Historical Vermillionville, Cajun Dancing, Dogwalks, and a Few Brewery Visits
After finishing our build with Bayou Area Habitat we headed up the road for our next 2 week build in Lafayette. We had the weekend off before we started building however so we (of course) sought out the nearest brewery on our first evening in town. Parish Brewing had some excellent beer (both their Envie Pale Ale and Canebreak were delicious) and a nice relaxing atmosphere that we enjoyed with Abby. Well – Abby probably didn’t enjoy it, but oh well.
The next day we headed to Vermillionville, a living history village that celebrates Cajun culture, and Acadian history through the preservation of original houses and buildings and demonstrations. After their expulsion from Nova Scotia in the mid-18th century, the French Acadians relocated in southwest Louisiana, bringing with them a distinct culture based on self-reliance and community. They largely lived in culturally-isolated communities, speaking French, farming, trapping and hunting, and refining the now-distinctive styles of music such as Zydeco and Cajun. The Vermillionville village contains multiple homes, ranging from simple farmhouses to larger houses with detached kitchens, a school building, Catholic church, and a period forge. Throughout the village historical re-enactors demonstrate everyday activities such as soap-making, wood carving, quilt making, and blacksmithing while discussing the history of the region and the ways of life of the residents. We spent approximately 3 hours touring the village and then headed to the Pavilion where Terry & the Zydeco Bad Boys were just about to begin. The next couple hours were spent watching the locals do some fancy dancing and laughing while we attempted to emulate some of the steps.
While we weren’t building we also enjoyed a nice extended stroll along Lake Martin in the Cypress Island Preserve and daily dogwalks in the Acadiana Nature Park where we were staying.
In addition we also joined our fellow care-a-vanners in sampling some more local beer at Cajun Brewing Company and Bayou Teche Brewery. Our visit to the former even included an impromptu tour from the owner and one of the brewers which was pretty cool:
