6 things bayou residents can treasure

YO U N G AT H E A RT 5 fun places for the kids

The Bayou Country Children’s Museum is a fun spot for area kids. [THE COURIER AND DAILY COMET/FILE]

There’s no shortage of fun in the Houma-Thibodaux area for kids of all ages. From swimming to children’s museums, families have a lot of local options. Here are five places in Terrebonne and Lafourche that are fun for the young and young at heart: 1. The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium’s marine research center in Cocodrie offers a variety of programs that teach children about the area’s rich marshlands and swamps and the unique wildlife that inhabits them. They include field trips, boat rides and a summer camp. Visit LUMCON at 8124 La. 56, call 851-2800 or check its website at cwc.lumcon.edu. 2. The Bayou Country Children’s Museum in Thibodaux offers camps, events and other activities guaranteed to delight. Children can learn as they play on a full-size sugar-cane harvester, spot waterfowl from a duck blind, toss Mardi Gras beads, experience a severe weather or fi re simulation or climb aboard a shrimp boat or oil derrick. Admission is $8 per person. The museum, 211 Rue Betancourt, hosts special events throughout the year and it’s a great place to have your child’s birthday party. Information: call 446-2200 or visit bayoucountrychildrensmuseum.org. 3. Check out the beaches at Grand Isle, the summer spot for families near and far. Many own or rent camps along the beach, but you don’t need to do that to have fun on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Grand Isle State Park has beach tent campsites available starting at $18 a night. The park has a 2- to 5-mile nature trail, and it’s a great place to fish, swim or just relax upon the beach. For information, call 1-888-787-2559 or visit the “parks” section of the state’s tourism website at crt.state.la.us. 4. Not much of an outdoorsman? Local libraries not only house some great works of literature, but they also offer family-friendly events like story times, arts and crafts, computer lessons, trivia contests and book festivals. The Courier and Daily Comet publish regular columns and calendars that highlight coming library events. Visit the library systems’ websites at mytpl.org or lafourche.org for info. 5. With water all around us, Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes offer plenty of fishing spots. Kids younger than 16 don’t need a license, though the

adult accompanying them does, and there are plenty of places to cast your line even if you don’t have a boat. You’ll find a list of great fishing spots in this edition of Living Here.

— Staff Writer Dan Copp can be reached at 448-7639 or at dan. copp@houmatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanVCopp.

LIVING HERE: 6 things bayou residents can treasure

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By Keith Magill | Executive Editor Except for a few years working at newspapers elsewhere, I have spent my entire life in south Louisiana. Born and raised in New Orleans, I moved to Houma 35 years ago and have lived and worked in both Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. As we consider what Living Here means, let’s take stock of some of the things that make our place in the world special. This is not an exhaustive list, nor is it a ranking. These are simply a few random things I hope will resonate with you. Here’s to Living Here.

1. Each other

I didn’t know a single person when I arrived fresh out college, but within a few weeks, someone invited me to a family boucherie in Montegut. I remember how carefree I felt as we danced to Cajun music on their carport, the sun setting in orange, pink and purple over the marsh. This family I hardly knew made me feel at home, which is what I call this place now. You hear it from tourists who come from all over for a taste of the joie de vivre they have only heard about. This way of life — a combination of hard work, strong ties to family and place, and joy despite life’s inevitable ups and downs — is so ubiquitous that it sometimes takes an outsider’s perspective to help us understand how lucky we are.

2. The food

The earliest settlers made the best of what they could gather from the land and water around them, and the flavorful cuisine that resulted is now considered some of the tastiest in the world. As children, we learn how to peel shrimp, crabs and crawfish; we know what makes a well-dressed po-boy; and the man of the house is often as good a cook as the woman. We also know that authentic Cajun cooking is less about hot and spicy than it is about the holy trinity — onions, bell pepper and celery.

3. The fl ora Bald cypress and live oaks draped in Spanish moss. Bayous lined with lavender irises, white lilies or purple hyacinths. Fan-shaped palmetto waving in the swamps. And those stunning, multicolored sunrises and sunsets over the marsh, a lake or the Gulf of Mexico. Anyone can savor the beauty of the bayou free of charge. Just stop and look around.

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4. The fauna

The variety of wildlife that surrounds us is breathtaking, and you don’t have to take a boat trip to enjoy it. I’ve seen bald eagles soar over the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway near my house in Houma and roseate spoonbills (pictured) lounge along the roadside in Cocodrie. While driving, I’ve spotted turtles sunning themselves in Bayou Lafourche, great blue heron flying overhead and those opportunistic egrets walking in procession behind grass-cutters to snatch bugs in the tractors’ wakes. I’ve fed bread to an orange-toothed nutria that emerged from a canal in a friend’s back yard, water-skied among the alligators and waded past snakes and eels covering hurricanes that swamped the community. I don’t recommend that last one, but you get the picture.

5. The bayou

Just look at this picture. Or go outside and gaze at the real thing. This is our part of the world. This is the bayou.

6. Coach-O

This year, I’ve added a bonus to my list of bayou treasures: LSU head coach Ed Orgeron. Born and raised in Larose, Orgeron led the Tigers to their first national football championship in 12 years Jan. 13. LSU’s 42-25 defeat of Clemson in New Orleans’ Mercedes-Benz Superdome captivated the entire state, but it was extra special for the people who call the bayous of Terrebonne and Lafourche home.