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Cajun Country’s small towns and larger destinations such as Lake Charles, Lafayette, New Iberia, Morgan City, Houma, Thibodaux and Grand Isle welcome visitors to experience Louisiana life on the spicy side.

When the French-speaking, Catholic Acadians of Eastern Canada refused to swear allegiance to the British crown in the mid-1700s, their penalty was deportation. The king of Spain offered them land grants in the Louisiana Territory – in alligator-filled swamps, unnavigable coastal marshes and barren prairies.
 
Cajun Country folks actually have thrived along these swamps, marshes, prairies and the Gulf Coast for two-and-a-half centuries. Cajuns don’t live in floating boathouses much anymore, but they have built communities so water-dependent, it’s a marvel to behold. In the morning, down in Golden Meadow, visitors can watch the shrimp boats chugging up the bayou, then scarf down some of those yummies in a bowl of gumbo in Houma that night.
 
Avery Island, where you can tour Jungle Gardens or the legendary home of TABASCO®, is a paradise for adventurers seeking natural wonders. Over in Lake Charles, during its Contraband Days Pirate Festival, pirates make the mayor of that fair city walk the plank!
 
Resilience and a certain joie de vivre, or joy of life, characterize those who call Cajun Country home. There is a spring in the two-steps at Aucoin’s Cajun Restaurant in Hayes and a bright “Bonjour y’all!” in the folks’ tone over at Brown’s Grocery Store in Hackberry, where everyone from up the road to Upstate New York is welcome for some breakfast boudin and a cup of coffee.

Almost every restaurant, festival and honky-tonk has fiddle, accordion and two-steppin’ on the weekend, and in some places every night!
 
Celebrating life, whether through food, music or other leisure activities, has been pretty much a pastime for the citizens of South Louisiana since they arrived here back in the 1700s.
 
One of the best discussions to have is the difference between Cajun food and Creole food, and you can sample the difference in the many classic places around Acadiana. These spots offer the ultimate examples of gumbo, étouffée and po-boys (and don’t forget to save room for bread pudding). Try big, boisterous Prejean’s in Lafayette; Café des Amis or the legendary Mulate’s Cajun Restaurant in Breaux Bridge. Along the road in Lafourche Parish, look for stands selling fresh Creole tomatoes, boudin and andouille (two types of sausage); or gratons (cracklins).
 
All things Cajun and Creole are celebrated in Lafayette, the “Capital of Cajun Country,” during the Cinema on the Bayou International Film Festival that has taken off in just four years. The city’s Festival International de Louisiane honors the Cajun-French connection through music, food and art. Over in Morgan City, the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival pays tribute to two important local industries. The blessing of the fleet and the water parade are highlights of the event late-summer.
 
Also on Labor Day weekend, Opelousas, birthplace of Zydeco legend Clifton Chenier, hosts the Zydeco Festival. For more than 25 years, fans have convened for concerts, workshops and even lessons.
 
Zydeco aficionados will want to stop at the Zydeco Hall of Fame in Lawtell, where musicians Boozoo Chavis and Rockin’ Dopsie often played. Up in Eunice, the Liberty Theater hosts live Cajun music and there’s an homage to the genre at the Cajun Hall of Fame and Museum.  
 
Those who prefer games will feel they’ve hit the jackpot in Cajun Country, home to Delta Downs Hotel Casino and Racetrack, Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel, L’Auberge du Lac Casino Resort, Coushatta Casino Resort, Evangeline Downs Racino and Cypress Bayou Casino.
 
In Jennings, the Zigler Art Museum exhibits dioramas of local wildlife, American art glass, and American and European works of art. Exotic and ornate Fabergé eggs made in the small town of Maurice are the foundation for the Vivian Alexander Gallery & Museum.
 
History and art collide at Houma’s Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum, with exhibits about seafood and other water industries, as well as Cajun music.
 
Modern-day Cajuns’ great-great-(and on back)-grandparents refused to drop their Catholic beliefs and certainly didn’t want to bow to the English crown, so they were forced to leave their Canadian home in Acadie, finally making their way to Catholic, Spanish Louisiana. The British government belatedly offered written acknowledgement of their suffering and displacement in 2003.
 
Well, they would be called “Acadians” but for the way the English language down here gets boiled down with a French accent and a pinch of Southern drawl, with the word ending up “Cajuns.” The Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville remembers the 3,000 people who fled Canada and settled in Louisiana with a wall of names and a museum that tells their story.
 
Another great place to explore local history is around New Iberia Anchored by the stately Shadows-on-the-Teche plantation home, a day here could include a tour of the factory and museum of the spiced staple, TABASCO® Sauce. The Opelousas Museum and Interpretive Center interprets objects related to Louisiana’s third-oldest settlement, while the W.H. Tupper Museum in Jennings is a general store with vintage merchandise.
 
Near Lake Charles, the DeQuincy Railroad Museum documents the area’s industrial growth, and the Charpentier Historic District has some of the state’s finest Victorian architecture. Experience Cajun Country’s food heritage at the Konriko Rice Mill in New Iberia and the Crystal Rice Plantation & Heritage Farm in Crowley. For international and interplanetary views, stop at the Lafayette Natural History Museum & Planetarium.
 
South Louisiana is known for its swamp tours, a favorite with visitors. Join Cajun Country Swamp Tours in Breaux Bridge for an eco-tour led by a naturalist who shares history and culture along with information about the birds, animals and cypress trees that live in the swamp.
 
Hunting and fishing are also big draws to the region. A good start would be in Gueydan, the duck capital, where more waterfowl live than anywhere else in the South. Inveterate fishermen can charter boats out of Cocodrie. The Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge, a haven for the endangered Louisiana black bear and the American alligator, allows deer and small game hunting, as well as fishing. Another fun experience would be the Eagle Expo in Morgan City, a whole weekend of workshops, films and trips into the swamp to see American bald eagles. The Creole Nature Trail All-American Road, also known as Louisiana’s Outback, winds for 180 miles, giving hikers and those looking for a scenic drive ample chance to sample nature in the marshland.

A 20-mile hiking trail, an eight-mile canoe trail and an almost six-mile equestrian trail are just a few of the lures to Chicot State Park in Ville Platte. Also in the park are campsites and cabins and a lake inhabited by bluegill, largemouth bass and red-ear sunfish. Heading south, visitors can snap up flounder or fresh blue crabs in the roadside canals that follow the Creole Nature Trail All-American Road down to the Gulf of Mexico.
 
Waterways not only provide present-day recreation, but they also helped to shape the culture and history. The Atchafalaya National Heritage Area is based on the river of the same name, where settlers built their lives and the towns and cities in which they lived. The 14-parish area contains state parks, recreational activities and historic sites.
 
And despite all the eating, dancing, fishing, hunting, biking, antiquing, casino gambling and “festival-ing” to be done, the most common recommendation from those who know is to meet people.
 
And chances are, someone’s going to invite you on a boat ride, where you might be looking up at the interstate overhead, thinking “I’m glad I pulled over.”