New Orleans to Lafayette

We left New Orleans for Lafayette, but not before stopping at the Bread House just down the street on West Jefferson. They had a wonderful selection of all kinds of breads that made us almost cry because we knew the proprietor would be alarmed if we told him that we wanted everything in the store. We picked up a loaf of apple cinnamon bread with a powdered sugar glazed icing, and I'm afraid it didn't last long. In keeping with my desire to travel the back roads, we took U. S. 90 from New Orleans to Lafayette. We found the quaint little towns in the Cajun territory to be fascinating in their residents' attachment to and dependency upon the rich bounty of the bayou country, be it in the petroleum industry or in agriculture or seafood harvesting. We stopped for lunch at Badeux's Seafood Buffet on highway 90 in Des Allemands. Sandy had a huge shrimp po-boy and I had the buffet. It was wonderful—fried chicken, oysters, shrimp and catfish, boiled crabs and crawfish, dirty rice, jambalaya, and some of the best bread pudding I have ever put in my mouth. SANDY was so stuffed from the po-boy, she could only take a small bite of the bread pudding, which had a marvelous warm rum sauce poured over it. I thought I was going to pass out from sheer delight.

We left U. S. 90 and motored up through New Iberia on highway 182. This incredibly scenic highway follows the Teche Bayou for dozens of miles, along which are built many lovely homes with incredibly huge yards that back up to the bayou. This was a captivating drive, one that we would never have known about had we driven I-10 from New Orleans to Lafayette. Since it was getting late, we decided to drive the short distance from Lafayette back to New Iberia the next day in order to visit the Tabasco factory on Avery Island.

We had settled on the KOA campground at Lafayette because of its advertisement in the Woodall's directory that showed it to be surrounding a lake. When we got there, we were disappointed in that the lake was not at all picturesque; it looked like something left over from a quarry dig. And the RV sites, although all had concrete pads, were not at all pretty, because there was no grass or vegetation anywhere. Most of the park was nestled in tall trees, but with nothing but bare ground underneath. We would not return to this vegetation-challenged place under any circumstances.

After unhooking, we drove around town and had dinner at the Picante Mexican restaurant, which we thought was pretty good, although overpriced. We were definitely ready for Mexican food, as these weren't all that plentiful at the places we have been. We take note of the Cathedral of St. John in downtown Lafayette, a magnificent large church with beautiful grounds. We lamented that it was too late to get a tour, but we would like to come back to see this fine old structure.