Louisiana

Dreams come true in Louisiana.

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I'm not OP but I'm very curious about how much french influence there still is in Louisiana and how much that affects the culture. I would love to hear from some Cajuns.

I fantasize about visiting some really backwoods area like Breaux Bridge or Zwolle.

It’s our own little Banana Republic.

Is anyone on dl from rural Louisiana?

I lived in North Louisiana. South of Alexandria is Cajun country. North of Alexandria is a bottomless pit of despair. The racism and poverty are incredible and unlike anything I've ever seen in my life.

I once had a crush on a straight boy from Slidell. He had floppy hair and a cute butt.

South Louisiana is still very Cajun. Go to Lafayette and the towns west and north. There’s some good guidebooks. Every town has a festival and they also still have their own, unique and medieval Mardi Gras. Food is amazing and music is everywhere.

Acadiania is the region to focus on.

I imagine it's humid beyond belief.

Flat, hot and stupid.

Lived in Baton Rouge. Not that exciting. The thing is miss the most is a good crawfish boil. Cajun food is amazing.

My dad is from Buras, the town where Katrina made landfall, in Plaquemines Parish a few miles from where the Mississippi empties into the Gulf.

R14, did you ever visit? What was it like?

Louisiana has several distinct regions w very different vibes.

In Baton Rouge now. Grew up in Chalmette - blue collar suburb of News Orleans,

BTR is the start of the Bible Belt and not Cajun. Mix of Catholics and Baptists. Trump country . LSU fanatics. Small sliver of non Trump fans. Sort of surburban, lots of poverty in north part of town. Lots of AIDS and crime from the poverty,

Chalemtte is like old school Brooklyn before Brooklyn became hip.

New Orleans is always a great city to visit. Lots of personality, amazing food.

Wouldn't want to live there or anywhere else in Louisiana though.

I live in West Monroe

Tell me all about Shreveport.

Biggest cocks I've had! And a lot of them were uncut. Yum!

Shreveport seemed terribly depressing when I went through there r19, and it routinely places as a terrible place to live.

It is Louisiana without any of the good parts of Louisiana.

It’s a complete shithole full of nothing but uneducated alcoholics. That’s why no one cares when they get hit with hurricanes or tropical storms. The people are too poor to move unless they are bussed here to Houston because of a storm. They have significantly contributed to our rising crime rate, and do nothing but sit in their government funded apartments, receive federal checks, and procreate.

Agree about the alcoholism. It is part of the fabric of our lives. Even in BTR, not drinking makes you a weirdo, every social meeting has to have booze.

😈 Home of Marie Laveau

I lived in Shreveport for a few years. It was far creepier than any place I'd ever been. It's even sadder than West Monroe, although it doesn't smell bad (there's a paper mill in Monroe that makes the whole area stink). There are NO jobs and the black and white people openly hate each other. I am what DL would call "white-adjacent" and I was told I "speak funny" and discriminated against in public shops by both white and black people. I had never had that experience before or since. I wore a fake engagement ring so that men would leave me alone (I'm a woman). When I meet people from North Louisiana we look at each other like we share a secret.

At one point Shreveport was fairly well-to-do-- it was a regional banking center and oil made some families in the region rich. The banks moved away I guess in the 80s and there is literally NO industry now. Yes there is fracking but they bring in workers from the outside to live in "man camps" and then when the job is over they leave. The local department store had enough political clout to keep most competitors out, although maybe that has changed. Because there is no industry no one moves in and no local ever moves away. It's all they know and they are fine with things as they stand. I have said this here before but the families that were in power in 1890 are still calling the shots today.

I also lived in Baton Rouge, which is not as bad. The reality of Louisiana is very different from True Detective. I tried watching that series but it seemed to be a version of Louisiana as imagined by Texans. Louisiana is far darker than that series.

Shreveport is a sad case of a once-charming Southern city falling into utter despair because of a bad economy and declining population. The latest blow has been to its casino business, which has lost most of its Dallas-Fort Worth customer base to Indian casinos in Oklahoma. Sad, really, because the city once was a thriving center for the oil industry and was a regional center for culture and arts. That's mostly gone now, but you can see the remnants in its graceful neighborhoods.

