Fun on the Bayou?

Today's Guest blogger is Curt Johnson

Our route has been carefully developed by the Adventure Cycling organization so that the days are not too long or too taxing for the average accomplished cyclist. After over 2000 miles, Peter and Carl (hereafter to be referred to as the boys) are indeed accomplished cyclists. During this past week they have endured several incarnations of rain, cold, winds up 20 miles per hour and some long riding days of eighty plus miles.

Today was one of those long days. We did our best to get an early start from Mamou since the boys elected to take a different route to avoid the predicted fifteen to twenty mile per hour winds out of the north as much as possible. The plan was a good one, involving the crossing of a very steep, large bridge over the Atchafalaya River and crossing the “Big Muddy” on the New Roads-St. Francisville ferry.

What an amazing country we have! Every day there is a wonderful display of homes, crops, villages, flora and fauna. The “Piney Woods” of East Texas gave way to the rice paddys of Western Louisiana, while those soon gave way to sorghum and most recently sugar cane as we move farther east. To see seemingly endless fields of these various crops has been comforting. It is comforting to see that we have a great agribusiness going in the South and that there are practically no homes growing on five acre plots anywhere. People who live in the South, in the country at least, seem to be easy-going, favoring hunting and fishing and lots of good laughs over mowing lawns and trimming shrubbery. It is interesting to note that the bag limit for deer in Louisiana is six (three bucks and three does) per license. Ohio’s bag limit is one buck. Yet, I have not seen a deer anywhere in our travels thus far though I see them all the time in Ohio.

The boys and I are learning more about Bayou foods. Being able to differentiate between Creole and Cajun is important. Most of the local food we have enjoyed so far has been Cajun. The major difference, we learned, centers around tomatoes. Creole cooking typically uses tomatoes and Carribbean spices. Cajun cooking uses onions, bell peppers, celery and other more common vegetables. Cajun cooking stems from simpler Arcadian roots whereas Creole cooking has a more formal European ancestry. As is the case in most places, recipes differ so a gumbo here is not a gumbo there or everywhere a gumbo.

Even though Peter experienced another flat tire on our trip today, he remained in good spirits and ended the day on a high note. A high note that took us to a wonderful dinner at the Magnolia Café where we enjoyed great traditional Southern seafood and a popular group of musicians playing local favorites as well as their renditions of some popular oldies but goodies. Sadly, we did not hear “Jambalaya, Crawfish pie, file’ gumbo. Son of a gun, havin’ some fun on the Bayou”

Curt Johnson

Map:

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/us/ca/san%20diego/451128901018657185