, thus resembling a sausage. Each city
indeed each meat market has a different recipe. You can find it in
grocery stores, meat markets, or small convenience stores. Locals
will throw it between a loaf of French bread and eat it for lunch or a
mid-afternoon snack. For breakfast they take the boudin out of the
casing and make patties that are fried. When you travel through Cajun
Country stop in a small Mom & Pop grocery store and ask for some
boudin. They will go to a crock-pot and retrieve a sausage looking
casing full of boudin. They will wrap it in a napkin for you where
you can eat it at the cash register or retreat to the parking lot
where everyone else is eating theirs. After saying all that some
places make crawfish boudin and probably some other fillings that we
have not experienced yet. Yet other places serve fried boudin. These
establishments remove the boudin from the casing and make balls the
size of eggs out of it then roll it in something
(flour/cornmeal/cracker crumbs) and fry it. Whatever they are serving
in the place you choose to stop that is what you need to try. Twenty
miles down the road it will be completely different. Our favorite
boudin stop is the Boudin Shack at exit 115 (Henderson exit) on I-10
about 15 miles east of Lafayette. If you are traveling I-10 and can't
take time to experience Cajun Country you could stop and get fuel at
exit 115 and a "snack". On the north side of the exit is a large
truck stop the Boudin Shack is across the street.

After breakfast we danced until the band headed home at noon. Where
else can you experience something like this for breakfast?

Café Des Amis operates several Bed and Breakfast rooms close to the
restaurant. The waitress said that guests at the Bed and Breakfast
came to Café Des Amis for breakfast. Tom and Vicki, this is the place
for you. By the way Vicki, if you get Tom in there on a Saturday
morning let me know I want to have my video camera loaded. VBG

You would think that my resident party animal would have been
satisfied with the morning's action but NO, as soon as the sun went
down she started talking about Mulate's. Mulate's is a world famous
Cajun dance hall and restaurant located in Breaux Bridge. It is
heavily advertised and a favorite with both locals and tourist.
Needless to say we closed the place down. In addition to the regulars
and stray tourist like us they catered to three tour busses.

I wanted to sample Louisiana frog legs tonight but settled for
alligator instead. The fried 'gator was good but not nearly as good
as the "Gator" FSU had last weekend. OK, OK enough of that but I just
could not help it. I was wearing my FSU sweatshirt tonight and our
waitress (an LSU fan) pointed out that this was two weekends in a row
that FSU was enjoying "Gator". I relished her observation and just
had to share it with you.

Sunday, December 8, 2002
Acadiana City Park operated by the City of Lafayette (50-amps, water
and central dump station for $9.00)

We attended worship services with East Bayou Baptist in southwest
Lafayette. They were a rather new and dynamic church. Even though
they had a sanctuary that would hold over 1,000 they were holding
4-worship services on Sunday mornings with the first beginning at 7:45
A.M. It was an amazing transformation with only 5 to 10 minutes
between services. Even though it was a Southern Baptist church they
did not have an organ. Imagine that! Do you suppose the SBC knows?
The 7:45 service was listed as an acoustic service. The other three
were listed as just "worship services". In the plain "worship
service" we attended instrumentation consisted of 3 guitars, a
keyboard and drums. The music director led the congregation in a
medley of traditional Christmas songs except these had panache. Drums
and guitars have a way of breathing life into normal elevator music.
With the drummer setting the beat the music director did not have to
wave his hands up and down keeping everyone in time. There was no
choir just a praise team that was of professional caliber. This was
"different" for a regular worship service at a SBC church but we loved
it.

After church we stopped by Edie's for lunch. I have already told you
about Edie's so I will only tell you that it is something you should
not miss when in Lafayette.

Several locals that we met on Saturday told us about a super Zydeco
band that was going to be playing from 4:00 to 8:00 Sunday night at
Angelle's Whiskey River. Whiskey River is actually the name of a
river believe it or not. Angelle's functions as a boat landing,
restaurant, houseboat & yacht marina, then on Sunday afternoons from
4:00 to 8:00 they host authentic Cajun & Zydeco bands.

As Joyce and I topped the levee and gazed down toward Angelle's we
knew we were in for something special. There were several hundred
automobiles scattered around this large nondescript building situated
half over the water on pilings and half over land also on pilings. The
building was rocking. As we entered the building we realized that
finding a seat would be difficult then we spotted one of the couples
that had told us about the place and they invited us to sit with them.
We were LUCKY because there were over 100 individuals standing. The
band was what locals call a Zydeco band. Zydeco is more "high-energy"
than regular Cajun music. Joyce and I have never seen this many
people having this much fun. Everyone was dancing. Even though it
was about 45-degrees outside Angelle's had the air conditioner running
full blast inside. The band played the entire 4-hours without taking
a break.