I wouldn't want to live there now. In fact, it's not even worth to visit anymore.

In general Louisiana is cesspool of swamp, heat and poor, illiterate, alcoholics. A horrible place.

There’s absolutely no reason to visit Louisiana any longer. Up until a few years ago, we used to visit New Orleans once a year (we live in Houston) but now there’s far too many murders and thefts on the streets of the French Quarter. Actually, back in 2009 I visited a charming bath house in the quarter with a rooftop deck, sling rooms, a hot tub, and inexpensive private rooms. It’s no longer there, long gone along with many of Louisiana’s former charms. When the apocalypse happens, Louisiana will be the slums with people killing and raping one another. So very sad, seeing as the Garden District and Tulane campus are some of the most beautiful neighborhoods I’ve visited. The blacks will burn them to the ground.

I thought True Detective was pretty dark! But the series did not address the prevalent racism, but since that series aired I loathe the drive from BTR to Lake Charles,

But agree about the very stagnant economy. I go exercise at high end studios and so many white women are wealthy but no visible means of employment. I think wealth is just passed down. And then in smaller towns like New Roads and St. Francisville with a vibrant plantation economy pre civil war, the racism and generational wealth is sooooooo strong.

New O sucks to visit now because the crowds are unbearable, it has become a very popular tourist destination. So bars are packed as if it is Las Vegas.

[quote] I thought True Detective was pretty dark! But the series did not address the prevalent racism, but since that series aired I loathe the drive from BTR to Lake Charles,

I guess that's what I meant. I don't think you can depict Louisiana accurately without the racism. I don't mean that in a SJW way either. It's just that racism permeates everything and the white and black worlds are constantly colliding there. I don't like the drive between Houston and New Orleans at all. There's something menacing about the whole area.

What's so menacing about it? (I just drove around Southern LA last month, including a drive from NO to Houston on the interstate and back through the coast/Port Arthur area.) It didn't seem anymore menacing than any other place I've been to. Of course, this is just based on one drive with several stops along the way. Just curious about the nuance I missed.

Just after watching True Detective that flat drive w rice fields seems creepy. As it turns out lots of arrests of child porn users in that Lake Charles area. For those that don’t know, Lake Charles is between Houston and Baton Rouge.

Also Orange and Beaumont in Texas also seem creepy. Nothing logical maybe it is the sparseness , the heat? I think in Orange Texas, there was the crime w the black guy who was murdered by white guys via dragging his body at the back of a truck,

Absolutely Orange and Beaumont are very bad places. I live in Houston and have an openly gay (purse falling out of its mouth) neighbor from Orange that had his life threatened multiple times and was even physically beaten on one occasion. These are KKK supporting Trump lovers who are cut off from the modern world and would slit your throat and throw you in a swamp in a heartbeat.

It's a cesspool of ignorant, stupid people.

I did my best to wipe the whole shitaree off the map. Maybe next time.

^^ I love you Katrina!!!! At least you killed some of those cretans....praying for many more next time! 😘

[quote] So very sad, seeing as the Garden District and Tulane campus are some of the most beautiful neighborhoods I’ve visited. The blacks will burn them to the ground.

This is a very politically incorrect thing to say, but New Orleans has the most ghetto blacks I have ever seen. They are feral.

I know people will be offended by that statement, but it's the unfortunate truth.

Ok, so,let’s think of the positives? Friendly folks? Joie de Vivre? Food?

Other places are worse? Better than Kentucky ? Kansas? Alabama?

Charming architecture ?

I think it's a beautiful state -- even some of the drives on the interstate are STUNNING. The food was fantastic everywhere I ate. And I loved the small towns (like Thibodeaux) that seem to maintain some semblance of their past glories. We don't see a lot of that up north.

What’s West Monroe like, R18? Lots of hot rednecks?

The entire South is filled with truly stupid people.

