It’s #NationalAviationDay – Visit Your Local Museum
National Aviation Week is celebrated this year August 15-21. It’s always during week of Orville Wright’s birthday – August 19.
National Aviation Day is observed each year on August 19th. This day is dedicated by Presidential Proclamation to those who helped pioneer aviation in the United States.
Established in 1939 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, this holiday was issued a presidential proclamation designating the anniversary of Orville Wright’s birthday to be National Aviation Day. Born August 19, 1871, Orville Wright was still alive when the proclamation was issued and went on to live for nine more years until his death in 1948.
Two American inventors and aviation pioneers, the Wright brothers, are credited with inventing and building the world’s first successful airplane and making the first controlled powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight on December 17, 1903.
Learn about Louisiana aviation pioneers Jimmie Wedell and Harry P. Williams who formed an air service in 1928 in Patterson when you visit the Wedell-Williams Aviation & Cypress Sawmill Museum (A Louisiana State Museum) in Patterson.
Wedell and Williams became nationally prominent during the Golden Age of Aviation. Although both men ironically perished in plane crashes, their legacy lives on in the memorabilia and planes on display in this collection.
State of the art displays include numerous aircraft and 1930s air racing trophies and memorabilia. The David J. Felterman Theater features and exciting air racing film that visually and kinesthetically transports you to the 1932 Cleveland National Air Races.
While there, visit the twinned cypress sawmill collection that documents the history of the cypress lumber collection in Louisiana. Lumber became the state’s first significant manufacturing industry, and Patterson once was home to the largest cypress sawmill in the world.
Want more? The Plantation Photographs of Robert Tebbs exhibition runs for a year at the Patterson museum beginning August 25.
In 1926, with New Orleans architect and preservationist Richard Koch as a guide, Tebbs photographed nearly 100 Louisiana plantations, including well-known sites like Whitney, Belle Grove, Oakley, Rosedown, Oak Alley, Brame, Labatut, Shadows-on-the-Teche, Waverly, Ellerslie, Parlange, Belmont, Goodwood, the Cottage, Chretien Point, Uncle Sam, Bagatelle, Ashland-Belle Helene, Houmas House/Burnside, Madewood, Rene Beaureguard, Calumet, Hurst-Stauffer and Rienzi.
The exhibition features 43 gelatin silver prints documenting plantation architectural styles from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Because Tebbs also sought out more obscure or modest properties, he provided a comprehensive record of Louisiana plantation architectural styles.
Tebbs died in 1945 and in 1956 his widow, Jeanne Tebbs, sold the complete collection of 332 Louisiana plantation prints and negatives to the Louisiana State Museum.
Cost of admission? Free. Value? Priceless.
#NationalAviationDay
Cajun Coast Collecting Donations for Livingston Parish Flood Victims
The Cajun Coast is coordinating with Livingston Parish Tourism Assistant Director JT Taylor (whose father is a minister at Life Church in Walker) to get supplies to the 100-150 evacuees their church is housing. Additionally, the church is feeding about 200 people per day as flood victims in neighboring homes who have no way to cook are given meals.
Our offices will serve as a collection point for their needs. Drop off (or ship) supplies at our Morgan City office, 900 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Morgan City, LA 70380.
Specifically, they need*:
—bedding (air mattresses, blankets, pillows)
—shampoo
—tooth brushes
—soap
—feminine supplies
—dog and cat food.
—plastic bowls, spoons for cereal, gumbo etc.
—towels
—water
—garbage bags
—Diapers for elderly and infants
—food (non-perishable)
—any medical supplies
—formula, bottles
—baby blankets
—baby wipes
—latex gloves, brooms, mops, buckets, fans, cleaning supplies
From JT: “I know a lot of people are trying to bring supplies to shelters and are being turned away because they have enough. We will not turn you away. We will distribute it to others if we feel like we have too much.”
On clothing: “I can’t speak for every shelter but I know many of them can NO LONGER accept clothing. The only clothing we may still need is XXXL and above. We will still takes kids school uniforms. Khaki shorts, pants and navy or white polos. New shoes for kids would be great also.”
Livingston Parish includes the cities of Denham Springs, Livingston, Walker, Albany, Springfield, French Settlement, Port Vincent and Killian.
*List will be updated as their needs grow.
