Celia & Jim's Rockin' Roadtrip: Y'all would LOVE Louisiana!

Hands down, Louisiana is the most distinctive and culturally rich place we've visited on the road trip! We have encountered so many friendly and fiercely proud Cajuns who want nothing more than to share their joie de vivre with you. And the food... we are leaving this area a few pounds heavier having indulged in rich, complex gumbos, etoufee, more crawfish, boudin, pralines and even participated in a "Bread Pudding Taste-Off".

The only other thing the Cajuns like as much as their food (and booze!) is their music. We were treated to Cajun music by this old-time band who spoke mostly French, but when I tried to talk to them, couldn't understand their accents at all! It's almost identical to our East Coast Acadian music.

There were lots of outdoor concerts to go to and we heard our first "Sacred Steel" band - kind of a mix between blues, rock and slide guitar with a southern influence. And boy, do these Louisianans love to dance! They hop to their feet as soon as it starts and they're all ages and colours.

Our absolute favourite was the Zydeco music breakfast in a little town called Breaux Bridge - the "Crawfish Capital of the World". People start lining up at 7:00 a.m., the doors open at 7:30 and you sit down to a rich, hearty Cajun breakfast c/w grits. You're not asked if you want to start with coffee - it's Caesars or Mimosas! The band starts at 8:00 and within seconds the dance floor is packed.

The washboard gives the distinctive Zydeco sound.

I only wish the blog would allow for video (not working for some reason) because the dancing was so energetic and frantic, we had to move out of the way not to get trampled! The men all have towels sticking out of their back pockets to wipe off the sweat because they're working so hard. Everyone knew the specific steps (a bit of a country/line dancing influence) and sang the French lyrics to the songs... and it was 8:00 in the morning! The bar and restaurant continued to be packed all day.

The entire area of South Louisiana is very French and very Catholic. There are beautiful old churches everywhere and all the cemeteries are above ground, like New Orleans.

Some other interesting differences: It's "Good Morning Acadiana" on TV, not "Good Morning America." No one refers to the Civil War, it's the "War Between the States." We were called "Miss Celia" and "Mr. Jim" and did you know that the plural of y'all is "all y'all"???? We even heard one guy say, "Have a gator great day!"

There were also many other beautiful antebellum (pre-Civil War) homes and historic government buildings.

and of course, many more of those big ol' oak trees just waiting for a retired teacher to climb...

We also explored 2 more universities - University of Louisiana at Lafayette

and the massive campus of Louisiana State University, home of the Tigers and yes... there is a live tiger living there as a mascot

It's in Baton Rouge, but has rabid fans throughout Louisiana and most homes fly their flag out front. We saw little babies and toddlers dressed in LSU outfits and their 90,000 football seat stadium is called "Death Valley". It evolved from "Deaf Valley" as when its filled to capacity, the noise from the fans has actually registered on the Richter Scale!