Day 4:    Chasing Lafitte in the Bayou

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Getting up early, Bone headed up down to the Jean Lafitte Baratarian National Park. At the Kayak Rental Store dickered with the Owner about the dangers of the Park,  crazy gators and lots of Drug Dealers !!

After getting a Kayak, Bone went on down to the Put-In location.  While he waited, he wondered, who was Jean Lafitte?

Who the heck was Jean Lafitte?  Mystery and legend surround the life of Jean Lafitte. Was he a pirate, a patriot, or both? Is his last name spelled “Lafitte” or “Laffite”? Even the date and place of his birth and death are unknown. He was probably born in the early 1780s in either France or the French colony of St. Domingue (now Haiti) in the Caribbean. By 1810 he was in Louisiana with his older brother Pierre. They might have been businessmen in New Orleans or independent privateers before becoming associated with the smugglers of Barataria.  The men working for Lafitte were called Baratarians because the waterways they used for smuggling were located in an area called Barataria (the Barataria Preserve of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve is located in this area). Barataria’s swamps and bayous stretched south of New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico. This area had been famous for smuggling even before privateers arrived in 1810 to use the deep water harbor of Barataria Bay. By 1812 Lafitte was the leader of the Baratarians with headquarters on Grand Terre, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico near Grand Isle. Lafitte may have had as many as 1000 people working for him, including free men of color and runaway slaves. Throughout Barataria, Lafitte built warehouses to store goods and pens to hold slaves. Merchants and planters came to Barataria for auctions, which Lafitte held outside New Orleans to avoid the law. His knowledge of the swamps helped him to make quick getaways. Several times customs officials and soldiers tried to capture Lafitte in the swamps, but they were usually captured, wounded, or killed by the Baratarians. In 1812, several Baratarians including both Pierre and Jean Lafitte were captured but jumped bail. In 1814 Lafitte and Major General Andrew Jackson met at the Old Absinthe House and worked out a "Deal" where Lafitte would provide ammunition and supplies to the US for its oncoming battle with the British.

It is little wonder that drug dealer use the Park for smuggling, it has a rich history of doing so !

Kayaking the Lafitte National Park

The morning was hazy and breezy, with a threat in the air of more rain. As everyone else got into canoes, Bone tooled around in his kayak zigging and zagging around. After 20 minutes the two guides got the tourist organized and up the channels they went !

The Danger Ranger 1

The Bayou was simply amazing, and at Kayak level, you can really experience the feel of water, the flora, and even some of the fauna !! More than once "things" underneath the kayak, bumped the kayak !

Gator Guide !

He struck up a conversation with one of the Rangers who was the Alligator expert of the Park, and for the next few hours Bone and the Ranger talking Vietnam, Alligators, Hurricanes, living in Washington DC, and had generally a great time chatting with one another. The Ranger discussed how almost every animal attack entailed a human male, ages 16 to 26, that did not use common sense and in all his year of working with alligators, he had only once seen a gator charge a person,  and  that was due to a perceived threat to her eggs.

Let it Rain !!

About an hour into the final tip of the year for the Park Rangers, it deluged, not rained, but felt like the skies opened up and Ocean was upon them ! For a while the entire Party tried to wait under a small bridge for scanty cover, but it became apparent that the temperature was dropping and the rain was not going to stop. So Bone and his new buddy, paddled back and continued their conversation while both were soaked to the Bone (pun sorta intended). We Bone finally climbed out of the Kayak, and got in his Mustang, he could not get the windows unfogged due to how wet he was !!

A Soggy Bone goes Cajun !!

As Bone shivered in his car, trying to dry off, he thought of were to go next. Now New Orleans is the home of Creole Cooking, but from everything Bone heard Lafayette is the home of Cajun, so Bone headed Northwest in the pouring rain to Lafayette !

Fine Cajun Dining in Lafayette at Don's

Bone made it to Lafayette around 6:00, still soaking wet after 3 hours in the car. He stopped at a Tourist Information Station and asked were was the best place for Cajun and the best Place to stay, They recommended a chi-chi place to sleep and Don's Seafood for some original Cajun eats ! Bone quickly checked into his Hotel, took an shower, and headed out for some eats and drinks !

What's up with Don's?  Don's began in 1934 as a simple French-Acadian restaurant called Don's Beer Parlor. Don Landry, the founder, is a direct descendant of the Acadians who fled Nova Scotia more than 200 years ago. It is considered one of the best of the Cajun restaurants and is the where the "Old Fashioned" drink was created. After having a wonderful Shrimp Etoufee, Gumbo, and a few Old Fashions',  Bone was jazzed up enough for a few more drinks on the Town !

Enjoying a College Town

Being the Home of the Bone headed out to several fine College establishments and taverns were he watch with relish the USC Trojan's  dismember the Notre Dame Blighted Irish. As Bone did the USC victory chant, he slammed waay too many margies, and stumbled back on Jefferson Avenue in the wee hours.