Shipping from out of state? Not a problem. JT says the kids still need school uniforms and school supplies. Also, most schools were not prepared for their losses. They left school on Thursday thinking they would be returning Friday. Teachers lost their supplies too.
—Khaki shorts and pants.
—Navy or white polo shirts.
—New shoes.
—Paper, book sacks, pencils, pens, note books, folders, rulers, crayons, glue.
—Book sacks.
Fresh Gulf Shrimp: Where to Get ‘Em and How to Cook ‘Em
Any chef worth his salt will tell you ingredients are best when they are fresh – and shrimp don’t get any fresher than when they’re bought straight from fishermen themselves at the dock.
Buyers visiting the boats docked on the Atchafalaya River in Morgan City and Berwick can buy by the pound. Bring your own ice chest to transport them home.
With Louisiana’s fall shrimp seasons opening this month (conveniently the season will be open during the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival over Labor Day weekend) it’s time to start thinking about recipes for those fantastic Gulf shrimp.
Our friends at Beazell’s Cajun Seasoning know a thing or two about cooking and they’ve offered up a few ideas for shrimp dishes:
Cajun Shrimp Pastalaya
Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 pound Andouille sausage, diced
1/2 cup onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup red & yellow bell peppers, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, not drained
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons Beazell’s Cajun Seasoning, or to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1 green onion, sliced
Salt, to taste
Parmesan cheese
2 cups dry medium pasta shells, cooked
Directions
Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Place shrimp in the pot and sprinkle with Beazell’s Cajun Seasoning. Cook them about 5 minutes or until pink, then remove them and set aside. Add the sausage and brown it on all sides and then remove it from pot and set aside. Add the onion and bell peppers and cook for about 5 minutes, or until tender and wilted. Add the minced garlic.
Stir in the diced tomatoes and 1/4 cup water; bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the sausage, thyme, basil and Beazell’s Cajun Seasoning; return to boil, then reduce to medium low and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in your cooked shrimp. Cook another 5 minutes to blend in the flavors. Stir in the butter and green onion. Taste, add salt and adjust Beazell’s Cajun Seasoning as needed. Serve over your cooked pasta shells. You can top this with Parmesan cheese!
Shrimp & Okra Gumbo
Ingredients
1 pound fresh sliced okra or 2 boxes of frozen sliced okra
1 tablespoon oil to sauté okra
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups seasoning blend (onions, bell pepper and celery)
2 pounds of fresh shrimp, peeled & deveined
2 – 3 cups water
1 bay leaf
2-3 teaspoons Beazell’s Cajun Seasoning
Pinch or two of salt
Optional – 1 can of Rotel (some add this for a kick)
Directions
You can either pan sauté your okra in a little oil or bake it to keep it from making your gumbo slimy and stringy. If you choose to bake your okra… spread them out on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with Pam. Spray them with a little olive oil spray and sprinkle Beazell’s Cajun Seasoning on the okra. Place in a pre-heated oven (350 degrees) for approximately 20 minutes or until turning crisp. If you sauté them… place about a tablespoon of oil in a skillet, put heat to about medium-high. Sauté until stringy texture is gone and okra should be a light brown.
Slowly stir the flour into heated oil in a heavy cast iron skillet. Continue to stir until the roux is dark brown. Add the onions, bell peppers and celery. Cook down until the onions are clear. Add your water, bay leaf, Beazell’s Cajun Seasoning and stir well. Once this is mixed, add your cooked okra. Cook slowly for about 45 minutes on very low, stirring often. Add water if necessary. Add your shrimp and cook another 25 – 30 minutes, still on low. Taste and adjust seasonings to your taste. Add a pinch or two of salt if necessary.
Beazell’s Signature BBQ Shrimp
Ingredients
15 large Gulf shrimp
1 stick butter
1/2 ounce white wine
2 tablespoons Beazell’s Cajun Seasoning
Directions
In a medium/large skillet, melt butter on medium/high heat. Stir in the white wine and Beazell’s Cajun Seasoning. Once combined (about a minute), add the shrimp, stir and flip shrimp until done (approximately 2-3 minutes). Plate and ENJOY!!
Your ABCs Guide to S&P
The Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival is the state’s oldest chartered harvest festival, held every Labor Day weekend in Morgan City.
