Back from the big swampy.

After New Years, a couple of friends and I decided to jump in the car and head to Nakadish, LA for the weekend. M had been there last year, and said the holiday light display was really nice, and the town was fun to visit, with lot of history in the area. Don’t bother looking for Nakadish on the map. After many funny looks from the locals, and at the locals as we said, “could you say that again?”, we finally put together that it’s how Natchitoches is pronounced. Seriously. I’m so thankful to have found a state where they are even more screwed up than Texas about pronouncing things. The entire state needs to get together and buy a Hooked on Phonics tape. I understand that’s how it’s pronounced. But that’s not what you wrote down, folks. There is no way you can get Nakadish from those letters.

Anyhoo. Great area. We just jumped in the car and drove around, alternating historical sites with fried food restaurants. There is nothing a Louisianan won’t dip in batter and throw in hot oil. I was actually trying to complete out that Hank Williams song “On the Bayou”. You know, I had crawfish pie (pictured with some kick ass beans and rice at Lasyone's) and filet gumbo. I just needed some jambalaya. But when I finally found it at a restaurant called Crawdaddy’s in Shreveport, my jeans were about to pop and I didn’t think I could do justice to it. (Crawdaddy’s, by the way, is excellent – y’all stop in.) I didn’t actually drink anything out of a Mason jar either, so I guess I’ll have to make another trip to gator country and have another go at a perfect bayou experience. Poor me. (I did eat blackened gator at Papa's, by the way. Eh, it’s okay. Tastes more like pork than chicken. Whatevs.)

We hit Fort Jean Baptiste while we were there. Why they haven’t made a movie about Louis Jucherau de St. Denis, the guy who founded the garrison there is beyond me. He came to Louisiana in the early 1700s as a French marine. Made friends with the Indians, learned their language, got tribal tattoos, wrangled with the Spanish, then married the Spanish commandant’s granddaughter, got knighted and started a dynasty that would control that part of Louisiana for decades. As the guide who took us through the fort said, "You can't make this stuff up." The tatts alone say indie film to me. Like with a young Harvey Keitel type playing St. Denis. They have the entire fort recreated in Natchitoches, so they could probably make the movie cheap. Ah, Hollywood. Why do you never listen to me?

So, great food, and lots of it, and great history, and lots of it. Good way to start the new year.