Houma
In Louisiana’s Bayou Country, the Cajuns are friendly.
Houma is only 88 kilometers southwest of New Orleans, but it feels like a world away. It is in Louisiana’s Bayou Country, which is made up of about 6,500 square kilometers of mysterious swamps and large marshes. The Gulf of Mexico, coffee-colored bayous, and a never-ending canopy of moss-covered cypress trees surround Houma. It is a unique place to live because it combines nature with deep-rooted Cajun culture and kindness. Find out about a unique language, lively music, famous food, and a past full of heritage and friendliness.
History and culture of the Southeast
Bayou Country is all about finding the “joie de vivre,” or love of life, that is a part of this society that goes back hundreds of years. Take a tour of Southdown, a manor house on a sugar estate from the 1800s that is also home to the Terrebonne Museum. The museum has historical displays and artifacts that explain the plantation’s complicated history.
You should take a selfie with Ardoyne Plantation’s Victorian Gothic style, but don’t forget to look at the original furniture, art, and antiques inside. The Chauvin Sculpture Garden is one of the best places in the world to see folk art and sculpture. It is on the shore of a bayou in a shrimp town.
Wildlife in the Bayou
Take the Wetlands Cultural Byway to see Houma’s watery paradise. The walk goes by shrimp boats in the harbor, over swamps, through stands of cypress trees, and up close to old cabins. Take a ride on the Cajun Man, a swamp boat run by Cajun Man’s Swamp Cruise, for a unique look into bayou life. As you are taken deep into the cypress swamps, live Cajun music will play and stories about life in the swamps will be told.
Didn’t see enough alligators with Cajun Man? That can be done on a farm. You can ride a wild swamp buggy at Greenwood Gator Farm, but the most exciting part is the farm walk, where you can not only learn about gators but also hold them.
How to Cook and Dance Cajun Style
People in Houma have an unrestrained love of life, music, food, and friendship that has created a thick, rich, and sometimes surprising tapestry. Such as the Jolly Inn Cajun Dance Hall, which has Cajun food, a cozy bar, and live music and dancing every Friday and Saturday night. A-Bear’s Café is a local landmark that serves simple, down-home food like catfish and boudin that tastes like the swamp. Boudreau & Thibodeau’s Cajun Cooking should be the last place on your food tour where you eat slaw, oysters, crawfish, and hushpuppies.