We knew we were in a special place but did not know how special until
later in the evening. During a breather Joyce and I walked around
looking at pictures on the walls of alligators, huge catfish and gar,
duck hunters with limits of ducks, gigantic snapping turtles and a
host of other memorabilia normally found in a fishing camp. Among the
memorabilia was a framed award that Angelle's Whiskey River had
received. It seems that the January 2002 issue of Men's Journal has
named Angelle's Whiskey River as one of the 50 Best Bars in America.
In fact Angelle's was the first one listed since the list was in
alphabetical order.

The article in Men's Journal said something like - "Asking a man to
pick the 50 Best Bars in America is like asking him to pick the 50
Best Women: It is an impossible task. Still every great bar shares a
few characteristics: It is warm; it is friendly, and has no idea how
to make a Jell-O shooter. The article concluded with some wit about
the difference between the 50 best bars and the 50 best women is that
you can actually experience the bars."

Joyce and I have now experienced one of 50 best bars in America and it
is only a honky-tonk on Sunday nights. On the page that I saw there
were two other "bars" that looked interesting: The "Billy Goat Saloon"
in Gem Village Colorado; and the "Blind Tiger" in Charleston. The
next time we are in Charleston we will have to get Joyce's sister and
Brother-in-Law to take us.

If you are interested in Angelle's place you need to do it on Sunday's
between 4 & 8. Otherwise it is just your basic boat landing and
marina complete with swamp tours. They have a web site that may be
interesting. www.angelleswhiskeyriver.com Angelle's is located on
Henderson Levee Road in what I call Henderson, Louisiana. However,
they say they are located in Cecilia, LA.

Monday, December 9, 2002
Acadiana City Park operated by the City of Lafayette (50-amps, water
and central dump station for $9.00)

Monday is the day T Coon's serves Cajun smothered rabbit for lunch and
I wanted to experience that. They also have fried rabbit but that
will have to wait for another time. Today was my day for smothered
rabbit and it was great. Joyce did red beans rice and sausage a
traditional Monday meal in Cajun Country. With so many great places
to eat it is hard to pick just one. Like I have said before if you
are in Lafayette on a weekday and you do not experience T Coon's for
lunch shame on you! It is located in old downtown Lafayette across
the street from City Hall.

Joyce went shopping for the majority of the afternoon then we headed
out to see the Christmas lights at Acadian Village. On the way home
we stopped by the Blue Dog Restaurant on Pinhook for their famous
bread pudding with pecan praline sauce. We went for the bread pudding
but I also ordered a cup of their crab and corn bisque. We have never
had anything in the Blue Dog that was not GREAT. The downside for
some people may be the price ---- it is a white tablecloth place if
you get my drift.

Tuesday, December 10, 2002
We moved the motorhome from Lafayette to New Iberia 25 miles away on highway-90
Chase RV-Park in New Iberia. Chase is an OK RV-Park but not a resort
by any means. They have a laundry and a choice of 50/30 amps $2.00
extra for 50amp. $16 per-night for 30amps. It gets MESSY when it rains
but the managers are great!

Even though we could stay in Lafayette for weeks and weeks eating in a
different place every day and enjoying so many varied activities and
attractions we have to leave if we are going to make it back to
Pensacola.

It was lightly raining as we left Lafayette and headed south & east on
highway-90 to New Iberia. We are moving to New Iberia so we can be
closer to some of the places we want to visit. Today we are going to
visit Abbeville. At one time (prior to the motorhome having the
mechanical problem) we were planning to stay in Abbeville for a day or
so. As you know those plans were changed.

We were settled into the RV-Park in New Iberia and on our way to
Abbeville before noon. There is so much to see and do around New
Iberia. Today we are traveling highway 14 west through the small town
of Erath, then Delcambre and into Abbeville. Erath has a nice museum
and Delcambre is home to the largest fleet of shrimp boats on the gulf
coast. If you pass this way you really should spend some time driving
around looking at the huge shrimp boats and walking through the fish
houses. If you are not familiar with seafood houses you really should
take time to see the variety of items they have on display. You may
even want to pack some up and take it with you.

Abbeville is a historic old town. The Vermillion River flows through
town. The French heritage is really strong in Abbeville. Everyone
visiting Abbeville should park in downtown then lake a walking tour to
St. Mary Magdlen Catholic Church, Steen's Syrup Mill, Magdalen Square,
Black's Restaurant and other historically significant buildings
constructed in the late 1800s. If you need to drop your motorhome to
tour in your tow car do it at the Wal-Mart Super Center on hwy-14 at
the east edge of town.

