Exotic, ‘foreign’
The southern half of Louisiana — the area chosen by most vacationers who come to the state — is the closest thing to a foreign country in the U.S. The food, the lifestyle, the music, the politics and even the language make Louisiana an exotic anomaly among U.S. vacation choices.

New Orleans is its world-renowned metropolis, but the state’s landscape also includes river towns, casinos and the former plantation homes that remind us of the antebellum South.  Besides, the state has unique natural features: the Mississippi at the point where it enters the Gulf of Mexico and the mysterious bayous. 

About Louisiana
Most people experience the state based on trips to New Orleans and its surroundings. Despite the infamous 2005 Hurricane Katrina, the French Quarter survives more or less as it was because that area rests on a knoll that protected it from flood waters.

Tourists have come back, where they can still hear the jazz and eat great food at every meal. It’s also lots of fun to attend one of the various festivals that New Orleans puts on every year.  Anyone interested in carnivals is intrigued by the New Orleans Mardi Gras, of course, but the Crescent City is not the only place with a pre-lenten event worth a visitor’s time; there are numerous Mardi Gras in smaller towns and cities.

As for the history and culture that make Louisiana so exotic: The southern part of the state is populated by descendants of the original French and Spanish explorers (Creoles), who often intermarried with immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean. Adding even more spice are the Cajun people (the Acadians) who came from Nova Scotia and settled the bayou country. Each of these cultures remains a distinct part of the whole, and each offers a unique contribution to Louisiana’s history and feeling.

The bayous are a short drive from New Orleans. Here a descendant of the Acadians guides visitors through cypress swamps that seem incredibly ancient, as well as peaceful and beautiful.  Tourists also recapture something of the past in this Deep South state with cruises along the Mississippi or visits to towns or plantations that have consciously preserved their history. Those with quite different interests journey to the great river for gaming time on a riverboat or head to land-based casinos.

As Katrina reminded us big time, the area has a hurricane season. Also, regardless of season, the weather can be awful. It’s hot and humid in the summer, and the air feels a bit wet all year despite high winter winds.

• Plan early to attend the Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

• Or visit and even participate in a small-town Mardi Gras in the Prairie Acadiana area. These events are noted for their Courir de Mardi Gras (Mardi Gras Run), during which masked and costumed celebrants on Fat Tuesday fan out into the countryside on horseback or in wagons to beg for gumbo ingredients (chicken, rice, onions) and may dance or sing to win the contributions. Contributors are invited to that night’s communal gumbo and fais-do-do (dance) in town.

• For as long as it is appropriate, consider voluntourism: Help repaint buildings or clean up and restore a park in New Orleans. Or go the whole nine yards and volunteer to work on a Habitat for Humanity reconstruction project in or around the city.

• Tour the McIlhenny Tabasco Factory at Avery Island, then eat chili pepper ice cream.

• Rent a houseboat, from Houseboat Adventures, for a one-day trip or up to a three-week cruise or fishing trip on any of several rivers (the Ouichita, Red or Saline rivers).
Or, hire a boat to see the Christmas lights from the Cane River in Natchitoches.

• Enter the International Tarpon Rodeo, a fishing tournament, in Grand Isle in July. Or, go another time and fish for big catches at your leisure.

• Go camping in one of Louisiana’s state parks.

• Go horseback riding in the Kisatchie National Forest. You can tool around on an ATV, too, but only on designated trails to protect the ecology.

• In this flat state, cycle long distances along the backroads for an upclose look at life here.

• Or, participate in the Tour Lafitte cycling event in May in Lake Charles, choosing from among five routes: 62.5 miles, 50 miles, 35 miles, 25 miles and 10 miles. Or, choose the arm wrestling competition, or the crawfish eating contest.
All are part of the annual 12-day Contraband Days recalling the pirate, Jean Lafitte, said to have hidden out in the Lake Charles area. In a reenactment, the pirate’s character captures the mayor, puts him on trial and forces him to walk the plank.

• Get better acquainted with Louisiana foods in cooking classes which can be in Baton Rouge, not just in the state’s best-known food town, New Orleans.

• Get married at the Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie. Or, stay in one of the private cottages on the grounds of the plantation or overnight at another of the state’s historic residences.

• You can gamble in Louisiana, in some cases on riverboats, but some venues were disrupted by Katrina. Check on the status of casinos when making plans.

• At mealtime, dig in. Menus in Cajun country are loaded with fried oysters, catfish, crayfish, gumbo and jambalaya. Also, check out spicy soups and stews made rich with andouille sausage and seafood.

• In Lafayette, in the heart of Cajun country, find your way to one of a number of dinner clubs that feature live Cajun music seven nights a week.

• Take a tour out on the bayous to see the fabled swamplands for yourself and the area settled by those long-ago Acadian arrivals.

• Enjoy a rich opportunity to rack up a long list of bird sightings at some of the Wetland Birding Trail’s 115 sites along the Gulf Coast. See www.louisianatravel.com/explore/louisiana_birding_trails.cfm where you can click on any of a number of birding trail guides.

• Drive the Promised Land Scenic Byway, which involves some travel on the levee road. It will take you through Henderson, St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge.
You also can take a swamp tour in the Atchafalaya Basin — and find plenty of authentic Cajun and Creole foods.

• Attend the annual Giant Omelette Festival in Abbeville, where you will get a free serving of the 5,000-egg omelette made before your eyes in a 12-foot skillet. Also, see your first antique tractor egg-cracking competition, then hang around to sample the crab pies, gumbo, jambalaya plus things like pork chop salad and beer-can chicken.

• Enter the meat pie eating contest at the Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival or, if young enough (no more than 23), enter the event’s beauty pageant.

• Tour some of the state’s famous plantations: Houmas House, Oak Alley Plantation and Nottaway are three of many. Some serve meals.

• Food is an impressive theme in Louisiana. Besides the Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival, you might consider planning a trip around any of these: the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge, the Strawberry Festival in Pontchatoula or the Tamale Fiesta in Zwolle.

• See parts of Louisiana from the vantage point of the river: Cruise to or from New Orleans on the Delta Queen riverboat.

• Play golf. Select from members of the state’s Audubon Golf Trail for starters. You can play at the site of an 1812 battlefield (remember the War of 1812?) or an old plantation. See www.audubongolf.com.

• Attend the family-friendly Mardi Gras in Lafayette.

• If you are interested in the fabled Battle of New Orleans (pointlessly fought shortly after the end of the War of 1812), visit Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve which includes part of the battle site. The park also includes the Cajun Cultural Center.

• New Orleans is famous as a food lover’s haven. Start with the sugar-covered beignets with strong coffee, but don’t pass up spicy Cajun and Creole food.

• Get smarter about Louisiana’s early Cajun settlers by visiting one of the heritage sites (Acadian Village and Vermilionville) in Lafayette. They are reconstructed villages created by assembling historic homes and buildings, and adding some re-creations. At Vermilionville, costumed volunteers demonstrate traditional Cajun crafts.

• Tour the National Historic Landmark District in Natchitoches, which was the original French colony in Louisiana, dating from 1714. You can tour on foot, but options include travel on vintage streetcars or by carriage. A Natchitoches tour also will include filming sites for the movie, “Steel Magnolias,” which was based on a true story.

• Dance to live music at nightclubs in Lake Charles. Also, the casinos here are open 24/7, just in case.