Deep in the Heart of Dixie

Once again our merry little band is hitting the road. The East Coast is beckoning once again.

We had a good time in Texas. All that barbecue, all those icehouses, all the great seafood and TexMex cuisine. (I sense a theme here!) We've often vacationed in Texas and with all of our new found knowledge those vacations will be more fun than ever.

But, for all that, there is something about the East Coast that keeps calling us back.

So off we go. Heading east along I10 and into the Atchafalaya Basin, crossing on the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway and its 18 mile bridge. East through the cities of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And finally north towards Georgia and the Carolinas. 

We took our time and stopped a few places on the way. The Blow Fly Inn in Gulfport, Mississippi had been on my radar for a while. Too many Diners, Drive-ins and Dives viewings I suspect. But in any case, I wanted to check it out and the Dining Companion was kind enough to indulge me.

There wasn't much of a crowd the day we stopped for lunch. We were warmly greeted and seated at a table by a window.

I spotted a favorite of mine on the menu, a pimento cheese burger, and just had to order it. The Dining Companion ordered a Gulf Coast staple; a shrimp po'boy. 

Pimento Cheese Burger

Shrimp Po'boy

Lunch was good but I honestly didn't see what all the fuss was about. Maybe this place lights up with a crowd? Hard to say. I'm glad we stopped and that I had the chance to cross if off my list.

It's strange and comforting to travel along roads both familiar and made new by the haze of a capricious memory. Was that place there before? Did we stop here on a previous trip? It seems known and unknown at once.

Which, in a way, is nice. We get to rediscover old friends and discover new to us places along the way. But travel can be like that. It can make the old and familiar seem new and the new seem like an old friend.

Happy travels y'all!

Blue Dog Cafe - Lafayette, LA

One of the last stops on our weekend tour of Lafayette was the Blue Dog Cafe for brunch. Some of you may already know that brunch is my favorite meal of the week. The Dining Companion is not as big a fan as I am but he let's me drag him off to brunch on the occasional Sunday.

The Blue Dog (art, not cafe) is the creation of George Rodrigue, a Louisiana artist. As you can imagine with the name, his art is featured in the cafe. I'm a huge fan of the late Mr. Rodrigue and the art displayed around the restaurant is a big plus for me.

One of my favorite Blue Dog paintings

Let's face it, the art is great but we were there for the food. That didn't disappoint either. Brunch was a mix of standards and some Cajun specialties. There were bagels and lox, salads, eggs and bacon. Also a carving station with roast beef and a nice dessert table.

Carving station and breakfast standards

For me, where brunch really shined, was the non-standard offerings. It's hard to see my stuffed plate clearly but this is what I had...

From the top clockwise: Cornbread dressing, Shrimp Etouffee, Crab Cake Benedict, Sweet potato bake, roast beef with horseradish sauce, sauteed veggies and somewhere in the center, Smothered Cabbage

This was by far my favorite dish of the day, grillades with cheese grits. (notice it got its own plate) Grillades are medallions of beef (pork) dredged in flour and sauteed. They are then covered in a flavorful gravy made with tomatoes. Although all of the  grillades I've ever had were made with beef these were made with pork and were fantastic.

Cheese grits & pork grillades

 Desserts rounded things out. Of all of the items I had these were the least exciting. I expected more from the Banana Pudding but it was a little bland. The bread pudding and chocolate pudding were pretty tasty.

All in all brunch at the Blue Dog Cafe was a big hit. Once again Lafayette delivers on its promise of being one of the south's best food cities.

There were a few places on my list that I didn't get to. They were closed over the holiday weekend which caused much sadness on my part. Needless to say I'm working on a plan to get back there and remedy this injustice. Also, I would like to pay a visit to a couple of the local attractions, most notably the Acadian Village.

That wraps up this trip to Southern Louisiana. Next stop: more BBQ!

As always,

Happy travels!

Poupart's Bakery - Lafayette, LA

Poupart's Bakery is a local fixture in Lafayette and has been around since the 1960's. Poupart's is more than just a bakery. Besides the bread and pastries they also have soup and salads as well as sandwiches and quiche. Breakfast or lunch they have you covered.

I was there for the beignets. Beignets, for those not familiar, are fried sweet dough that's served covered with powdered sugar. At least that is the most common way that you will find them.

I have a lot of love for these little squares of goodness. I can remember my mawmaw making beignets for us kids. Hers were fried blobs of dough that we ate with cane syrup mixed with peanut butter and washed down with very milky coffee. I imagine many a child that grew up in south Louisiana can claim that same memory.

Lots of goodies to choose from

Cookies!

As it turns out I got a little more than just the beignets I went in for. There were some nice looking handpies and a few other things that caught my eye. I also ended up with a jar of the most delicious fig preserves. Another fond memory from my mawmaw's kitchen. I've been happily enjoying them with my yogurt in the morning.

Success!

From top clockwise: Beignets, Small Pecan Pies, Sweet Pretzel Roll, Blackberry and Fig handpies

As no trip to Southern Louisiana would be complete without at least trying a beignet you can go ahead and add it to your ever growing list of things to do when you get there. Resistance is futile y'all. Ça c'est bon!

Happy dining!

T-Coon's Restaurant - Lafayette, LA

The picture above may look like it was taken in the middle of the night but in fact it was taken at about 5:00 in the morning. In other words, O'dark:30! When you find yourself wide awake on a weekend morning and looking for breakfast T-Coon's Restaurant in Lafayette is a fine place to land.

The tables are set with huge coffeepots, plenty of cups, cream and sugar; however you take your morning brew, they're ready for you.

The table is covered with advertising from local businesses

How wonderful not to have to wait for that first cup of the morning. Sit down, grab a mug and you're all set. While I sipped my coffee we looked over the menu. T-Coon's has a big breakfast menu. A couple different breakfast plates, at least a dozen different omelets, biscuits, bagels, pancakes and more.