R38 - there are no more “positives” regarding Louisiana. Those are days gone past. Louisiana and it’s people will hopefully soon be wiped away by a super-hurricane, relieving all of the racism, crime, and incest that permeates that state. No one will weep.

The map map upthread tells the story. There is a big difference between North and South Louisiana. I took both daughters on several campus visits all over the state. My dad’s family has roots in the Northern part (shitty) of the state. I Love Acadiana! Went to a cute gay bar there (Lafayette) for a great drag show. People are superficially friendly there. New Orleans is everything people say it is and more. The racial issues are palpable. My family is multiracial, so it is something we are aware of and discuss. My daughter went to college in New Orleans and stayed in the area after graduation (lesbetarian with GF). The other daughter went to freshman year in Baton Rouge and hated it. I thought it was cute, but dunno if I could live there. If younger daughter (gap year now) relocates, I could see retiring to Louisiana. It’s not as bad as all these queens say, but I’ve lived in other parts of the South before. I would consider Lafayette, but I think I’d have to live in New Orleans. I’ve lived most of my life in California, so I know it would be an adjustment. Go and visit!

The ONLY good thing that EVER came out of Louisiana was the setting for “Steel Magnolias.” We have that film forever, so all of Louisiana should now be burned to the ground and a new community should be started with the border detainees as a sort of “experiment” where we will educate the Mexicans and train them in vocational skills and groom them to be more polished citizens....a kind of “finishing school” before we release them into the general population. They will be tracked and followed of course, with published progress reports to track our findings.

Hunny it's a strange and mysterious place. Weird. Scary people live there. They could take Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and maybe one more of your choosing and just dump them into the bowels of the Gulf of Mexico.

I live in the town next to the woman in r2. I've seen her in public a couple of times. Once at the movies, we locked eyes for a split second. It was scary. The northern part of the state seems dreary to me. It's not as spicy as the south.

I used to like visiting New Orleans for a fun weekend - but now I prefer a weekend in Houston. Less depressing. While New Orleans is going down the shitter Houston is booming. Which makes for a palpable difference in the vibe. And the Montrose has multiple gay bars, good restaurants and easy walk to the Menil. And everything is just cleaner, richer and safer.

R15

I was born in New Orleans, lived briefly in Buras when I was very young, and grew up in Birmingham (my mom's hometown). My parents divorced when my sister and I were toddlers. We've been back to Buras a few times to visit over the years.

It's a small town that's more or less indistinguishable from the others in Plaquemines Parish, a narrow finger of land bisected by the Mississippi that extends south and east about 70 miles from the NOLA suburbs to the mouth of the river. It's considered part of metro New Orleans and has that feel culturally (everybody has the Yat accent).

It's different from the Cajun country along the coast to the west, although my dad's parents spoke French. The biggest ethnic group besides French is Croatian—there are a lot of descendants (my dad's side included) of Croatian immigrants who worked as fishermen, shrimpers, and oyster ("erster") men. My dad was a shrimper until he got too old to work; he still lives down there in a FEMA trailer.

One of his mom's sisters and her Croatian husband founded Bozo's, a locally famous seafood place in New Orleans. Her son (obit at the link), who took it over after she died, was part of a sort of New Orleans Rat Pack that included jazz great Pete Fountain.

R47 - I wholeheartedly agree!! I love Houston and was supposed be here for 2 years and then move back to Austin. That was 12 years ago! It’s so much better than Austin in every way! (Except Hippie Hollow at Lake Travis - I miss that!)

New Orleans has several cruisy gay bars where you can still have "backroom sex", Houston doesn't r47. Depending on what type of fun you are looking to have.

Houston was a surprise on my road trip. Expected to hate it but would move there in a heartbeat if I could find a job. Spent quite a bit of $$ jumping between Better Luck Tomorrow and their sister bar, Anvil Bar & Refuge. Totally groovy place.

