From Breaux Bridge, LA to Bowie, MD

Started my long drive back home, after more than a month since I drove down to Miami for my cruise in December 2022. I stocked up on Louisiana goodies: two king cakes from Rouses Market, 6 bags of Community coffee, beignet mix, Cajun seasoning and Creole mustard, all packed in the back of the minivan. My portable fridge contained fresh Cajun sausages, boudin, Creole stuffed turkey wings and 5 lbs of boiled crawfish (cooled) from the Fruit Stand. On the way out of town, I stopped by a Cajun store to get some cracklins and boudin to eat on the road. It may be a while before I get Cajun food from Louisiana.

Driving back east, I passed through Hammond again, and decided to get one last cup of coffee with beignet at that branch of Cafe du Monde, plus another order of beignet to go.

The rest of the drive home was not very memorable. No more camping: I stayed in a Red Roof Inn at Chattanooga, TN and a Super 8 in Daleville, VA.

In Search of Grave Houses and Whooping Cranes, LA

Theresa told us about an unusual Acadian cemetery an hour's drive from her house that was worth a visit. It was located in the rural town of Morse, so off we went in my minivan, with Nadine following in her RV as she had decided get back on the road later on. But our first stop was to find what used to be my favorite bakery that sells the best king cake in Lafayette, Keller's Bakery. The bakery was busy, with customers coming in to pick up king cakes. We bought a king cake for me to take home, and some slices to eat on the road.

Vermilionville and St. Johns Cathedral, Lafayette, LA

Nadine and I visited Vermilionville in Lafayette, a living history museum and folk life park that depicts Acadian, Creole and Native American cultures, 1765–1890. This time of the year, there were very few visitors and some exhibits were not open. A few guides in costumes were available to give in-person interpretations to the exhibits in both French and English in one of the houses.

The park has separate historical houses that showcased different aspects of life in those days, and the people who lived there. There were informative displays throughout the path around the park. We had a nice leisurely walk along the path, parts of it borders the Bayou Vermilion. We also went into a auditorium that probably would have featured live Cajun music during the tourist season.

Since I am a quilter, I found the rooms with looms and quilts quite interesting.

The self-guided tour ended back at the entrance/visitor center where there were additional exhibits, including Mardi Gras regalia and costumes.

On the way back to Beau Bridge, we stopped at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to admire the Cathedral Oak front of the church. The photo below simply could not capture the spread of this tree, one of the largest iving oak in the US estimated to be about 500 years old.

We also went into the Cathedral for a quick visit, it was as beautiful as I remembered it.

As we left Lafayette, we drove by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where I once worked (it was known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana then); we also passed by the house that I used to live in. What a trip down memory lane!

Lake Martin and Breaux Bridge, LA

We left Fontainbleau State Park on Monday morning. I headed out to Breaux Bridge, to visit a long-time friend Theresa from my days living in Lafayette, La. I will be staying with her for about a week. It was great to be sleeping in a bed in a house! Theresa's house was next to Lake Martin which is a natural preserve and home to local wildlife including alligators and migratory birds. There used to be a lot of nutria as well, but I was told that they had diminished after the state put bounties on them to deal with the damage they caused to the wetlands. I have great memories of bonfires in her backyard with fellow members of the local Sierra Club chapter. We caught the sunset on Lake Martin on a walk outside Theresa's house, thankfully did not encounter any alligators.

It was nice to catch up with Theresa. We went to historic downtown Breaux Bridge, checked out some antique and craft stores as well as a clock store. I have never seen so many antique clocks before. Also had lunch with Theresa's sisters at the Cajun restaurant Buck & Johnny's; the food was amazing (I had seafood gumbo). I was told the restaurant has a Zydeco Breakfast on Saturdays with live music and dancing, but that it can get very crowded. We passed on it although I would have liked to listen to live Cajun music.

Nadine joined us a few days later and we had a good Cajun dinner in The Fruit Stand that is part seafood/fruit store and part restaurant. We ordered a lot of food: boiled crawfish (so very good), alligator bites and fried seafood platter. You can see that I was trying to get my fill of Cajun food while I was in the area.

Cemetery No. 1 and Garden District, New Orleans

Sunday's weather was clear and sunny. We decided to drive over the causeway into New Orleans again, this time to take a cemetery tour and visit sights outside of the French Quarter. The only way to see the above-ground Cemetery No. 1 was to book a guided tour. The cemetery is about 2 blocks from the edge of the French Quarter and has a nice sized parking lot with reasonable rates. The lot can accomodate RVs, something to keep in mind if we need to park big vehicles in New Orleans. This is also a stop for the Hop-on Hop-off bus. The visitor center was very nice, the gift shop was designed as a street car.

The cemetery tour was nothing to shout about, a few interesting stories about the individuals and families who were buried there.

After the tour, we walked to the French Quarter in search of lunch. I had my sights set on The Gumbo Shop which have good reviews and reasonable prices. It was a challenge to find it, even with the GPS and after a bit of walking around, there it was. We ordered a platter with a variety of food to share: jambalaya, crawfish etouffe, gumbo. The alligator sausage appetizer was amazing. The waitress gave me the ingredients for the sauce that came with it which included Creole mayo which I later bought in a local store. Can't wait to try it.

After lunch, we walked to downtown New Orleans which was a huge contrast to old French Quarter. Modern skyscrapers and big stores, with wide streets. We took a streetcar to the Garden District, the ride was quite an experience. Nadine used a guide on her phone for us to find historical houses in the District. It was nice that they put up information plaques on the walls/pillars of a house to describe its significance.

We went back to the parking lot at the Cemetery Visitor Center by way of the Congo Square and Louis Armstrong Park, very pretty park with surprisingly few people in the early evening.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped by the Northshore Area of Mandeville to catch the last of the sunset. Great way to end the day.