Off the Beaten Path in South Louisiana

Although my husband and I were born and raised in Northeast Louisiana (West Monroe and Monroe, respectively), we had never spent a lot of time exploring the southern part of the state until last week when we ventured south, mostly on backroads, through the heart of Acadiana.  Acadiana is comprised of 22 parishes (the Louisiana equivalent of counties) which share strong French cultural aspects, and the area is also referred to as "Cajun Country."  

The map below highlights a few of the towns we visited ...

There were so many little towns and communities in between those shown on the map that I wished we had had time to explore, but, unfortunately, our time was limited.

The State of Louisiana is known as a "sportsman's paradise," and it is also a photographer's paradise, especially the southern part of the state. If, and when, you think about South Louisiana, more than likely, images of swamps, bayous, alligators, picturesque live oaks draped with Spanish moss, and beautiful antebellum mansions come to mind ...  and you can certainly find all of those things there.  

Bayou near Maringouin, Louisiana

Alligator in the Jungle Garden at Avery Island

Live Oaks in the Jungle Garden

Shadows on the Teche, New Iberia

I took over 800 pictures during our journey, but I can't tell you how many "pictures" I had to leave behind because there just wasn't enough time to capture them all, or because it wasn't safe to stop in the middle of the road and on the downtown streets of the towns we passed through.  My sweet husband was very patient, but I'm sure he quickly tired of hearing me say, over ... and over ... and over again ... "Oh, look! I need a picture of THAT!"   Bless his heart, he would always say, "Do you want to go back?" and, most of the time, I didn't have the heart to ask him to turn around. 

Even though I had to "leave a lot of pictures," I managed to capture a few I think are worthy of sharing, and I look forward to sharing the stories behind them, too.  I hope you will join me next time to visit a place called Rayne, which has two claims to fame, one of which is that it is the "Frog Capital of the World."