The Dining Companion and I decided on omelets. They were stuffed to the gills and served with potatoes, biscuits and grits.

Bacon omelet with grits and a biscuit

Pork omelet with potatoes and a biscuit

T-Coon's is the kind of place where people know each other. Almost every time the door opened, the newcomer was greeted by the folks already there. Groups of older gentlemen, seated in threes and fours at various tables, drinking coffee and solving the worlds problems. A fantastic, albeit very early start to our day.

T-Coon's is one of those places, if you like a good diner with local influence, that you just have to visit. So, when you're planning that trip to Southern Louisiana (and you are right?) plan to stop here for breakfast at O'Dark:30. They'll have the coffee on for you.

Happy dining!

Olde Tyme Grocery - Lafayette, LA

When the Dining Companion and I were recently in Lafayette, LA, we made a couple of stops at Olde Tyme Grocery. While it's now an awesome po'boy (poor boy) place, at one time it was a grocery store.

Some of you may not be familiar with this most quintessential New Orleans sandwich. (The other being the muffuletta, but that's a tale for another day.) A po'boy is a sandwich that consists most commonly of fried seafood or also roast beef. It comes "dressed" with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and mayonnaise. However, roast beef po'boys often come with mustard. I don't think anyone is 100% certain how the name came about but Wikipedia had the following:


In the late 1800s fried oyster sandwiches on French loaves were known in New Orleans and San Francisco as "oyster loaves", a term still in use. The sandwich was alternately called a "peacemaker" or "La Mediatrice".^[4]
There are countless stories as to the origin of the term "po' boy". A popular local theory claims that "po' boy", as specifically referring to a type of sandwich, was coined in a New Orleans restaurant owned by Benny and Clovis Martin (originally from Raceland, Louisiana), former streetcar conductors.^[5] In 1929, during a four-month strike against the streetcar company, the Martin brothers served their former colleagues free sandwiches.^[5] The Martins' restaurant workers jokingly referred to the strikers as "poor boys", and soon the sandwiches themselves 
took on the name.^[5] In Louisiana dialect, this is naturally shortened to "po' boy."<sup>[5]

When you walk into Olde Tyme Grocery you still get that grocery store vibe. Only nowadays the shelves are filled with chips and beverages.</sup> 

I love Zapp's chips - The Voodoo flavor is seriously good

^{You place your order at the counter and you can either dine-in or take out.} 

^{The first time we stopped by we ordered the Shrimp po'boy. It's shrimp seasoned and fried to a golden brown, served "full dressed" on a baugette style french bread. The bread is key. Any other bread and you have a shrimp sandwich. The french bread makes it a proper po'boy. And this one was spot on perfect.}

Shrimp Po'boy at Olde Tyme Grocery

^{I spotted some small pies on one of the many shelves and grabbed one of those as well. It was a Buttermilk Pie and oh my goodness... it was wonderful. Buttery and tangy, not too sweet; the perfect way to finish a fantastic lunch.}

Buttermilk Pie

<sup>We weren't done with Olde Tyme Grocery yet. Finding ourselves at odds and ends for lunch the next day we headed back and tried the Roast Beef and Sausage po'boys. We also snagged a half a shrimp for good measure. Oh yeah, and another buttermilk pie. The Roast Beef po'boy was one of the best roast beef sandwiches I've had. Sadly we ate it all before I could get a picture but trust me on this, get one when you visit.

There are no few excellent food regions in the country and Southern Louisiana is a great one. The diversity of the food and culture and the warmth of the people make it a truly wonderful place to spend some time. I may be biased as I grew up in the area but I believe that everyone should experience it at least once.

As the Cajuns say "Laissez les bons temps rouler!" and of course Happy Travels!</sup>

 
 
 
 

Lafayette, Louisiana

The Dining Companion and I recently spent some time in Lafayette, Louisiana. We were there so that I could visit an exhibit at the Rodrigue Studio Lafayette. George Rodrigue is one of my favorite artists. He is best known for his famous Blue Dog. This iconic image appeared in most of George's art and also commercially in ads; famously for Absolute Vodka. George passed away in December of 2013 and this year each of his three galleries are holding a Memorial Retrospective.

Examples of George Rodrigue's art - Hurricanes

Turns out it was a perfect weekend for visiting an art gallery, it rained the entire time we were there. We still managed to eat, drink and be merry, just soggier than we would like. Because of the weather I wasn't able to get out in the city as much as I wanted to. I did get a few pictures...

Beautiful, stately trees seem to be everywhere

These trees are old and majestic. A tree this size could be over 100 years old.

To figure the approximate age of a tree, measure its girth four feet from the ground, convert that measurement to inches and divide by 1.5. An oak will add an average of 1.5 inches to its girth each year, although the older ones grow at a considerably lesser rate.

A charming Double Shotgun - Please pardon the raindrops

From the gumbo to the boudin and everything in between, the food is awesome. Beignets for breakfast, po'boys for lunch and a bowl of gumbo for dinner; it doesn't get much better than that.

Lafayette embraces city sophistication and small town warmth in equal measure. There is something here for almost everyone. You can take a swamp tour, visit a museum and tour the nearby historic homes and view the beautiful gardens.

Lafayette is located in the heart of Cajun country. What that will mean to visitors is that you have arrived in the epicenter of all things good. Great food, warm and welcoming people, fun festivals and so much more.

Lafayette is a great base for your visit to Cajun Country. Its central location in the region makes it perfect for planning day trips to the surrounding communities. You'll be in the heart of everything. This region is a destination in its own right. With all there is to see and do you can easily plan a weeks stay and never lack for something to do. A part of the country you really need to see.

Happy travels!