I determined from information online that Abbeville's Giant Omelette Festival was taking place the weekend I was in Cajun Country, so figured I’d go check out the festivities. There are probably hundreds of annual town festivals across the country celebrating local produce or some kind of food specialty. I’m not sure the origins of Abbeville’s Giant Omelette Festival, but Cajuns are known for flavorful food in copious quantities so I figured it would be a good party with lots of goodies to taste. What do Cajuns put in their omelettes anyway? Crawfish? Oysters? Andouille Sausage? Although the festival’s namesake was not cooked the early afternoon of my Saturday visit, my understanding is that thousands of eggs are cooked up in a giant pan over some form of heat source on the main square.

Abbeville is located south of Lafayette on the way to the Gulf of Mexico, flat country that I’m sure seems hot and wet and humid most of the year . But my early November visit to the town coincided with bright sunshine, brisk wind, and near record cold temperatures. It felt as though it could have been the Upper Midwest and was absolutely delightful!

I was sort of expecting the Giant Omelette Festival to be a giant event. The crowds, though, were somewhat underwhelming, apparently mostly people from the town and surrounding rural parish. When the band began playing Cajun tunes on the square a few people went out and danced, but it was hardly a mad crowd. Maybe I’d have to wait until later in the day until the Catholic Cajuns to have downed some more beer before the party really got underway, but I left in the early afternoon after my fill of Cajun goodies like Alligator Sausage, Eggplant and Seafood Fritters, Crawfish Etoufee, and Beignets.

I took the coastal route along the Gulf of Mexico almost most of the distance to the Texas border before having to turn north until I met I-10. The area is flat as can be and the road runs between beaches on one side and extensive marshes on the other through some of the most isolated seeming settlements in the country. The coastal living boom hasn’t hit yet here! Considering how Louisiana’s coastal regions are sinking into the sea and the stretch of coastline seems especially hurricane prone, it will probably never be another Florida, regardless of how expensive coastal real estate becomes elsewhere.

Lake Charles on the Louisiana side and Beaumont and Port Arthur on the Texas side of the state line are industrial cities heavily dependent on the petrochemical industry. Between relatively poor economic conditions, ugly flat terrain, and a horrendous climate, this area of the country is probably one of the last places I’d ever choose to live. It’s interesting to drive through and stop in, though, because although it’s part of the same country I know and the same overall shared culture, sometimes this part of the U.S. seems as foreign to me as many of the exotic foreign countries I’ve traveled in.