[quote]New Orleans has several cruisy gay bars where you can still have "backroom sex"

Not anymore. The dark rooms are now well lit and any, erm, activity will get you kicked out

I live in New Orleans now, and work in public defense. Unfortunately what is said about the black population here is true. I'm mixed and full respect the discrimination that blacks have faced for hundreds of years in America, but the ones here, are terrible.

Seriously r51? Damn according to google looks like you are right. I can't believe Rawhide and Phoenix have been disneyfied. New Orleans is officially over.

Not to derail the LA discussion - but totally agree that Houston >>>>Austin. Austin is a small hipster filled city. Houston is a vibrant, huge, incredibly diverse metropolis. Would definitely choose Houston over LA or any other city in TX.

It being hipster filled is the point for the people who move there r54, they are seeking the hipster vibe.

The Country Club, a restaurant and bar that consists of a historic house and a pool/patio, used to be solidly gay but became straighter over the years. The pool area was clothing-optional and sexy-time central until a woman was raped there in 2014.

R48, thank you for that post. I like hearing firsthand accounts about places extremely different from what I've known.

Is there much Vietnamese influence in LA? I know that's where the 'boat people' ended up after the war..

R48, thank you for that post. I like hearing firsthand accounts about places extremely different from what I've known.

Is there much Vietnamese influence in LA? I know that's where the 'boat people' ended up after the war..

Yep, there's a Vietnamese community in Plaquemines Parish, as well as a Vietnamese enclave in far eastern New Orleans called Viavant/Venetian Isles, where the houses are on the water and have boat slips instead of driveways.

I like it.

Vietnamese refugees settled in Southeast Texas and South Louisiana in the 80s so there is a strong Vietnamese influence. I think one of the reasons I said driving through the region is uncomfortable is because I remember the antagonism to the refugees when they first arrived. By the 90s the KKK response disappeared and the Vietnamese are now well-integrated into the region.

Lordy lots of Vietnamese, even in Baton Rouge, their food and our local cuisine is similar. Fresh and vibrant, we are both family oriented and strong Catholic influence, so they seem to really fit in,

There's a big community of Vietnamese people who were displaced from NO to Houston because of Katrina. The Viet-Cajun food in Houston is UNREAL.

French is still spoken in certain sections of Louisiana, r3. He's a subtitled video of older Cajun and Creole people explaining their history.

Today, they have French immersion classes in Louisiana in an effort to preserve the French language through their youth.

Sister and husband (he was executive with Audubon Society) committed to 3 years in LA. Made two. Conservative, Trump-loving, born-again, sassy, creepy. They had an open attitude, made a few friends, but the anger and obesity pushed them over the edge.

R3 These are young people speaking French in Louisiana (no subtitles). Those familiar with French will notice a certain similarity between their accent and that of Quebec.

R65 here. Forgot to add hurricanes, humidity, snakes, and fried food. My sister taught yoga and had trouble finding a studio space. She was told more than once that it was satanic. Positives? Real estate is really cheap, so is gas.

A French exchange student visited me a few years ago. We took her on a Cajun swap boat tour. So the Cajun wanted toshow of his French , the French girl couldn’t understand any of it. The Cajun language is different than what is spoken today.

About Trump: the Trump love in Baton Rouge and New O is sort of down low in that no one wears the MAGA hat and no Trump bumper stickers on cars. When W was president , those. Stickers were everywhere.

Houston is fun for a weekend but the humidity is killer.

In. New O, yoga is everywhere. And in Baton Rouge. So depends where you are but yoga is accepted in the big cities.

In my day, Houston was a dump, Austin was still a cool little town and New Orleans was the same as now. Houston made a big comeback over the years, and Austin became the Silicon Valley of Texas. I’ve never met a Trump supporter in any of these places, though. Really it’s the group you run with, no matter where you live. New Orleans has quite the thriving SJW community, just like everywhere else with lots of millennials. They only had one confederate statue, with Lee at Lee Circle. They took it down and now there’s an empty pedestal. I heard rumors they may put Dookie Chase, the creole restauranteur, on there.

[R70 ] yoga is everywhere, unfortunately

The blacks in New Orleans are super friendly. I stumbled into a few areas I found out later were considered dangerous last time I visited but I wasn’t even verbally harassed.

