When we booked our room in Acadia (Cajun country), we only 2 things about the area: the food and the bayou. After 2 nights, we still only really know 2 things.
Driving in on the highway, one of the first signs you’re in Cajun country are the billboards for Boudin and Cracklin’ stores. Boudin is a sausage generally made with pork, pork liver, rice, and spices stuffed in a casing and served steamed wrapped in butcher paper. Each link is a 1/2 pound which was the limiting factor in the types we could try (7). We were surprised to discover that most of the boudin stores were also full-scale butchers and sometimes smokehouses – selling an array of jerkies, andouille, tasso, and anything else you might need to cook cajun food. Locals stopped in for groceries; truckers left with bags full of jerky and cracklin’s, and we left each place with 1 steaming hot link of boudin, $2 or so a piece.
In order to work off boudin (to make room for more boudin), we followed the advice of the extraordinarily friendly welcome center, and went for a walk amongst the alligators, turtles, and snakes around swampy Lake Martin. The reptiles stayed off the trail, and we didn’t leave the trail for a second.
Not having our fill of hanging out with terrifying creatures, we rented a canoe on our second day in Lake Fouse State Park. Signs at the boat launch remind you that there are alligators in the park. So do helpful fisherman as you are paddling by, “Hey! Look to your right, there’s a big alligator!”. We looked, and we kept scanning for the rest of the paddle to the right, left, straight, and behind. But mostly, we paddled slowly through the calm bayou startling egrets and turtles from their purches.
And then we had more boudin. If you make it to Cajun country, we heartily recommend both Hebert’s and Charlie T’s Specialty Meats.
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