It’s been repeatedly hailed as a Top 20 event by Southeast Tourism Society and the Louisiana Office of Culture Recreation and Tourism as well as being awarded Most Outstanding Festival for festivals of 50,000 and above by the Louisiana Association of Fairs & Festivals.
How do the locals celebrate this perpetual favorite? Here are the basic terms you need to know:
A- Alligator Bites: Alligator bites and all manner of food can be found all weekend at the Cajun Culinary Classic – 25+ food booths featuring traditional Cajun food. No entry fee required.
B- Blessing of the Fleet and Water Parade: Colorfully decorated shrimp vessels, oil industry vessels and pleasure craft are blessed by a Catholic priest as they parade in Berwick Bay. Not to be missed is the breathtaking 
bow-to-bow “kiss” of the King’s and Queen’s vessels for a traditional champagne toast.
C- Craft Show: It’s been around half as long as the festival, and it’s a huge draw with an average of 150 booths selling their wares.
D- Dancing: Non-stop free live music in the park leads to a lot of toe tapping and dancing from Friday through Monday.
E- Eating: What is a Louisiana festival without eating? Part of this festival’s name is dedicated to a special seafood caught all summer off our coast, after all!
F- Fireworks: A spectacular display of colorful bursts falling into the dark waters of the Atchafalaya River. The Hwy. 182 bridge closed to vehicular traffic for spectator viewing. Viewing is also available on top of the Morgan City seawall and Berwick docks.
G- Games: Play games Saturday morning in Lawrence Park because it’s Children’s Day! Field events, races and contests are held.
H- Historic District: The festival takes over the downtown historic district with an estimated attendance of 120,000 annually.
I- Industry: Learn about the unusual name of this festival and the history behind the two industries that came together to form our area at the Cultural and Heritage Expo.
J- Jump House: You’ll usually find one in the Children’s Village, open Saturday and Sunday, along with a fantasy land filled with games for kids of all ages. 
K- King: Pomp and circumstance abound in this time honored tradition where a King and Queen are selected to represent the festival.
L- Lawrence Park: The heart of the festival – it’s where the music stage, Children’s Village, Mass and Cajun Culinary Classic are held. Ask a local where these are located, and you’ll be told “in the park”. This is to where they are referring. It’s located at Third and Frerret streets.
M- Mass in the Park: A time honored tradition. Residents of all denominations gather for Sunday service complete with the Knights of Columbus outfitted in full regalia.
N- Non-stop Fun: From the time the ribbon is cut on Thursday evening until the last note is sung Monday night, the festival does not sleep.
O- Oil: 1967 was the year oil married shrimp and changed the face of the festival forever. By this time, the petroleum industry had firmly planted roots in the area. Despite the annexation of petroleum into its title, the festival was proud to be allowed to retain its seniority as the oldest state chartered harvest festival in Louisiana.
P- Parade: Floats and bands traverse through the downtown historic district Sunday. There’s also a Children’s Day Mini Street Parade featuring the kids as riders Saturday.
Q- Queens: Queens from festivals across the state join our newly crowned queen to celebrate this festival that pays homage to our heritage.
R- Rides: Any good festival has a fair attached, and this one is no exception. Visit the midway for rides and traditional fair games.
S- Seafood: Fried, grilled, boiled – Just about any variation of seafood can be found under the bridge or in the park.
T- T-Shirts: Bring home a souvenir of the festival with a festival t-shirt. We’ve got shirts that feature the annual poster, the “party” shirt, and more. There are several booths selling them at the festival.
U- “Under the Bridge”: This is the local terminology for the directions you’ll receive if you ask where the craft show or the fair are located. This refers to the paved area under the U.S. 90 bridge between Federal Avenue and Front Street.
V- (Children’s) Village: It features a smoking alligator, children’s putt-putt castle, Cajun fishing hole, pirate ship, doll house and more. Free and open Saturday and Sunday.
W- (Labor Day) Weekend: The festival’s humble origins began in 1936 when members of the local unit of the Gulf Coast Seafood Producers & Trappers Association, in recognition of the Labor Day holiday, held a friendly labor demonstration on that day. They were frog and alligator hunters, shrimpers, crab fishermen and oystermen parading in the streets. It was not a grand procession, but it was the first street parade and it celebrated the placid port of Morgan City and Berwick receiving the first boatload of jumbo shrimp fresh from the deepest waters ever fished by a small boat.