I live in Bon Temps where there are dreamy musclehunks galore, many of them vampires or werewolves or shapeshifters! I get fucked constantly.

R73 - the only reason the blacks are friendly is because they want you to give them money. I always give em a couple bucks out of pity. Otherwise they’ll slit your throat or shoot you.

Now this thread is getting racist,

[quote]I love you Katrina!!!! At least you killed some of those cretans....praying for many more next time!

What do you have against Greek immigrants?

Lafayette and surrounds are great for visiting. There are some mighty hot Cajun boys and most are VERY versatile.

Like Jay Paul Molinere, r78?

A shithole.

[quote] Cajun boys and most are VERY versatile.

Cajun men are mostly vers? Is it because of all that andouille sausage?

R79 - damn he’s HOT!! I love that dirty, trashy uneducated look 🤤

[quote]the only reason the blacks are friendly is because they want you to give them money. I always give em a couple bucks out of pity. Otherwise they’ll slit your throat or shoot you.

A friend of mine was walking through the Marigny one evening when a 16 year-old black kid on a bike asked him for money. My friend didn't have any. The kid shot him in the back. My friend recovered, the kid received only a handful of years in prison.

Has anyone ever been to Ferriday Louisiana home of Jerry Lee Lewis?

^^^ yes, it's mostly a AA community

One of my favorite tunes

[quote]One of my favorite tunes

One of mine.

R64s video takes place in my father’s hometown of Arnaudville

The only reason I go to Louisiana anymore is for Southern Decadence. It’s a great time with men from all over the world. You can get your dick sucked and ass eaten on the street countless times by multiple guys. I had so many boys slobbering on my knob that I couldn’t even cum anymore! Great people watching to enjoy as well as the nastiest strippers and dick-dancers I ever met. Take lots of single ones- it’s empowering to see them do almost anything for a couple of ones. They are desperate street trash with a gym membership and no future- my favorite!

R89 ain’t making it rain, but he makes it drizzle.

R90 - for the kind of trash that strips in New Orleans, a couple bucks is more than they make most non-stripping days.

I grew up in Baton Rouge. I left to move to NYC in 1986. My family was there, and I kept ties with some High School friends, so I went back a few times a year since I left, and watched the changes in the city. It's not cosmopolitan by any means, but there is a bit of an arts scene. And there is money. A lot of money. It was a good place to grow up. I certainly wouldn't go back there to live. It's way too conservative and bible-belty. I just spent 12 days there, and was on the lookout for MAGA hats. I only ran into one guy with one on at Starbucks. But I know how much of that there is there. It makes me uncomfortable to know that most of the folks I grew up with, upper middle to upper class people all voted for Trump.

The French, Cajun and Creole influence is still present. Those here listing alcoholism, poverty and AIDS could be talking about any rural part of any state in the union.

This might be a dense question, but what is the difference between Cajun and Creole? I always thought the terms were used interchangeably.

I thought Cajun meant white, and Creole meant mixed race?

here you go r94 :

Cajuns aren't Creole, and a Creole isn't a Cajun. Creoles as an ethnic group are harder to define than Cajuns. "Creole" can mean anything from individuals born in New Orleans with French and Spanish ancestry to those who descended from African/Caribbean/French/Spanish heritage.

Cajuns on the other hand refers to a member of any of the largely self-contained communities in the bayou areas of southern Louisiana formed by descendants of French Canadians, speaking an archaic form of French.

^ Yep! My dad's father's ancestors were Acadians who first settled in St. Martinville, home of the Evangeline Oak.

R95, thanks!

[quote]The only reason I go to Louisiana anymore is for Southern Decadence. It’s a great time with men from all over the world. You can get your dick sucked and ass eaten on the street countless times by multiple guys.

Not anymore (see upthread). Sadly, I never got any action at Decadence, but I saw plenty back in the day. I have a great picture from Decadence 1997 of a guy showing his huge dick as a smiling frau looks on.