Cajun Fun, Food and Music

Let’s Meet in Lafayette She Said

 

Caroline our caravaning buddy and we were having a conversation about our love of Cajun food and music during one of our trips. She suggested we meet in Lafayette, LA and explore the area. That sounded like a great idea and plans where put into motion. Late September was our target date. Ginny and I had plans to visit family around that time so we were at Gulf Pines KOA in Milton, FL. It was an easy one day drive to Lafayette from there so it all made perfect sense.

 

Music or Food

 

Coming from a music business background, I’ve had always had the itch to hear and see some real Zydeco music being played. There is, of course, no better place for that to happen than New Orleans or Louisiana in general. The heart of this culture seems to be rooted heavily in Acadiana (which is not on any map). It consists of a rough triangle of Louisiana made up of 22 parishes (counties), from St. Landry at the top of the triangle to the Gulf of Mexico at its base.

It’s hard to decide which is more important to a Cajun: food or music. In the early days when instruments were scarce, Cajuns held dances to a cappella voices. With roots probably found in medieval France, the strains came in the form of a brisk two-step or a waltz. Traditional groups still play mostly acoustic instruments—a fiddle, an accordion, a triangle, maybe a guitar, and the traditional high, loud wail.

The best place to hear real Cajun music is on someone’s back porch, the time-honored spot for eating some gumbo and listening to several generations of players jamming. If you can’t wrangle an invitation, the local dance halls on any weekend will do just fine. It’s quite the social scene, and there are usually willing dance coaches for newbies (don’t be shy—everyone will be watching the really good dancers; you should, too). The following 4-day Cajun weekend takes you on our musical and gastronomical visit to this region.

 

Cajun Palms RV Resort – Thursday mid-afternoon

 

We all roll into the RV resort around mid-day on Thursday. The trip from Milton, FL was easy and uneventful, however, the road conditions were not. I’m not sure what is going on in LA. but the roads and compression gaps on those roads will get your attention. The park is gigantic, over 300 sites. We pulled into the park and immediately were under a large, very large covered staging area. I’m impressed as is Ginny and off she went to check in. The park seemed very empty, but this was late September and a Thursday. I had booked a rather large pull through, site 44 our partner was in 43. I have a complete review of the park here Cajun Palms RV Resort     

 

We’re here for the music and food and there is no better time than the present to get started. After a good walk with the dogs, we were all ready to “get some on us” I like to say. The office staff indicated we should head to Pont Breaux’s Cajun Restaurant.

 

Shrimp and Grits, Music and Swamp Trash

 

This might be a little off the beaten path for some but it is relatively close to Cajun Palms. When we first pulled up we were thinking that we might have made a mistake. This is a very old one store building, windowless and folks sitting in benches outside having a smoke. There was a tour bus parked on the side of the building and a handful of cars in the parking lot. As we entered we could hear the band playing and folks having a good time. The bus was a group of French Canadian tourist, now having a great time.

 

The food, let me give you a rundown with a focus on one dish. We started with the Fired Boudin Balls, delicious. I ordered the Swamp Trash, shrimp, gator and lump crab. Caroline had the Fried Shrimp, both of these dishes were very good. Ginny took the prize for the best of the night. Shrimp Eu Brochette – Bacon wrapped shrimp, cajun sausage, trinity blend and cheese grits with Andouille cream reduction, OMG!. This dish was amazing and one of the best we had the entire 4 days. The Band that night was good and we will highly recommend the restaurant for fans of authentic Cajun food and music.

 

Live Oaks, More Food – Friday

 

We decided to relax a bit in the am and then take a drive around downtown Lafayette. Our first stop on the list was the Church of St. John the Evangelist. This is a splendid Dutch Romanesque edifice done in red and white brick, with fine stained glass dating to 1916. This church is flanked by one of the oldest live oaks in the United States. They estimate the oak is over 500 years old. The diameter of the truck is over 9 feet, with a circumference of 28′ 9″. One limb on the tree, shown is the photo weighs in at 72 tons, yikes.

 

Touring the church and grounds built up a nice appetite, so we headed a short distance in time for lunch at Creole Lunch House.  This is a very small neighborhood restaurant that was once a small house. The regular lunch to go, crowd, is in line early and a handful of tables fill fast.  We got a couple of stuffed bread, they were as described by the reviews, fantastic. That was enough for the girls. I had the smothered pork chop and greens, it’s all was ridiculously good.

 

Back to the Palms for a relaxing late afternoon with the dogs. Let the parade of RV’s begin. I would say the park was maybe a third filled when we arrived on Thursday. By Friday night the park was full of families, groups and college football fans.

