Family & Friends in Cajun Country May 2026

ahschneid
May 20
8 min read

We arrived in Henderson/Breaux Bridge Louisiana 7 May 2026 for a two week stay to see family and friends. Anita also wanted to introduce Steve to a couple of favorite restaurants and we played tourists one day to show Steve the area. Anita was amazed at how much the city of Lafayette, where she grew up, has grown and changed. We enjoyed seeing family and friends that Anita hadn't seen in over 20 years for some. Anita's first cousin Phyllis came to see us at our camper on Saturday the 9th. We spent the better part of the day together and it was great catching up. It was a bit surreal being together with Anita being 60 and Phyllis being 65 when we remember hanging out when Anita was in high school. We walked next door to Crawfish Town and had lunch. That Monday, we visited Anita's godmother and got to see her two kids and her son in law.

Phyllis with us at Crawfish Town - Breaux Bridge LA - 9 May 2026

Phyllis with us at Crawfish Town - Breaux Bridge LA - 9 May 2026

St. Bernard Catholic Church - Breaux Bridge LA - 10 May 2026

We attended mass Sunday evening here with Kassi, Jackson and Lorraine (Kassi's mother-in-law) and then went to Pat's Fisherman's Wharf for dinner where John met us. He had been working in Mississippi and drove back that day.

St. Bernard Catholic Church - Breaux Bridge LA - 10 May 2026

St. Bernard Catholic Church - Breaux Bridge LA - 10 May 2026

St. Bernard Catholic Church - Breaux Bridge LA - 10 May 2026

Anita's godmother, Maryjane. with her two children, Tim and Pris - 11 May 2026

Pris and her husband, Sonny - - 11 May 2026

Tim, Pris, Maryjane, Anita - 11 May 2026

We had lunch with Anita's friend from childhood, Laura and her husband, Dwayne one day. Laura was one of 10 in the house next door and was Anita's best friend. They're both retired now too, so we got together on a Tuesday. Anita's niece Kassi and her husband John invited us for mass and a living rosary on Wednesday of our first week, so we went to that. We also went to dinner after with them and another couple from their church.

Greenlawn Memorial Gardens - Lafayette LA - 12 May 2026

Dwayne, Laura, Anita, Steve - Prejean's in Lafayette - 12 May 2026

Us with Kassi's oldest son, Bryson (22)- 12 May 2026

We had gone to Kassi and John's house after lunch with Dwayne and Laura in hopes of catching Bryson before he left for his vacation on Wednesday...

Kassi and Anita - 12 May 2026

On Thursday the 14th we went on a swamp tour! Anita had never done that since she lived in this area and didn't do tourist things then, but we both enjoyed the swamp tour. Anita learned some things that she had not ever learned or been aware of. For example, waters from parts or all of 31 U.S. states (and two Canadian provinces) run into the Atchafalaya Basin. Steve with his fisheries background wasn't surprised by that, but it was interesting to hear about for Anita. Our tour guide, Skip, was really good and made the 90 minutes fly by. After our swamp tour that day, we went to lunch at Poor Boy's Riverside Inn, a restaurant Anita had a few business lunches at in the late '80's. Their house salad is still every bit as good as it was back then! After lunch that day, we drove around Lafayette to see downtown murals and we went inside St. John's Cathedral, also near downtown Lafayette.

14 May 2026

Henderson LA - 11 May 2026

Mcgee's Swamp Tour - Henderson LA - 14 May 2026

Under the 19-mile I-10 Atchafalaya Bridge

Mcgee's Swamp Tour - Henderson LA - 14 May 2026

Invasive water hyacinth

Mcgee's Swamp Tour - Henderson LA - 14 May 2026

Skip, our tour guide, could call alligators to the boat...

Mcgee's Swamp Tour - Henderson LA - 14 May 2026

Skip fed the gators...

Mcgee's Swamp Tour - Henderson LA - 14 May 2026

Mcgee's Swamp Tour - Henderson LA - 14 May 2026

Mcgee's Swamp Tour - Henderson LA - 14 May 2026

Rufus the dufus known by the extra foot-like growth on his tail and his inability to see fat thrown to him.

Mcgee's Swamp Tour - Henderson LA - 14 May 2026

Hank the Tank 13 foot long- didn't come that day when Skip called...

Poor Boy's Riverside Inn - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

Anita's maiden name is Hulo, so this caught her eye, but Hulo was the first name of first generation of owners...

Poor Boy's Riverside Inn - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

St. John's Cathedral - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

St. John's Cathedral - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

St. John's Cathedral - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

St. John's Cathedral - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

St. John's Cathedral - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

St. John's Cathedral - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

St. John's Cathedral - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

St. John's Cathedral grounds - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

St. John Cathedral Oak - Lafayette LA - 14 May 2026

One of the murals in downtown Lafayette - 14 May 2026

On Friday the 15th we ventured out to Avery Island where Tabasco Sauce is made. For Anita, this was a field trip during the elementary school years, but Steve had never been. We had a nice time walking the grounds of the factory, and then driving through jungle gardens. While we were in that area, we drove to Jefferson Island to see a rookery we'd heard about on the swamp tour. We had also heard about the Rip Van Winkle Gardens on Jefferson Island. Joseph Jefferson was a famous 19th-century American actor from Philadelphia who famously portrayed Rip Van Winkle on stage over 4,500 times. Using the wealth he accumulated from his legendary stage role, Jefferson purchased Jefferson Island in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, in 1870. He built a lavish Victorian hunting lodge and painting studio on the property, which is now surrounded by the 20-acre semi-tropical Rip Van Winkle Gardens. By the time we got to that part of the day it was too hot and humid to walk through, so we continued our tourist day with driving. It turned out that the little fishing village of Delcambre was right around there too, so Anita showed Steve where her dad would get shrimp when she was a kid. It was a fun and nostalgic day. That night Camp Margaritaville, where we were staying, had a band called The Fab Four from California playing. It was free to us so we went. They did a Beatles tribute and they were really good.

Us with Shannon - Cecilia LA - 15 May 2026

We stopped in the local grocery store in Cecilia LA to see Shannon, the youngest child next door to Anita's family when she was growing up. His older sister, Laura, was Anita's best friend growing up and we'd had lunch with her and her husband earlier in the week. Shannon's 54 now and he was tickled that we stopped by to see him. Anita had moments of feeling melancholy about the days gone by...

Avery Island LA - 15 May 2026

Avery Island LA - 15 May 2026

Avery Island LA - 15 May 2026

Avery Island LA - 15 May 2026