Coastal Cajun

By RVLife Published January 20, 2020 Louisiana

Bayou Area Habitat for Humanity

Following the infamous Hurricane Katrina, Oprah Winfrey and Bon Jovi donated the funds to build housing in the coastal Cajun area for those returning to destroyed homes.

Anchored by these donations, the Bayou Area Habitat for Humanity built an entire neighborhood of single family houses in Gray, Louisiana, not too far from Thibodaux.

*The Bayou Teche now largely tamed by levees is similar to a river channel that runs through the area that is otherwise swampy.*

I am volunteering two weeks with other RV Care-A-Vanners, a part of Habitat for Humanity International, in the coastal Cajun area. The need for affordable housing remains an on-going effort not only here, but across the nation.

Amelia Belle Casino buffet with coastal Cajun cuisine. — The buffet on the third floor of the Amelia Belle Casino came highly recommended for some coastal Cajun cuisine.

Bayou Teche

Right in the heart of the Cajun coast, Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge is specifically designated for the purpose of protecting habitat for black bears.

The 9,000 acres near Franklin, Louisiana is not only home to black bears, but also cottonmouth snakes, alligators, egrets, herons, snapping turtles and all sorts of creatures that I was not necessarily anxious to encounter.

Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge in coastal Cajun — *Cyprus trees and their iconic knees were scattered throughout Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge.*

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
― Oscar Wilde, Irish poet and playwright

Rita Mae’s

The concept of regional cuisine is amplified on the Cajun coast, and Rita Mae’s Kitchen was the perfect place to try it out. Shrimp and crawfish dominate the menu, and the kitchen is in the good hands of Rita Mae’s daughter and granddaughter.

Located downtown Morgan City, Louisiana on the Atchafalaya River, the lady sitting near us described it perfectly by simply saying, “c’est bien.”