New Orleanian Trapped in Cajun Country

The highlights to the Cajun Country would have to be the cemeteries. In New Orleans, we bury our dead above ground in vaults. In Lafayette, these people are buried in the ground. Ironically, the Catholic patron saint of disasters, Saint Genieve, has a church here that I really wanted to see. Also, the Mall of Arcadia is a must-see. Monday through Saturday from 10am to 9pm, and on Sunday it's 12am to 6pm. Also, in Broussard is this little historical town/park called Vermillionville, where painter of the Blue Dog, George Rodriguez, was born in raised. The last time I went was when I was five or six. It's a neat place, with itchy goat hair chairs in the restaurant.

Quick Tips:

Checkout the Lafayette Visitors Center in Broussard, just outside of Lafayette. I highly recommend this place because of its unique Cajun house upon the bayou, many coupons and brochures, and the helpful people. My sister and I saw huge catfish, misquito hawks, and frogs in the bayou-like setting in the middle of roaring traffic!

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way for us to get around was by car. Walking from site to site is out of the question.

"Would you keep a chive on your tooth just because you enjoyed last night's potato?" ~From the television show Boston Common

The large campers were interesting to see on the highways, and trying to make the driver bomp their horn was a traditional task. My aunt let us stay for about a month until Hurricane Rita came in the picture.

This was getting me use to living in these (sardine can, diet coke can) trailers. The bathrooms were tiny. One false step and you were near the lavatory.

September is a humid month. Especially when in a non-air-conditioned washateria, waiting on clothes and carrying a heavy load about 4 blocks up a dirt road. Magazines and supplies were laid out. The helpful old man was a camper over and worked and lived at the camp. The owner lives on the property with his wife and children.

Not to sound crude, but it was just a campground for campers on the side of the road. Not that driving from the highway onto a bumpy field with oak trees wasn't the highlight of my life, either. Most of the people there were all evacuees, and our story appeared in one of the local newspapers. Other than that, it was a pleasurable experience.

"Would you keep a chive on your tooth just because you enjoyed last night's potato?" ~From the television show Boston Common

The restaurant started out with his father, Frank, and Nash Senior, who owned Frank's Steakhouse in New Orleans, and later with his brother, who opened Barreca's in Metairie (Metry).

His son, Nash, is the third generation of the restaurant business and uses the historical Edmund Comeaux House. It's a lively antebellum house with a tree and ornaments, and ballroom-size rooms with paintings. A Victorian hall with Victorian furniture welcomes you as you follow the hostess (or host) to your table.

The restaurant has Italian cuisine, steaks, and seafood. There are also gift certificates. The restaurant provides an excellent view and stained glass windows. This is a must-see.

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."-Luciano Pavarotti and William Wright, "Pavarotti, My Own Story"

In a strange city without any background knowledge, where do you eat? You experiment, of course. I chose two restaurants, and this was one of them.

The restaurant was an authentic Italian villa with stone siding, lush plants, and an Italian atmosphere. Authentic cedar tables were surrounded by yellow curtains with pictures of Italian-Americans, the staff cooking over a roasting fire, and soundtracks from "Mob Hits" playing in the background.

Also, the green paper the hostess places on the table has a "purpose." You can't draw on it.

"The belly rules the mind." ~Spanish Proverb

This place was the first to spark my interest since I first saw it in search of a State Farm insurance agency. Spanish black lanterns hung above the cathedral-domed corridors; clay statues and strings of lights decorated the sky of the restaurant.

Murals of bull fighters and bandits are painted on the huge barn-like walls. Spanish music serenades any visitor under its bright atmosphere. The meal was excellent, and I'd recommend this to anyone with a craving for Mexican.

"Great eaters and great sleepers are incapable of anything else that is great." ~Henry IV of France

Prejean's Restaurant is an award-winning Cajun restaurant. Designed to feel like a nautical lover's paradise, lunch is a minimum of like $20, and dinner is $30. There is Tee Al, a cute live alligator in the restaurant from Intercoastal City; and Big Al, a fake alligator that guards the trophies and awards won by the "Commander's Palace of Lafayette".

The nautical design is very charming, especially the stained glass windows of a ship. There is also a book store with cookbooks, magnets, and the Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes. The tables have crayfish designs on the striped red and white tablecloths, and paper towels are in Bruce's canned yams bin.

There was an array of salads, poultry meals, sandwiches, seafood meals, and oysters. The whimsical food exceptionally topped the quaint atmosphere.

"I didn't know I had a quarrel with him." ~Henry Thoreau in answer to the question, "Have you made your peace with God?"

The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist was massive as we drove around the area in search of the helpful Catholic Charities. Guided tours have to be planned at least 2 weeks in advance, (337)232-1322.

There is a huge cathedral oak, right of the church. It's the largest in the United States with a trunk diameter of 8.5 feet and a circumference of 26.7 feet. I thought this was amazing enough to mention. Not everyone enjoys going to a Catholic cathedral to see a huge oak tree.

"If I were personally to define religion, I would say that it is a bandage that man has invented to protect a soul made bloody by circumstances."~Theodore Dreiser, 1941

The amazing thing that makes New Orleans itself is the it's below sea level problem. Dig a hole, and voila! Water pools in it. Early settlers found this a problem, so the French and Spanish built tombs upwards. Here, in Lafayette, there are dead people in the ground. Including Ambassador Caffery, where the Mall of Arcadia is located. As well as Jean Mouton, the man who gave the property for the church and cemetery.

The tombs date back to the beginning of the Parish in the early 1820s. This was the only Catholic church in the parish. It houses the remains of some of our veterans, too.

For those who don't know what "Il Essuiera Toute Larme" means, it's "I will wipe away every tear". This motto is engraved on the gate, in front of the cemetery's descending stone steps.