Small Town Cajun Louisiana

Our travels took us to a couple of small towns in Cajun Country which are known for their music. Eunice is home to the Cajun Music Hall of Fame and is Cajun music capital of Louisiana.

We toured the Hall of Fame and were told about the first Cajun recording ever made. It was done by Joe Falcon and his wife Cleoma Breaux Falcon, along with Lionel Leleux. The song was "Allons a Lafayette" and was recorded in 1928.

The town of Eunice was named after the wife of the founder C. C. Dunson, who had also founded the town of Crowley. The town was started on Sept 12, 1894.

Eunice also has the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve in town, which contains a museum on the history of the Cajun culture. I was a little disappointed that there were no pirates to be found, but the history was very informative.

About 20 miles east of Eunice is a town called Opelousas. It is known as the Zydeco capital of Louisiana. The town has several period houses in its historic downtown. Ward and I did a walking tour of the downtown district collecting photos of several houses.

One of the houses on the walking tour was the Veazie-Pavy Home, built in 1905. It was built in the Queen Anne Victorian style and had hammered aluminum frescoes in the gables. The home was built at a cost of $5,000.

There were three dimentional violin sculputures lining one side of the courthouse, each with a unique paint job.

The next street over were several more painted violins, which were flat pieces of artwork.

Ward and I were hoping to take in some of the local music either in Eunice or Opelousas, but they only had live music Friday nights and Saturdays. We had plans for Saturday, so were unable to stay in the area to get a taste of Cajan music, much to our disappointment.

On the way out of Opelousas we made a quick stop at the Donut King in the same parking lot as the Visitor Center. We were told they had beignets and took the opportunity to get some beignet while we had the chance. It was not Cafe du Monte, but was still wonderful.

Boudin, check.
Beignet, check.
Historical Districts, check.
Painted Fiddles, check.