As we moved along we passed the San Jacinto battlefield where the Texans won their independence from Mexico and the battleship, Texas is permanently moored there. We have visited both places on a past visit and found them so very interesting.
The freeway carried us out of Houston, the 4th largest city in the U.S. and then, the city just peters out, opening up to flat, broad, coastal plains, covered with thick, green grass, dense stands of trees and beautiful pastures and fields. Further on, at Port Arthur and Beaumont, the area sprouts refineries, chemical plants. bays and estuaries thick with shipping and commerce. On one of our stops for gasoline, as we pulled off the road, we found an interesting location that reminded us of a certain children's book by Booth.
We didn't see a possum, but if he comes a knockin', don't open the door.
We continued on, crossing into Louisiana. Our goal was to reach Lafayette, LA, in the heart of Cajun country. David told us of the Acadian Cultural Center, which we wanted to visit. Unfortunately it closes at 4 p.m. and we were a little late. Nearby, the National Park Service has a location that gives a movie history of the Acadians or Cajuns to help us learn about them. We got there for the last showing. It was most interesting and right in the middle of it, the subtitles in English changed to French, even though the narration continued in English. We later found that a couple that speaks French had come and walked in to see the movie after it started. The personnel were kind enough to accommodate their language part way through the film. We noted similarities with the exodus of the Saints. Both groups were persecuted for their beliefs and their heritage and forced to leave treasured homes and lands and go into exile. The Acadians eventually found a haven and respite in southern Louisiana, mainly because the French ceded it to Spain and both were Catholic countries, so offered haven to the exiles from Nova Scotia. In the visitor's center hangs a flag of the Cajun people, representing some of this heritage.
We also learned about the different kinds of music native to this area, Cajun and Zydeco, as well as the haunting melodies and tones carried down from Canada during the exile. We bought a couple of CD's of the music. Zydeco is in 3/4 time and Cajun in 4/4 time, one way to tell them apart. I find them fascinating and fun to hear. They have a catchy beat and the guide warned us that if we listen on the car CD player, not to let our feet get tapping in rhythm.......on the accelerator.
Most of the Cajun music is played on simple instruments. In the past they consisted of a simple accordion, something to make a rhythm and a wash board played with spoons or church keys, which, if you look closely, you can see hanging at the bottom of this device, made to hang on the shoulders when played.
As we were leaving the center, we noted a long blue stripe on the floor. It represented a length of 18 feet, the longest known alligator found to date. As you can see, with Mom as the comparison, that would be one humongous critter, which would be very wide and easily devour any size man and most beasts.
We left to get settled in our room but plan to return to the Acadian Culture Center again tomorrow and learn more and see a replica of an old Acadian Village, how they lived, etc. For dinner we decided to find a restaurant that specialized in Cajun food. All the folks we asked told us to go to Prejean's, (pronounced pray zonz). We took their advice and had a delicious meal, focusing on local cuisine. We both enjoyed a gratis cup of chicken and sausage gumbo, courtesy of our hotel and then Mom had a Louisiana Crawfish and Alligator Sausage Cheesecake. It was not what you know as a typical cheesecake, but had fresh crawfish and alligator sausage baked in a savory cheesecake mixture with smoked Gouda cheese and a Parmesan crust. It was quite tasty. I selected Crawfish Etoufee (ay too fay), a delicious thick sauce filled with crawfish tails and spices and in the middle of the plate, a plump homemade crawfish pie. It was delicious and I could have it again anytime. I may send a picture on Instagram. Leaving the restaurant, we passed "Big Al", a stuffed, 14 foot alligator caught nearby, weighing 800 lbs and estimated to be about 65 years old when caught. Impressive!! We will keep you updated as we go along. We noted how cold it has become in Utah and we are enjoying warm and delightful weather here.
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