In addition to touring Abbeville today we also visited Kaplan 12-miles
west of Abbeville on Louisiana 14. West of Abbeville sugar cane
quickly gives way to rice fields. Rice fields are so much more
interesting and alive than cane fields. Hundreds of wading birds and
ducks are in the rice fields. Crawfish pots are in many of the
fields. Quite a few rice farmers are producing dual crops of rice and
crawfish.

In Kaplan we watch operations at a large rice mill then head north
through town. Kaplan has a big fancy sign proclaiming itself as home
to "Sammy Kershaw a wildly successful country music artist that is
married to Lorrie Morgan.

In addition to its French heritage Abbeville is noted for fine eating
establishments.

Black's and Dupuy's Restaurants are downtown located across from the
beautiful Catholic Church. From the Catholic Church head west on
highway-14 (Port Street) immediately across the river on the left is
Riverfront Restaurant. Shuck's restaurant is located on highway-14
just past the traffic light at highway-167 (it is on the south side of
Port Street). Between Shuck's and Riverfront turn south on Henry
street. One mile down Henry Street is Richard's a local favorite for
boiled seafood. Note that almost all these places are on highway-14
NOT the big 4-lane highway-14 bypass north of town but the old 2-lane
that winds through town around the Courthouse and Magdalen Square. A
bit of caution. Although you can navigate your RV through town on old
highway-14 it is probably something you would prefer NOT to do. It is
something you can do BUT-I wouldn't.

The other restaurant of note is Comeaux's. It is located on the
corner of South State Street/Highway-82 and Concord Street (across the
street from the Court House). If you miss it the first time circle
the Court House again, it is the restaurant not Comeaux's French
Market located on the diagonal corner.

Here is what we know about these restaurants:
Richard's Seafood Patio specializes in boiled seafood. Richard's is
only a "seasonal" place (mid-November to mid-June) and only open from
5 to 10:30 P.M. Just getting to Richard's is an adventure. After
arriving you will probably have to muster up some moxie to actually go
in. Richard's isn't one of your 5-star places if you get my drift.
The tablecloth is plastic if you have one and the floor concrete. If
you have ever enjoyed a gulf coast oyster bar filled with locals
washing down succulent bivalves this will be the place for you. Don't
look for any tour busses! This is the real thing! Natives only (or
at least visitors pretending to be natives). Be ready to woof down
some raw oysters or dive into a heaping pile of boiled crawfish,
shrimp or crabs.

Black's, Dupuy's and Shuck's are all excellent! Check to see which
ones are open for lunch when you are in town. Black's is located in a
building constructed in the 1890s as a dry goods and horse & buggy
outlet. Later is became a department store. The extremely high
ceilings exude a historic feel. Local memorabilia and artwork adorn
the walls. Paul Newman and Joan Woodward filmed a move in Abbeville
years ago and obviously frequented Black's as they have dedicated a
good section of wall space to their stay in Abbeville.

Riverfront Restaurant is a step up from the others. The food is
decidedly French and seating is overlooking the Vermillion River. Eat
here if you desire to dine in a more upscale atmosphere.

Comeaux's is a lunch favorite with the locals who consider it to be
Cajun home cooking at its finest. Locals say the best thing to eat at
Comeaux's is the daily lunch special. We have not dined here but
intend to try it. So much we want to do yet so little time!

Betty's RV-Park in Abbeville seems to be the best bet for RV'ers.
Betty's only has 9 campsites all with (50&30) and cable (Boondocking
sites are available), $12 per day or $260 month for 30-amp or 13.50
per-day for 50-amps. Locals say Betty's place is much like a bed and
breakfast with Betty being the activity director. Joyce and I dropped
by to check out her place located on a lot next to her home. Betty
had 9 nice rigs (Class A motorhomes and large 5th wheels) shoe horned
into their places. Across the street from Betty's was another place
that appeared to be taking Betty's overflow. Phone. 337-893-7057 or
337-652-7056. E-Mail bettybernard@cox-internet.com
http://www.bettysrvpark.com

When we arrived in the RV-Park in New Iberia we noticed killdeer in
the grass. We have also seen numerous killdeer in city parks and
other places where there is a large grass field.

First time visitors to New Iberia are going to take in Avery Island
(Tabasco Sauce factory tour & Jungle Gardens), Konriko Rice factory
tour and Shadows-on-the-Tech Plantation Home.

Our opinion of the best place to dine in New Iberia is the Seafood
Connection. It is located on the east bank of the Teche on Louis
Street near the Burger King. Their specialty is fried seafood. Beware
this is not a 5-star place, just great food.

Mike & Joyce Hendrix