Come Christmas on the Cajun Coast!
Celebrate Christmas in a place that knows how to put the joy into any event. Here, we turn everyday events into reasons to celebrate, so you can imagine how big we do the holidays! We’ve already put up the lights and the mistletoe, and Père Noël has readied his Cajun sleigh with eight, tiny gators, so we are ready for company!
Enjoy The Most Wonderful Time of the Year on the Cajun Coast! Along with traditional Christmas tree lightings, caroling and live productions, holiday events on the Cajun Coast range from a Victorian Christmas at Grevemberg House and historic tours of other homes and churches to Christmas lights on the bayou and boat parades! We’ve even put together a complete list of holiday lights to make it easy to see all the sights.
Visits from Santa, or Père Noël, may even find him stepping off a pirogue at the water’s edge, rather than a sleigh. In fact, the holiday display in Morgan City at Brashear Avenue – Spirit of Morgan City – unveiled by talented artist Lee Romaire, showcases the Cajun Santa on the shrimping boat in all his glory! Visit the Christmas Events page for all the details and don’t miss a single moment!
Dining on the Cajun Coast is always a treat, but especially during the holidays! Warm up with the freshest of seafood dishes, including gumbos and étouffées, and indulge in Elf-approved desserts, like scrumptious bread pudding with a Chantilly sauce or pralines with local pecans. Check out our restaurant list and dine like jolly old Saint Nicholas himself this holiday season. [
Shops dressed for the holidays, beckon you with local crafts and quaint, one-of-a kind buys, as well as tastes of Louisiana cuisine and cookbooks to bring back home. There are two huge Mistletoe Markets on Dec. 3 in Morgan City and Dec. 13 in Berwick as well. Find a perfect gift on the perfect trip to the Cajun Coast.
Plan your getaway to the Cajun Coast and leave holiday hassles behind! Let us entertain and feed you, and we’ll even do the dishes! And, with a great rate on a snuggly bed for those sugar plums to dance in your heads, you’ll be able to spend more on unique gifts for the whole family! Make your reservations now at holiday rates.
Locals can take advantage of great holiday hotel rates, too! Invite your friends and family to the Cajun Coast, but keep a little breathing room!
Plan now to Christmas on the Cajun Coast!
Come Christmas on the Cajun Coast
Come Christmas on the Cajun Coast where holiday events are magnified with the beauty of the Atchafalaya Basin and the Louisiana coastline! We will treat you to Cajun fare, hospitality, and live music, where joy, or joie de vivre is a normal way of life! Enjoy The Most Wonderful Time of the Year on the Cajun Coast!
Along with traditional Christmas tree lightings, caroling and live productions, holiday events on the Cajun Coast range from a Victorian Christmas at Grevemberg House and historic tours of other homes and churches to Christmas lights on the bayou and boat parades! Visits from Santa, or Père Noël, may even find him stepping off a boat rather than a sleigh. Legend claims that Cajun Santa is pulled through the swamps on a pirogue by alligators! Regardless of how he arrives, be sure to catch Santa and the joy of the season throughout the Cajun Coast. Visit the Christmas Events page for all the details and don’t miss a single moment!
Shops dressed for the holidays, beckon you with local crafts and quaint, one-of-a kind buys, as well as tastes of Louisiana cuisine and cookbooks to bring back home. Find a perfect gift and the perfect trip on the Cajun Coast.
Dining on the Cajun Coast is always a treat! Get warm on the inside with hearty gumbos and étouffées, feast on the freshest seafood from local waters, and indulge in Santa-approved desserts, like scrumptious bread pudding with a Chantilly sauce or pralines with local pecans. Check out our restaurant list and dine like a king this holiday season.
When you get away to Christmas on the Cajun Coast, you leave the holiday headaches behind! Let us entertain and feed you, and we’ll even do the dishes! And, with a great rate on a snuggly bed for those sugar plums to dance in your heads, you’ll be able to spend more on unique gifts for the whole family! Make your reservations now at holiday rates:
Locals can take advantage of great holiday hotel rates, too! Invite your friends and family to the Cajun Coast, but keep a little breathing room!
Make Christmas less crazy – Come Christmas on the Cajun Coast!
Give Thanks!
