There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.

There’s certainly no place like south Louisiana. Nestled in the very epicenter of Cajun country is St. Mary Parish. Southwest of New Orleans and cradled by the Gulf of Mexico, Morgan City and her sister cities, Patterson and Berwick, offer visitors a unique opportunity to experience Cajun culture and food.

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Our Drive

We left Memphis, Tennessee early Saturday and began our car trip. It is about a 7 hour trip with no stops, but we took our time and made a few stops. Our first stop was a rest stop in Mississippi where we had a watermelon snack.

Here are my guys.

The scenery through Mississippi is full of fields and trees. The drive is really beautiful.

Of course, we hit some construction but less than I expected, and the delays weren’t bad at all.

We decided to have a late lunch/early dinner at one of my sons’ favorite restaurants, Golden Corral in McComb, Mississippi. It was a nice opportunity to stretch our legs and refuel. We can’t resist that cotton candy. You can see a cute little girl in the background with some. Their dessert bar is amazing. It is not the place for dieters. Fortunately, I knew better than to try to diet on this trip.

We did get some rain, too. It certainly did slow us down, but it was not hard enough to make us pull over and stop.

Once you cross the border into Louisiana, the scenery changes as moss-covered cypress trees and bayous dot the landscape. There is nothing like it.

In Louisiana

Once we arrived, our days were filled with swimming, kayaking, eating and relaxing. If you don’t have kayaking down a bayou on your bucket list, just add it now. My guys just loved kayaking on Bayou Teche. I expected the heat to be blistering because Memphis heat has been, but the temperatures were ideal for swimming without being uncomfortable for everything else. The forecast threatened rain all day every day, but we only received occasional, short showers here and there.

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And did we ever eat good while we’re there. I’m convinced that south Louisiana has the best food on the planet. We had some fabulous boiled crawfish. It was truly amazing!

We had lots of friends all recommend the same restaurant to us. It is where the locals go. Sam’s Southern Eatery in Bayou Vista which is between Patterson and Berwick. It is listed on their website as a Morgan City address on Hwy. 90. I had the shrimp poboy. I was given a choice between the big or little shrimp. I chose the big thinking that the little shrimp would be like the popcorn shrimp back in Memphis. I was wrong. The little shrimp are the same size as the big shrimp in Memphis. The big shrimp were positively huge. Sam’s has a reputation among locals for always putting a little lagniappe (pronounced lan-yap) or a little something extra with your meal. My poboy came with extra shrimp on the side. I have eaten Cajun food my entire life, and Sam’s has the real deal. My dad even raved about the beans they have as a side dish.

This is my husband’s fish and shrimp (left) and my poboy (right).

This is the large shrimp in my hand. It was huge.

After dinner, save some room for something sweet. We found two great places to satisfy your sweet tooth like a local.

The first is La Point’s Cafe in Morgan City, Louisiana. You can see my dad, my husband, and my two sons in line for ice cream. I don’t eat dairy, but my guys were extremely happy with their ice cream treats.

Since I didn’t eat an ice cream, we stopped at a small sno-ball stand in Morgan City where I got a chocolate sno-ball. The ice was shaved incredibly fine, and the syrup so good (perfect amount and excellent flavor). I already have my eyes on the pink lady flavor for next time. This is located directly across the street from the Morgan City High School.

If you’re looking to pick up something nice while you’re down there, I recommend Plantation Treasures. They have an amazing shop filled with nice gifts and decorations. I got this lovely bracelet there.

Or buy it here:

If you haven’t been to south Louisiana (or you haven’t been recently), you need to go. Good food, great people, fascinating culture, beguiling accents, and scenery that you can’t see any place else. What are you waiting for?