Louisiana, like all states, holds surprises. Today's journey showed us quite a lot of the state's less obvious treasures.

We left the interstate to traverse the "road less traveled"...
Alligators, over 400 bird species, marshlands teeming with life, 26 miles of natural Gulf of Mexico beaches, fishing, crabbing, Cajun culture and more can be experienced as you travel the more than 180-mile Creole Nature Trail All-American Road. One of only 43 so designated scenic byways in the USA, and affectionately known as Louisiana’s Outback, the Creole Nature Trail is a journey into one of America’s “Last Great Wildernesses.”
These gals were so fun to see. The Brahman is a breed of Zebu cattle that was first bred in United States from cattle breeds imported from India. Steve thought they looked like sweet-faced dogs. There were many herds of them along the way.

Okay, this made us curious. We passed numerous fields with these "pots". This is a local's pastime- catching crawfish in roadside ditches and setting these nets and traps in the local bayou or swamp. Interesting.
For miles, we passed these neat looking plants. Come to discover it's Sugarcane. This crop has been an integral part of the south Louisiana economy and culture for more than 200 years. When Jesuit priests first brought sugarcane into south Louisiana in 1751, little did they know that the foundation was being laid for an industry that now contributes $2 billion to the state's economy. Wow.

The area is prone to hurricanes, so all the houses are elevated. What cracked me up was the fact that they all had fun names like A Cajun High-Rise. Some were elaborate and others were just mobile homes on stilts. This is duck hunting country so many have clever names like Fowl Language School.

We love any reason to be on the water, so when we say we had two different paths to take, we took the one that included a ferry ride. For $1, we were able to cross The Calcasieu Ship Channel. Fun stuff and so worth every penny.




Our home for the night was right on the Intracoastal Water Way, between the towns of Hackberry and Sulfur. All the barges were like a nautical parade which provided us with quite an evening show.