Sometimes I travel just to sightsee. Sometimes I travel just to ride my motorcycle. And, sometimes I travel to visit friends and family. This trip was definitely a combination of all three. Though I made a sightseeing loop through the south, the primary purpose of the trip was to spend some time with my family in south Louisiana. It was nice to reconnect with the people and place that made me.
People seem to really appreciate when I post maps to help tell a story, so I figured I’d reacquaint the non-Cajun readers with the area from which I hail. Identities in south Louisiana are strongly associated with bayou of origin, which for me is Bayou Blue, just north of Houma, Louisiana. Bayou Blue is circled in red and downtown Houma is circled in blue. People usually look stunned when I tell them I am from a town about an hour south of New Orleans, and almost 100% of the time respond with, “I didn’t think there was anything south of New Orleans except for the Gulf of Mexico.” As you can see on the map, there are several towns even further south than Houma.
Terrebonne Parish, of which Houma is the parish seat, means “good earth” in French (a Cajun version is still spoken in some pockets of the parish). This history mural, painted by Louisiana muralist Hans Geist, shows the evolution of the parish from its Native American roots, to the arrival of Acadian immigrants, through the establishment of field crop, wetland wildlife, and oil and gas, industries.
Houma is among over 1000 communities in the network of Main Street America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The goal of the program is to “bring economic vitality back downtown, while celebrating [its] historic character, and bringing communities together.” Louisiana Main Street, as a coordinating program within Main Street America, has helped revitalize downtown Houma’s economic development by facilitating efforts of cultural, business, and government entities. The result has been an impressive downtown cluster of murals, museums, cultural centers, restaurants, retail and service businesses, and beautified public spaces capable of hosting multiple community events throughout the year.
Bayou Terrebonne runs right through downtown Houma, which has become the unifying focus of several public areas, businesses, aquatic art, and cultural centers. In this photo, three generations (Monica, Andy, and Jenney) gather to feed the fish and turtles behind the Bayou Terrebonne Waterlife Museum.
Jenney and I coordinated for this awesome action photo in front of one of Houma’s many fun murals 😊
“Before I Die is a global art project that invites people to reflect on death and share their personal aspirations in public. Originally created by Candy Chang in New Orleans after the death of a loved one, there are now over 5,000 walls around the world.” (BID website) The owners of M Power Yoga Studio, Haley Filer and Cecil Zeringue, along with their friend Alyssia Hay, turned the studio’s bare exterior wall into Houma’s contribution to the project (click HERE for article). I had enjoyed going to their hot yoga classes on my last visit, so my sister took me to the wall to make my contribution. Before I die I want to: see full women’s equality!
Me and Jenney running from the Rougarou, Louisiana’s version of a werewolf and used to scare little kids into behaving. He looks more jovial than scary in this art though!
Built in 1858 along the bank of Little Bayou Black on what is now Houma, Southdown Plantation started as an indigo plantation, then switched to sugar cane operations, worked by slave labor. The plantation was named after a breed of sheep raised by the owners, and the home got its original pink color from baked clay bricks, manufactured on the property (now-a-days, the color comes from a paint can). The inside of the home includes original 19th century furnishings as well as exhibits on the United Houma Nation, Mardi Gras regalia, and sugar cane and oil industries history.
The United Houma Nation exhibit at Southdown Plantation includes incredible craft work, such as basket weaving and decoy duck carvings, to tell the tribe’s history. These decoys are the work of famed local woodcarver, John Parfait. To keep the craft traditions alive, the Terrebonne Folklife Culture Center in Houma offers weekly classes on woodcarving and several other traditional craft skills.
The Regional Military Museum in downtown Houma is a treasure trove of military history and artifacts of veterans from the southeast Louisiana region. From a Vietnam era helicopter hanging from the ceiling, to motorcycles and artillery pieces, this huge building highlights the contributions of local service members over the years. Jenney even learned how to transmit her name in Morse Code!
Of course, no trip home is complete without my brother taking us on a boat ride! Bayou Black, on the way to the Intercoastal Waterway behind Houma, is lined with houseboats.
Part of being from a place is having figurative, and literal roots. The Oak tree behind me was planted by our family when my parents first purchased the property – I think I was about 8 years old when we put the seedlings into the ground! It’s one of only a couple of the original Oaks we planted that have survived time, storms, and other factors. Me and that tree have seen several decades come and go, and we’re still standing.
One last selfie of me and Mom before I rolled out to continue my journey. I look more and more like her with each passing day 😊
And just like that, my week on the bayou was over and it was time to roll on to the next adventure.
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