EDMOND — Louisiana has a perception problem. If you watch the national media, you would think the whole state is under water. I’m here to tell you, it isn’t. Thanks to the opening of the Morganza spillway, Baton Rouge and New Orleans are just fine, thank you. Yes, there is flooding in the Atchafalaya Basin — some residents flooded out, farm land inundated — but for the most part, the state is dry and ready to welcome visitors.

Jack and I accepted that invitation and traveled from Shreveport in the west to New Iberia in the south, east, crossing the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge and north along the river to St. Francisville before recrossing the Mississippi and circling back toward home. Everywhere we went we listened to people bemoaning the fact that prospective tourists were canceling reservations because of the flooding. Do yourself — and Louisiana — a favor and go visit. They need the tourist dollars and you’ll have a great time.

We spent a good part of our trip in Lafayette attending the Central States Chapter meeting of the Society of American Travel Writers. While we were there, we learned a lot about Lafayette and — thanks to a photo competition — I think I learned something about telling a good travel story.

Nine of us — travel writers and/or photographers — arrived at the meeting early to participate in the Photo Shootout. We were chauffeured around town from 5-10 p.m. on Tuesday and from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. the next day. We had until 9 a.m. Thursday morning to choose 10 photos to submit for the contest. No fancy Photoshopping was allowed — just basic cropping, minor lightening or darkening, and contrast tweaking were acceptable. We entered each picture in one of five categories: Local Culture, People, Action, Nature or Sense of Place. Thinking about these classifications helped me think about the story I want to tell about Lafayette.



Local Culture

Lafayette is the heart of Cajun country. In the 1700s, French settlers in eastern Canada and northern New England — an area referred to as Acadia — were expelled by the British. It’s a long, sad story — the Anglo equivalent of the Trail of Tears. Many, knowing that there were French settlements in Louisiana, made their way to this area. The name “Acadian” for these people was eventually corrupted into “Cajun.”

These family oriented, Catholic re-settlers stuck together. Poor, they lived off the land. Though times have changed along with the fortunes of many of the descendants, the culture remained strong and is evidenced in the language, food, religion and music of the region.

I’m not sure which pictures will accompany this article in print, but you can find more photos at www.edmondsun.com. In my portfolio, I chose a picture of the beautiful St. John’s Cathedral to symbolize the strong faith of the people of this city.

Another photo which captures an important element of the local culture is of Dana Cormier. She owns Best Stop — a roadside meat market that specializes in Cajun delicacies. We stopped here on a culinary tour to sample her homemade boudin. Boudin is a pork, rice, onion, green peppers and seasoning mixture that is stuffed into a casing, like a sausage. Everyone has an opinion about boudin — a rule of thumb is “the best boudin is made within 5 miles of where you grew up.”

Boudin expert Dr. Robert Carriker told our group that boudin is evaluated on several criteria — balance of rice to meat, crisp or flexible casing, spicy or mild flavor, long or short grained rice, chunky or smooth texture, and more! People here take their boudin seriously!



People

I thought Oklahomans were friendly, but let me tell you, we have been out-friendly ed! Not only did I never meet a surly person, everyone here went out of his or her way to be friendly. And no one refused to be in a photo. The lovely lady with the amazing tattoos welcomed us to the Blue Moon Saloon. A combination guesthouse and music venue, this is one of the most popular spots for listening — and dancing to — roots music. We also visited the local farmers’ market where I took lots more fun photos.



Action

What to do and where to go in Lafayette? Action is all around whether it’s a chef flaming rum sauce to pour over bread pudding, kids playing in the fountains at a downtown park, or free evening concerts where moms, pops, kids and grandparents get up and dance. Fishing, kayaking, canoeing, boating and bird-watching are all popular activities around Lafayette.



Nature

A trip to Lake Martin where we met up with Cajun Country Swamp Tours gave us a chance to see a lot of nature up close and personal. Alligators abounded. We also spotted herons, egrets and roseate spoonbills. And we got to watch the sun set over the swamp.



Sense of Place

Nowhere will you find a community more tied to the church than Lafayette, but few places party better than Lafayette. Mardi Gras is a big deal here and a tree lavishly hung with Mardi Gras beads pays tribute to the party all year long.

So what did the photo shoot tell me about Lafayette? It’s a place characterized by good faith, good friends, good family, good food and good fun. And it’s just waiting to welcome you to the celebration.



ELAINE WARNER is an Edmond resident.