Page 143 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New Orleans

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BEYOND NEW ORLEANS

The countryside around New Orleans is a land of history and tradition.
The beautiful plantations of the Mississippi River, Baton Rouge (the capital of
Louisiana), and the famous Cajun Country are full of cultural and entertainment
interest. Venturing beyond New Orleans allows you to experience the unique
mixture of Louisiana’s cultures in all their various accents.

The lifeblood of New Orleans was, and still Governor’s Mansion. Other sights include
is, the Mississippi River. In the 18th and the Rural Life Museum, the World War II
19th centuries, the river banks were lined destroyer the USS Kidd, and the Louisiana
with large plantations producing all kinds State University. To the west of Baton
of commodities, including sugar, tobacco, Rouge lie the massive Atchafalaya Swamp
and cotton, which were shipped around and Cajun Country. The latter is famous for
the world via New Orleans. Today, only a its Francophone culture, Cajun and zydeco
handful of plantation homes survive along music, and its robust, spicy cuisine. Visitors
the River Road, but many are open to can explore Cajun culture in a number of
visitors, and some offer accommodation. towns in this area – Eunice, Lafayette, and
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, the state Opelousas – as well as along the bayous of
capital, metropolitan Baton Rouge, had New Iberia, and Avery Island. To get a feel
a population of about 600,000; however, for life on the bayous, you can attend a fais
as people resettled away from low-lying do-do (dance), try the local cuisine, or tour
areas, numbers rose to close to 700,000. the McIlhenny Tabasco Sauce Factory.
An oil-refining center, Baton Rouge has For an insight into the Cajun way of life,
several attractions associated with its role visitors can drift among age-old cypress
in state government, including the State trees in the swamps, or visit museums
Capitol, the Old State Capitol, and the and historic villages.

Original Cajun house in the Acadian Village near Lafayette
Oak trees lining the entrance to Oak Alley plantation

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