You love your family, but let’s face it, hotels were made for when family comes to town! And the Cajun Coast has got you covered this holiday season! Take the stress out of Thanksgiving and find your folks a great rate with Friends & Family Holiday Hotel rates on the Cajun Coast!
While you probably have Thanksgiving Day covered, you’ll need to feed the troops good, Cajun food during their stay. Our mouth-watering choices cover Mom-and-Pop spots to four-star, Mexi-Cajun and everything in between. Check out the Eat pages for all the info.
And once your family is settled in, we have plenty for everyone to do! With the kids out of school, you’ll want to occupy their time with high-flying information at the Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum. Just don’t tell them it’s educational!
Let them burn off some steam climbing up the “Great Wall,” a 21-foot seawall built for flood protection, where you can get a bird’s eye view of the traffic in the Atchafalaya River, one of the busiest rivers in the state. The Cajun Coast also features 9 sites on the Atchafalaya Water Heritage Trail, including areas only available by boat. The Atchafalaya Basin is also home to the alligators every tourist is dying to see! While some November days may prove a little cool for spotting our swamp friends, tour operators, like Captain Caviar, provide entertaining and educational tours of the beauty and mystery of the Atchafalaya waters. If you prefer to get a little more up-close and personal, he can provide your needs for kayaking, too, and we have plenty of paddling trails for your outing. And, birding and beauty combine, not far off the beaten path at Morgan City’s Brownell Carillon Bell Tower which features a designated bird sanctuary and has walking paths throughout the swamp, enhanced by the music of the carillon bells that ring every 15 minutes.
History buffs in your crowd can take their pick from grand properties and humble dwellings as well as Civil War sites and awe-inspiring churches, with 400 spots on the National Register of Historic Places in the City of Franklin alone! The Chitimacha Museum in Charenton also chronicles the history of the Sovereign Nation of the Chitimacha on the Cajun Coast.
Our beautiful, historic towns will also dress up for the holidays, featuring lighting ceremonies, tours, celebrations, shopping, and a Santa sighting or two to get you in the holiday spirit! See our complete list of activities for the holiday season!
Grown-ups need a night out as well, and our Live Music listings will give you a lot of genres to make everyone happy. Casino-action can also fill your nights, with Cypress Bayou and Amelia Belle promising excitement, if not always a winning hand! And, we promise not to tell if you exaggerate the size of the fish that got away or fudge your score card a little after braving the challenges of the Atchafalaya Golf Course at Idlewild. But, you won’t need to make up tales to tell of the fun your family had and the thanks you received for hosting your family and friends on the Cajun Coast!
Fest Fun and Finding Earl
Fall, like in most parts of the country, signals harvest time! On the Cajun Coast that also means festivals to celebrate!
Not only will you want to visit the Cajun Coast every weekend in October for festival fun, you’ll want to check out the specials and deals section to get a great rate on your hotel! Plus, you have a chance to win a getaway from the Cajun Coast to New Orleans by helping us spot Earl Egret who is lost on the Cajun Coast!
Our October festivals display a microcosm of our culture on the Cajun Coast. From featuring the Berwick Lighthouse and our coastal history, to displaying our beautiful, historic Main Street towns of Patterson and Franklin with showcase our Dutch and English enclaves within the traditionally French Cajun area, to observing our strong Native American heritage at the Chitimacha Pow Wow, these festivals celebrate culture as well as provide a lot of fun, music and food for an entertaining weekend!
Find Specials and Deals for your weekend stay!
October 5-7, 2018 – Berwick Lighthouse Festival, Berwick Riverfront
October 13, 2018 – 3rd Annual Main Street Festival and Historic Walking Tour, Downtown Patterson
October 20, 2018 – 5th Annual Chitimacha Pow Pow, presented by Keta Group, Pavilion, Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel
October 27, 2018 – Harvest Moon Festival, Downtown Franklin
Not only do we have the featured festivals mentioned, but all types of events in October, from creature features and horseshoe hijinks, to petting zoo antics and even a murder mystery to spice things up! Check our calendar and follow us on Facebook to make sure you are getting all the latest info!
Take a Drive Along the Coast
Take a Drive Along the Coast The fall is such a nice time for a drive. As the weather cools a bit, you might even be able to put the top down as you head to the coast for a scenic byway drive along the road less traveled. 