Z- Zydeco: Zydeco, Cajun, Country, Gospel and more. There is music for every taste at the Cajun Coast’s largest festival.
Check out the music schedule, full schedule of events and more.
5 Ways to Celebrate Sugar Cane Day
Sugar, spice and everything nice. Grand plantations and sprawling countryside. These are the diverse images evoked by a commodity that means $2.7 billion to the Louisiana economy.
Driving from one end of St. Mary Parish to the other, visitors can’t help but notice field after field of sugarcane, a grass-like stalk that can grow up to 12-feet-tall. That’s because we’re is the second largest sugar producing parish in Louisiana.
The Cajun Coast is celebrating the sweet treat that arrived in Louisiana with the Jesuit priests in 1751. They planted it near where their church now stands on Baronne Street in New Orleans.
On the Cajun Coast, the area’s sugar cane planters were among the South’s wealthiest agriculturists, as reflected by the grand homes built in Franklin and the surrounding countryside.
Most of these magnificent structures still are standing and are well preserved. Franklin’s Historic District is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and encompasses over 420 noteworthy structures.
Two sugar refineries – Sterling Sugars and St. Mary Sugar Co-Op – call this parish home. You may even have eaten some of the sugar they’ve produced. Several candy companies have purchased from St. Mary sugar refineries.
5 Ways to Explore the Cajun Coast Sugar Bowl
1- See more of St. Mary! Drive La. 182 through the parish. You’ll see sugarcane growing or being harvested and you’ll be traveling on the Bayou Teche Scenic Byway. 
This 125-mile route winds through three parishes: St. Mary, Iberia, and St. Martin. The byway is home to two distinct cultures-the French Cajun culture of the upper Teche area and the Anglo-Saxon culture of the lower Teche.
2- Buy sugar straight from the source during grinding season (typically October to December) at Sterling Sugar, 611 Irish Bend Road, Franklin, LA 70538. Phone: 337.828.0620
3- Oaklawn Manor, an 1837 Greek Revival manor is the residence of former Louisiana Gov. Murphy J. “Mike” Foster. The home currently is furnished with European antiques, bird carvings and an extensive Audubon collection, but its history with the sugar industry is extensive.
4- Take a walking or driving tour of Historic Downtown Franklin (and visit Franklin Main Street shops housed in historic buildings while you’re in the area) to view historic homes. Request a brochure.
5- The Franklin office of the Cajun Coast Visitors & Convention Bureau, 15307 Hwy 90 West Frontage Road in Franklin, contains a display explaining the different stages of sugar production from the cane stalk to refined white sugar.
Welcome Dixie Youth
The Cajun Coast Visitors & Convention Bureau would like to welcome the players, coaches, family members and friends of the Dixie Youth 10- and 12-year-old South Regional Majors tournament and North Regional AAA tournament.
We will play host to 32 teams of Dixie Youth players (480 players and coaches) July 15-19 in Morgan City and Bayou Vista.
Tournament play kicks off Friday, July 15 at 1 p.m. Play times are the same in all locations. Schedules are:
—Friday: 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
—Saturday: 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
—Sunday: 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m.
—Monday: 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m.
—Tuesday: (Championship Game) 5:30 p.m.
Games will be played on fields at Bayou Vista Community Center. Morgan City play will be at fields in Complex Park (go to the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium and follow the signs).
Entry fees at both parks are $7 per day per person per park or patrons can purchase a $30 tournament pass allowing entry into all parks for the entire week.
Rain delays or other changes will be announced on smcbaseball.com.
In Morgan City, Central Catholic hamburgers and sno balls will be sold. In Bayou Vista, the fare includes hamburgers cooked by the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, jambalaya, nachos and Frito pies. T-shirts also will be sold at both locations.
When you’re not playing baseball, we’ve got lots of fun activities for the kids as well as live music during dinner for the adults. There are museums for entertainment and fast food for a quick meal as well.
In short, there’s something for everyone on the Cajun Coast.
While you’re here, don’t forget to share your adventures on social media (we’re on just about all of them @CajunCoast!) and add the hashtag #CajunCoast so we can find you!