March 28 - Day 12: Cajun Country

We awoke to a lovely day in Cajun Country. Breakfast, at the large table shown in the previous post, was delicious (though a bit too spicy for Amy). Filled and ready to face the day, we headed out to Vermilionville.

This is sort-of a Greenfield Village for Cajun Country. There were a dozen or so buildings refurbished to period replicas (early 19th century). Each represented a different class and/or use of building. Kitchen, parson's house, trapper's home, carpenter's workshop. In several of the buildings, you could ask questions of informed hosts dressed in period costumes. A very fun way to spend a couple of hours. But at one of the ends of the little ferry, Yikes:

Alligator at Vermillionville

If you are ever in Lafayette and have an interest in how people lived back in the day, Vermilionville is a must see, but keep your eyes open.

We hit the road, heading south for New Iberia. We had lunch at Victor's Cafeteria. James Lee Burke is a Cajun author of murder mysteries featuring the fictional sleuth David Robicheaux. Robicheaux is known to frequent this establishment.:-).

Amy had the broiled catfish while I had the shrimp and chicken rice casserole. Both were delicious and we left the place as stuffed as ever. (We are getting used to having too much food to eat at each meal; we are no longer members of the clean-plate club.)

After lunch, we took a quick stroll through the middle of town, then hit the road to visit the Avery Island Tabasco Factory. The self-guided tour show how the Sauce is made. It answered many of our questions about hot sauce. This factory produces half a million bottles of Tabasco Sauce every day. What an operation.

Back in the X3, we headed North towards Lafayette by way of St. Martinville. Early in its history, this town was known as Petit Paris. It has a stylish Cathedral (St. Martin of Tours) and it figures in a story about the Epic Poem by Longfellow, Evangeline. Seems one of the town's sons made it to Harvard where he met Longfellow as a class-mate and related some stories of separation involving the Acadian Expulsion. In the poem, the separated lovers meet after being apart under the Evangeline Oak next to Bayou Teche. The Oak still stands and there is a bust of Longfellow and a little plaque describing the story.

The Evangeline Oak

We drove back to the Mouton Plantation and rested in our room until Cocktail Hour, then joined in. After, we headed out to dinner at the Blue Dog Cafe. Local Cajun artist George Rodrigue is famous for including Blue Dogs in many of his paintings. This Cafe has several of Rodrigue's works on the walls. The food was good: Amy had the Corn and Crab Bisque Bowl and a Salad, I had the Mac & Cheese Gratin and a half a pound of Peel & Eat Shrimp. We left the restaurant stuffed and were glad the B&B was just a couple of miles away.