I discovered BlogTrotting when Maria from Bored Mommy posted about her hometown, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Here is my post about the city where we currently live. And if you are new to my blog – WELCOME!
When my husband first came to me in the Spring of last year and said there was a good possibility we were moving to Lafayette, Louisiana I was a little dumbstruck. And then I said, “Where?” I had to look it up on the map to see exactly where it was within the state. And for your information, it kinda sits in the corner of the “L” that makes up this small but powerfully spicy state. Lafayette has grown in the last few years as many people moved here after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The main industries here are petroleum and natural gas (which Tim’s job is affiliated with) and health care.
Here are NINE things I’ve learned about and experienced since we moved here last Summer. And of course I have to start with the food.
FOOD (and drink)
This is CAJUN country. They like their food stuffed, boiled, fried and SPICY. We are currently in the midst of crawfish season (typically March – June) and ate our fair share last weekend. Crawfish boils can become quite the party and get together and our friend even D.J.ed for one last weekend!
(the spread at our neighbors house last Saturday)This town has a TON of restaurants for it’s size. You can have gumbo, po’ boys, and most any kind of seafood you’d want. And even the pizza at our favorite pizza place, Dean-O’s, is Cajun inspired. This is also the home of the “plate lunch” and boy, do they pile it on!
And you can drive up to the daiquiri bars pretty much any time of the day and leave with your favorite flavored spirit. No lie (okay, they may not open ’til 10 a.m. or so…).
Close to Tabasco
In relation to the first one, you’d never know that the one and ONLY Tabasco plant that supplies the ENTIRE world with the little bottles of hot sauce is just 25 minutes from here. I didn’t before I lived here. Avery Island is the home of Mr. MkIlhenney’s original sauce. And next to that are the Jungle Gardens, which we’ve already visited twice since we’ve lived here.
Southern Hospitality
I hesitate to say this but we’ve met more people in our neighborhood here in 9 months than we met in 5 years where we used to live. Our neighbors have given me clothes for Baby K, hosted an egg hunt for the boys, taken The B Man to the circus and hosted us for a craw fish boil (see above). Not to mention people wave all the time while driving and are just more courteous on the roads (for the most part). There’s something to be said for Southern Hospitality.
Foliage
I think even if you just toss it outside and then ignore it, it will grow here. There are two seasons here – Hot&Sticky and Coolish, although we did have a colder than usual winter this year. Camellias bloom in the Winter, Azaleas and a slew of other things, in the Spring. The snap dragons are gorgeous and of course this is Live Oak country with the moss in the trees and everything is just so pretty here right now.
French and Catholic Culture
After exile in the 1780’s from what is now Nova Scotia in Canada (formerly knows as Acadie), French Speaking Canadians migrated to this area. They left because they were Catholic and would not pledge allegiance to the Anglican Church of England. And to this day this region is steeped in Catholicism. This area is know known as Acadiana (pronounced Uh-kay-dee-anna). The photograph below is of The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist near downtown.
Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras is a HUGE deal here. There are 3 weekends of parades and on actual Mardi Gras most people take off from work and school is closed. We only went to one parade and the boys loaded up on beads and each got a stuffed animal thrown at them as well. They have a whole system for setting up the parade route (which is the same for each one) and many of the trees and power lines along the street are “decorated” with beads all year long. Oh and have you ever heard of King Cake? If not, I’m sorry. Delicious. (it’s a traditional Mardi Gras ring-shaped cake made of dough and fruit filling).
University of Louisiana/Ragin’ Cajuns
(photo credit HERE)
Closer to the beach
We love the panhandle coast of Florida and we are now only about 6 hours away from the gorgeous blue water and white sandy beaches that call my name. Plus I’ve heard that there are some lovely beaches in Alabama as well, which is even closer and we’ll certainly have to check those out eventually. We are off to the beach in early June this year! Can’t wait!!
Festivals!
Lafayette has many festivals including Festival International de Louisiane which happens to be this coming weekend! It features music and art from over 20 different countries and of course LOTS of yummy food! There are also local crawfish festivals (who would have guessed!) and Festival Acadiens in October, which we missed last year since I’d JUST had a baby!
And there’s my list!