While the Cajun Coast is likely more known for the Atchafalaya Basin and its Paddling Trails, the 125-mile Bayou Teche Scenic Byway contains some spectacular water views of its own! You can even bike along this route.
The Bayou Teche Scenic Byway winds through the Cajun Coast (St. Mary Parish) as well as Iberia and St. Martin Parishes. As the name suggests, (Teche being the Chitimacha word for snake) it follows the snake-like meanderings of the Bayou Teche with incredible, natural landscapes and moss-draped live oaks as well as more than 100 historic properties, many on the National Register of Historic Places. The drive will take you along areas featuring two, distinct cultures, the Cajun French culture of the upper Teche, and the Anglo-Saxon culture of the lower teche. Stop in at area restaurants for amazing dining and take in cultural offerings in both regions. Along the Cajun Coast, we feature everything from historic lighthouses, historic homes and districts, and a state museum to wildlife, wild casino action and the Sovereign Nation of the Chitimacha.
Find out more and take a drive along Louisiana’s Coast!
Top 10 Water Activities on the Cajun Coast
When temperatures rise, we naturally flock to the water’s edge, and luckily, the Cajun Coast has a lot of water to enjoy! And with an abundance of water comes an abundance of diverse water activities. We have organized them into the top ten favorites.
1. Freshwater Fishing – Fishing spots are abundant along the bayous and trails of navigable freshwater waterways. Fishing tournaments are so prevalent here because of the trophy fish found in the bounty of the Atchafalaya Basin! You can even rent a houseboat and fish from the dock! Don’t forget your fishing license!
2. Deep Sea Fishing – You can take your own craft, but we also have charters, such as Blu Rebel, offering deep sea excursions of a lifetime. You could pull in swordfish, giant tuna, huge snappers, speckled trout or redfish, so catch your limit! We also have you covered for all the gear at local marine and tackle shops, like Ivy’s.
3. Swamp Tours – Local swamp tour operators, like Captain Caviar, provide entertaining and educational tours of the beauty and mystery of the Atchafalaya waters. Depending on the time of year, a variety of wildlife and plant life, and yes, alligators, will be spotted.
4. Boating – With more than 30 boat launches in the area, you can put in your craft just about anywhere. Cruising along the river highway is so relaxing and beautiful! And, if you didn’t pull yours along, there are several rental or charter options on the Cajun Coast!
5. Kayaking/Canoeing – Explore our exotic waterways by canoe or kayak. In addition to rich history and unique culture, the Cajun Coast is adorned with the natural beauty of the Atchafalaya Basin, with moss-draped cypress trees and majestic oaks.
6. Atchafalaya Water Heritage Trail – The Atchafalaya Basin Swamp is the largest overflow swamp in the U.S., containing almost one million acres of the nation’s most significant bottomland hardwoods, swamps and bayous. The Atchafalaya Water Heritage Trail features 9 sites within the Cajun Coast including areas only available by boat, rich historic landmarks, and the beauty National Geographic Traveler noted as “hauntingly beautiful land.”
7. Sunsets at the water’s edge – There is nothing like watching the last, glorious rays of sunshine dipping below the water’s edge in the evening. And we have a lot of viewing spots – from the “Great Wall” walkway atop the concrete floodwall, to Cypremort Point State Park. You can even stay on the water, if you are so inclined. Many of our parks and campgrounds have cabins or sites right on the water, for a relaxing view of the brilliant colors.
8. Watching water birds and exotic water wildlife (i.e. alligators) – With over 170,000 acres of designated wildlife management areas and an abundance of bird and animal life, wildlife viewing is easily accessible along our secluded waterways.
9. Golf – Even our golf courses have the most beautiful, if treacherous, water features! The Atchafalaya at Idlewild Golf Course, part of the amazing Audubon Golf Trail, is also featuring a golf special through August 31!
10. Water parades. Many of our festivals feature water parades, but the Annual Blessing of the Shrimp Fleet in association with the Shrimp & Petroleum Festival each Labor Day weekend, is a magnificent site from the water’s edge!
So, plan on spending the summer on the Cajun Coast, checking out each of the top 10 water-friendly spots!