 

Eunice, Unpretentious, Unparalleled Music and Culture – Saturday

 

We made the 40-minute drive to the Savoy Music Center, 3 miles east of Eunice, for the Saturday jam 9am–noon. On weekdays this working music store sells instruments, equipment, and Marc Savoy’s exquisite, world-renowned, hand-crafted accordions. At the Saturday-morning jam sessions, this nondescript, faded-green building becomes the spiritual center of Cajun music, and an experience not to be missed.

 

Local and visiting musicians young and old gather to savor this unpretentious, unparalleled music and culture. It’s probably the closest thing to that back-porch experience you’ll find. This was well worth the drive, we stayed the entire morning and watched a round-robin of musicians sit into what we call in Nashville a guitar pull.

 

The lunch bell was ringing loudly and porky delights where awaited back in Lafayette at Johnson’s Boucaniere. The Johnson family has been smoking meats since 1937, and their brisket (and that crazy grilled cheese and boudin ball sandwich) should not be missed. There are only a few tables, so if you’re weary, call in your order from the road and take it to enjoy back at the RV park. The weather turned on us Saturday afternoon, raining cats and dogs so we headed back to the Palms after overfilling our bellies with BBQ.

 

The girls headed out for dinner, I was feeling a little under the weather so I stayed in. They ended up going to Buck and Johnny’s, not far from the resort. After hearing their raves about the place, food service and music I was wishing that I had tagged along. Some of the players from earlier that day at Savoy showed up for another round at B&J.

 

Meet The Cajuns, Did you say Hot Sauce – Sunday

 

After a relaxing breakfast in our rigs and a good walk with the dogs around the park, we headed toward Vermilionville. This is a Cajun-Creole settlement reconstructed on the bayou’s banks. You will find costumed staff and craftspeople demonstrate activities of 18th- to 19th-century daily life and musicians jam. While it sounds like a kitschy “Cajunland” theme park, it’s actually quite a good introduction to the culture.

 

This was a great way to spend the morning talking to the craftspeople. The grounds will give you a very good look at Cajun Creole lifestyle. Although we did not stop to grab a bite, there is a great little restaurant on the grounds. We decided to head next to Avery Island, about 45 – 50 mins south to tour the Tabasco Factory.

 

Touring the Tabasco factory can be a hit or miss venture. I understand that sometimes you get a really hands-on tour that gets you up close and personal to the action which can be pretty fun. That was not the case on Sunday mid-morning. The plant was as you would expect idol that day. I’m here to tell you, however, that taking a tour of the Tabasco Factory and then visiting Avery Island, is absolutely worth your time.

 

We opted for the walking tour of the factory and facilities. This is an easy walk throughout the grounds, which by the way bottles every ounce of Tabasco you see on the store shelves. The museum was our first stop, well put together an interesting history of the product, family, and area. The faint smell of Tabasco is in the air most everywhere you go. You will visit the barrel curring warehouse, factory bottling floor, and mixing vat area and of course the factory store. Don’t miss this final stop, you will be given samples of various tabasco products and they have a great array of Tabasco branded gift items for everyone on your hot sauce list.

 

This turned out to be a pretty full day and we were not able to explore the island and its wildlife and scenery. That will be on our next stop in this area for sure. Now back to the RV park for a quick walk with the dogs and did I hear a dinner bell?

 

So You Want To Dance and Eat?

 

it was our final night in Acadiana and we now were craving some great live music and dance. Once again we got talking to the staff at the Palms and they all said, it’s Sunday nite you have to go to the Atchafalaya Club to hear Foret Tradition. The club is situated in a landmark restaurant, hotel and club compound called Pat’s Fishermans Wharf in Henderson, LA.  This Bayou institution has been serving up mouthwatering Cajun cooking since 1948.

 

We rolled into the parking lot around 6 pm and it was packed from end to end. Now, this was a huge parking lot mind you, we were feeling pretty good about the staff’s recommendation. Upon entering the restaurant, we thought where is everybody, the place looked empty. We then asked where was the band playing and we were lead to the club, paid our cover and where seated not far from the bandstand.

 

The hall was packed and the band was smoking. The dance floor was filled to the max with old and young couples dancing. Cowboy hats, boots, suits, casual wear, women dressed to the 9’s you name it. Everyone was having a great time including us. The food was good, but the music, dance, and vibe of the room were amazing. This is what we came to expect to see and hear when we first talked about this trip. What a great way to end our 4-day Cajun trip.