We’ve been here for a little over nine months now and have settled in quite nicely in our new city. Thanks for stopping by to learn more and if you are ever plan to come to Lafayette drop me a line and I’ll buy you the best beignet in town. Don’t EVEN get me started on the pastries…
Hmmm, sounds to me like that place is really starting to become home!! That’s awesome, Elaine…sounds like there is a lot of really wonderful stuff out there. You can keep the crawfish all to yourself tho – yuck! but all that all architecture – yum!
Sounds like you have discovered lots of special and wonderful things. Your neighbourhood sounds like such a friendly place.
Elaine, thank you so much for your kind words about the arrival of our baby girl. I really appreciate your lovely comment.
My softball team traveled from Cincinnati, OH to Lafayette, LA for a softball tournament many years ago, but I still remember the Southern hospitality and the beautiful scenery. What a nice place to call home.
Thanks for a great tour. Although I don’t think I could ever learn to like some of that spicy food…please pass the tums!
As a kid in Kansas, we always went out crawfish fishing in the neighborhood creeks. I’m not sure they’re quite the same thing, though. All of my friends who live in Alabama/Louisiana swear they’re the tastiest things. One of these days I’m going to have to try one.
I love Louisiana. I love the architecture and all the plants. I love the culture. At one time, I seriously contemplated moving there. Not happening now. Sigh.
Great post, Elaine! Thanks for being a part of BlogTrotting!
I think those flowers look as good as the spread at your neighbour’s house!!! What a great post. And I was very happy to learn what po boy is. Keep up the blogging!
Being English and only living in the US for six years, I still have a lot to learn about this vast country so found reading your insider look at your new home so interesting. It sounds like a wonderful, friendly and interesting place to live and raise your family, so I am glad you are happy there.
I love reading about another corner of this state that I’m growing to love! It’s so funny because the Shreveport area is so different from the rest of the state because we are a border city and have just as much influence from TX and AR as we do LA. We still need to work out a time to get together!
ULL is a conference rival of your alma mater, so you better not grow too fond of it! 😉 That is a gorgeous church!
My senior year in high school I took a road trip to Baton Rouge and New Orleans. I fell in love instantly. I loved reading this. I don’t think we will ever move there (not within what we do for a career.) but man… I would love to call Louisiana home.
Fantastic post!
This is a super neat and informative post!
I love all your photos!
What a fun post! And I learned a little something too! 🙂
Fun to see where everyone lives. Your town is no exception.
Careful of the gators;)
I am so glad you’re making your way there and feeling welcome. there is a reason they call it “southern hospitality,” you know!!!
😉
we are going to NOLA the weekend of 5/15 for my mom’s 60th bday and i can’t wait!
p.s. Fairhope, Alabama and Gulf Shores, AL are great beachy places…not that far from you. Pensacola, FL is in the panhandle and maybe an hour past there…
Daiquiries to-go? Um, hello. Heaven.
That’s it, I am moving there!
oh my, your town sounds heavenly. (and your classification of the two seasons made me giggle.)
This sounds wonderful~ GREAT POST! I lived in Lafayette when I was a little girl.
Wow, sounds like a very exciting time in your neck of the woods. Congrats on being featured. Your family is beautiful.
I love this post! My husband and I met at the Catholic Center at UNT and then he transferred to UL. While he was studying there he sang at St. John’s. How he misses Fr. Keith and the choir he sang with! We still have family down there and we try and visit when we can. After we married we moved to New Orleans and you are so right about all that delicious food. I ate my way through my first pregnancy when we lived in South Louisiana. Thanks for this great post! 🙂
The living in Lafayette sounds just lovely! How wonderful to have friendly neighbors and access to so much great food. I have wanted to try King Cake ever since I learned about it in high school French class.
Great post and great photos!
this is great! and you know, being in houston, we adapted all the cajun stuff too. we like a good crawfish boil although i only eat the potatoes and corn LOL. it’s a great culture. besides the weather sucking for 1/2 the year…the rest is awesome!
wonderful post! I’ve never been to Louisiana, but hope to visit soon. Loved learning more about your city, and appreciated the lesson about the Catholic culture in the area.
Bless you for handling the humidity with grace and style!