Day 12: Houston to New Orleans, through Cajun Country

We left Houston on time but soon sat for a long time while waiting for freight trains. Several major railroads converge on the Houston/East Texas/Southern Louisiana area and rail traffic is heavy. It’s a major area for oil shipments, petrochemical processing and other industrial activity.

It’s also an agricultural area. Later in the day we passed shrimp and rice farms among the bayous.

After we got to Louisiana, we entered the heart of Cajun country. Had lunch with a man from the small town of Arnaudville (home to the Etouffee Festival) who was proud of their Cajun traditions (food, music, language) and the heritage of the Acadians going back to their expulsion from Nova Scotia and the other Canadian Maritime provinces in the mid-1700s.

Estimated time of arrival in New Orleans is a little before midnight, two hours behind schedule. Fortunately, the activity in the French Quarter should still be in full swing.

Passing through the less glitzy areas of Houston 

Petrochemical plant near Lake Charles, Louisiana

Southern Louisiana

Lafayette, Louisiana,
the Heart of Acadiana,
home of the Ragin’ Cajuns