Cajun Country, Louisiana's Outback

This area is in the Mississippi or Central Flyway for migratory birds. It is the wintering grounds for hundreds of different species of song birds and water fowl (including wading birds). I am not originally from Louisiana, so most of the birds I saw were new to me. My favorite was the Roseatte Spoonbill, a flamingo-esque wader.

Quick Tips:

Stock up on snacks and consider packing a lunch for the 180 mile drive. Fill up on gas in Sulphur or Lake Charles. Start the drive in Sulphur heading south and before you loop all the way back into Lake Charles, hang a right on to the 14 for additional scenic byways.

Best Way To Get Around:

Since we're talking about scenic byways, a personal automobile or motorcycle are the transportation of choice. I saw one haggard young man on a bike, but the roads are narrow in places and accomodations are few and far between. There may be organized tours doing the Creole Nature Trail, but blah.

Smack between the I-10 and the railroad tracks! I mean, trucks in the front, train in the back, no exaggeration. I was still able to get a good night’s sleep though. The room was really clean and new, and the staff was friendly. The front desk clerk called my room to inform me that there was a fireworks show going on over the lake (within view) that my little boy might enjoy. There are two restaurants within walking distance (one of them is actually on the same property). Across the interstate is a casino with a free shuttle pick-up nearby. I liked being near the interstate in the morning and not having to navigate around before I could get on the road. Free HBO, and Disney Non-smoking rooms Free coffee (in the lobby) pool Free local calls fax service voicemail and data ports in rooms AAA I had a chance to drive around Lake Charles a little bit looking for better accomodations for less money. No luck. The Eco[no] Lodge was about the same price, but far less appealing. The visitor center is just on the other side of I-10 for other suggestions.

I got one full size bed for $39. The room was clean and quiet. It was close to the downtown area and grocery stores. They seemed to be overly paranoid about guests abusing the pool and ice machine. It was just a plain old motor lodge. I did appreciate the donuts and coffee in the lobby. I was also able to park right outside the door of my room making it easy to unload luggage.

Their ad says "where the locals eat" and "voted #1 in southwest Louisiana". The sign on the wall said they had the best crawfish. Who am I to argue? The price was right and the portions were fair. My son and I were greeted at the door where he was presented with a "treasure" (a string of Mardi Gras beads). The hostess explained that we had to go to the counter to place our order, but it would be brought to our table. Not a problem. I had a hard time deciding what to order, everything sounded so good. I had to go with the indecision platter which included a filet of catfish, a stuffed shrimp, a stuffed crab, a frog leg and a bunch of popcorn shrimp on a pile of fries. A little bit of everything for the man who can't make up his mind. This place was right next door to the Travel Inn.

This is the restaurant that graces the property of the Travel Inn. It's a small dingy diner. It's open 24 hours on weekends and it's only a few steps away from most rooms in the motel. You can call ahead and take food back to your room if you like. It's almost like room service (self serve). The food wasn't great but the coffee was. The service was bad, but the coffee was good. Did I mention it was close to the motel? It was nice to roll out of bed and not have to look for someplace to get breakfast. They have a bunch of sandwiches that would be good to take along on a drive for a picnic.

Heading south out of Sulphur on the 27 I entered into the Louisiana Outback. Green pastures and grazing cows lined the hiway. The vegetation slowly changed to marshy grasses and water was everywhere. Oil rigs were starting to disappear. South of Hackberry was the entrance to the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge. Birds were everywhere, but not like I had expected. This was also the place to see alligators (but not in December). I stopped at the interpretive center for some schoolin', but it was closed before noon on weekends. So, I drove a few miles farther to the marsh trail. The 1.5-mile trail is accessible for anyone and offers educational graphics along the way. It is supposed to take a couple of hours, but I wouldn't know, I didn't do it. It was too cold, and I wasn't prepared for the sub-freezing wind chill. I drove on hoping the weather would improve. Holly beach, the Cajun Riviera, is just south a bit. 25 miles of white sand beach free to the public. It's a popular get-away and a great place to sunbathe and swim (not in December, though). From here the 27 darts to the east, along the shore. I drove my car onto the public ferry to cross over to Cameron, the seat of Cameron Parish. Then, another ferry out to Monkey Island, the site of the only civil war battle in the parish. It is peculiar because both Union and Confederate troops are buried together there. From Cameron, I strayed off the 27 to go to Rutherford Beach. I had to get out and do some shelling. The tiny waves lapped at the shore leaving exotic shells and debris. In the distance, offshore, loomed numerous oil rigs. My son and I collected the best shells we could find, but the cold was getting to us. So, we got back in the car and returned to the 27, which now took us north. Through the town of Creole and over the inter-coastal waterway again, we landed at the Cameron Prairie national Wildlife Refuge. A three-mile driving tour of the fresh water mashes featuring waterfowl galore. The Pintail wildlife drive, as it’s called, may offer a chance at sighting other wildlife as well. I like this because we didn’t have to get out of the car. At other times of the year, it would be the mosquitoes to deal with instead of the cold. I was prepared for bugs. Up the road, I pulled off at the interpretive center for the refuge. It, too, was closed (Sunday). Surrounding the center was a pond filled with alligators (but they wouldn’t show themselves in December). Instead of looping back into Lake Charles, I headed east again, on the 14. This route took me away from the Creole Nature Trail, but it was still a Louisiana Scenic Byway. This took me through small towns like Bell City and Lake Arthur (home town of country singer Sammy Kershaw). The sugar cane and rice fields transitioned into hardwood and cypress forest with autumn colors to rival New England. The cypress swamps slowly disappeared by the time I got to Abbeville where I called it a day. For an extensive virtual tour of the Creole Nature Trail with useful links go to http://pages.structurex.net/mosketer/creolint.htm

Rayne, LA is known as the Frog Capital of the World. It is one of Louisiana's Mural Cities, with frog murals all over town. My son loved the paintings that featured everything from nature scenes to frogs playing pool. In late summer, Rayne hosts its annual Frog Festival. I didn't make it to the famous amphibFest, but I did happen to venture in to town during the annual car show. My hometown, Pismo Beach California, has a car show each year that closes off all of the main streets in town. It is huge and gets hundreds of thousands of visitors. Rayne's car show was not like that. They had one short block of street shut off. Cars lined both sides and zydeko music blared along with '80's funk. In all, about two dozen cars were featured. Some cars seemed to be straight off the lot, while others were garaged beauties from the '40's. A table near the DJ’s booth held the trophies. There must have been enough trophies for each participant to receive one. The town is really charming, and doesn't require an excuse to be visited.