A little of this, a little of that- Cajun country, LA (3-23-11)









The other day I wrote a post talking about all the "stuff" we did while in Abbeville. It took me hours to write and I was completely dissatisfied with the result. Everytime I read it all I could think of was how disjointed it all sounded. Sometimes a post flows easily, sometimes it doesn't. I guess it proves that I'm certainly not a writer by occupation!! Anyway, after holding it back for two days to see if I like it any better, I am doing the electronic equivalent of shredding it. I pressed Delete.
       Our visit to Abbeville was a little disjointed. There was no Great Adventure, no Wow Outing, just several little side trips that were interesting and informative, but not awesome! So, here's what we did, and what my impressions were.

We took a swamp boat tour with a guy named Bryan Champagne. I love the way he pronounces it -shompowne. He has lived here all his life, and has been giving tours for 18 years, so he really knows the area. Technically it wasn't a swamp tour because by definition, a swamp is not flooded all the time. It dries out periodically, allowing for new trees to start growing. A dam was built here years ago, creating a Lake, so no new trees can pop up here. Also, a bayou is a stream, and is connected to a river, so it isn't a bayou either.

       In our travels, we went to Avery Island, in New Iberia, to the Tabasco Co. factory. The peppers for the sauce are grown both here and in South America, but all Tabasco pepper sauces are made on this island, in this factory. Once the peppers are ripe, they are picked and turned into mash the same day,  and are then stored in oak barrels for 3 years.  They actually get the barrels from Jack Daniels, who, by law, is only allowed to use them once. The insides are removed to remove any tainting from the alcohol. Interesting recycling. It was a very short tour, only about 20 minutes, but they had a store that offered quite a few samples of products, including jalapeno ice cream.  We tried just about everything they offered, but didn't buy anything to bring home.

I've been curious about Cajun (Acadian) history ever since I discovered that my aunt is Acadian.  I've always associated Cajun with lively, fun loving people who love food and music.  I have an aunt who is Acadian, and she is an amazing person.  She always says life should be fun, she treats everyone like a friend, and boy can she cook.  I'd hate to see her food bill because she and my uncle attract so many people to them that they can't remember the last time they didn't have someone show up for dinner.  Seriously, people just show up at their house at all hours of the day. Why? Because they know they'll be welcome, and they know they'll have fun 
       There are several Acadian museums in the Lafayette area so we spent some time checking them out.  The Acadian Cultural Center was really informative about the people, their exile, and their history.  Vermilionville, which is a "living Museum" didn't actually have much life to it and wasn't worth the price of admission, unfortunately. Acadians settled in Louisiana in the mid 1700s after they were forcibly exiled from their home, Acadia, located in present day Nova Scotia. Many were sent to Louisiana, but others were put on ships and sent to Europe, New England, and other parts of Canada.
      I always thought I like Cajun food,  but now I realize I really don't!  I associate Cajun food with spices.  Those I like, but I don't like what they put the spices on.  The menus for local restaurants included things like Shrimp  Etouffee, Crab Au Gratin, alligator (served many ways), Catfish, Crawfish, and oysters.  I tried several different dishes, although I had to finish my Margarita before I could try the Crawfish Etouffee.  There was nothing I would order again.