Have you ever wondered how French Acadian settlers from Canada became South Louisiana Cajuns? As you pass by sugar cane fields, have you wanted to know more about how this species of giant grass became one of the state’s largest cash crops? And what role did meandering Bayou Lafourche play in the evolution of both Cajun culture and the sugar cane industry? Spend a day touring three historic sites in Thibodaux and you’ll learn the answers to these questions, while also gaining a better appreciation for what makes Louisiana’s Lafourche Parish truly unique. On Tuesdays until June, and again from September through November, join the Cajun Bayou Culture Day Tour to experience first-hand the history, heritage, and culture of Bayou Lafourche and its people.
ED White Historic Site Interior
The tour kicks off at 10 am at E.D. White Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark right on the banks of Bayou Lafourche. While watching a casting demonstration and testing your own fishing skills in the bayou, you’ll learn the history of this Creole home, which was the residence both of a Louisiana governor, and later his son, a chief justice of the United States Supreme Court. Their lives were intertwined with the Bayou Lafourche area, Acadian settlers, and the sugar cane industry. Enjoy a cooking demonstration in the kitchen and a sampling of locally caught catfish before setting off for lunch at one of Thibodaux’s many local restaurants. Be sure to bring your Cajun Bayou Culture Day restaurant voucher to take advantage of discounts at six local dining hotspots, and check out the Cajun Bayou Food Trail for more options.
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Laurel Valley
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Laurel Valley Village in Thibodaux
After lunch, meet your tour guide at 2 pm at Laurel Valley Village, America’s largest surviving nineteenth and twentieth century sugar plantation complex. From humble beginnings as an exiled French Acadian’s homestead, to its transformation into a massive sugar cane plantation, Laurel Valley and its more than fifty original structures illustrate the lifestyles of early Cajun settlers, the realities of life for enslaved people, and the evolution of the sugar cane industry through the Civil War, Reconstruction, and industrialization.
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Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserver Sign
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Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center
Your Lafourche Parish education continues with a 4 pm self-guided tour of the Jean Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center (JLWACC). A National Historical Park and Preserve, JLWACC presents impressive collections of exhibits, photographs and artifacts that offer a thorough introduction to the Acadians’ journey to Louisiana, and traces the development of the Cajun culture that defines this region. Walk the boardwalk along Bayou Lafourche and take in more of the beautiful landscape that formed the backdrop to that lifestyle.
The fun’s not over yet. At 5 pm, pick up some words of Cajun French when locals gather to preserve the language at JLWACC’s Cercle Francophone (Cajun French Roundtable). Afterwards, test your dance steps to Cajun, zydeco, and swamp pop music by joining in JLWACC’s weekly Music on the Bayou dance. As the evening winds down, reward yourself with dinner in Thibodaux before settling in for the night at a discounted hotel room or a local bed and breakfast.
Tours take place every Tuesday from March to June and September to November. Admission is free to E.D. White Historic Site, JLWACC, the Cercle Francophone, and Music on the Bayou. Entry to Laurel Valley Village costs $17 per person and needs to be booked in advance. A voucher for discounts at local restaurants and hotels is available at E.D. White. Reserve your spot on the Cajun Bayou Culture Day Tour today by calling (985) 447-0915.
