[LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA] — We were on a two day shoot to the Louisiana swamps to get some b-roll footage for a client brand video we were making. We were in the middle of a Louisiana swamp, a boat ramp actually, between two roaring bridges, mirror images of each other and straight as an arrow, disappearing into the distance like railroad tracks.

The boys were setting up their big cinema camera, attaching giant lenses and splaying a heavy tripod. The rhythmic thumping of trucks and cars over expansion joints made us almost have to shout to each other.

I was hypnotized at this place — one I’d found by zooming in on in Google maps — and wanted to get this amazing shot. I took out my big camera. I focused. Click. Focus. Click. The clouds were mirrored in the water, the bridges mirrored each other and in turn the mirrored bridges mirrored themselves in the still water. It was like being in a fun house.

I took out my phone and started to shoot a video (the one above, actually) when suddenly I noticed something in the left corner of my eye, a flash at the end. A ripple. Then disappear. Then a log gently floating across the muddy-thick opaque water, not ten yards from me.

“Uhhhhhh guuuys??? We have company.”

Cross the Gigantic Atchafalaya Basin

The Atchafalaya Basin is the largest wetland and swamp in the United States, over one million acres and stretching 140 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. It’s the great middle floodplain of where the mighty Mississippi used to run in ancient times and where it is today, running between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The basin is miles and miles of impenetrable trees, soaked to their knees in brackish, murky water. And alligators.

One road runs through this whole area. The Atchafalaya Basin Bridge 18 uninterrupted miles of laser-straight Interstate 10, twin elevated highway spans on endless rows of concrete pillars that lead off to the horizon until you cain’t see them anymore.

It’s the third longest bridge in the US, right after the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge, which you also had to also take to get here from New Orleans. So call this a Bridge Day.

There are only two exits: at the beginning, the end, and this little boat ramp to nowhere. The lack of exits makes you feel claustrophobic while driving through the monotonous traffic; the thought of no exit and nothing but guardrails preventing you from going over the edge and straight into the swamp.

I like stuff like this.

Catch Sunsets and Dodge Alligators on Lake Martin

We were looking for a place where we could shoot a sunset in the swamps on our own, not needing a tour or a Cajun-themed amusement park. Lake Martin outside of Lafayette fit the bill. A small lake with the most movie-worthy swampy trees, Spanish moss and clouds to do the trick. They had an earthen fishing pier you can go to for free and take in all the scenery.

The best part about Lake Martin is it is easy to get to. And that it’s a nature preserve. If you’re a birder, you’d like this.

You can take swamp/alligator tours on the lake, with ornery old Cajuns sharing their wisdom. We watched them putter about giving live narration, getting deep into the trees to show off the resident gators in their hidey-holes, most known my name.

Shrieks and giggles echoed from tourists from different parts of the lake.

I’d never really thought of wild alligators before. They were always in a zoo or a controlled environment and fun to watch whole chickens. You’d read about some on Florida golf courses or apartment complexes, making their presence known, but that seemed “not wild”, just Nuisance Alligators.

But standing out on this narrow grass pier for hours — it was hours — waiting for sunset out in the middle of a swamp was a whole different thing.

We watched them watch us, doing their patrols around our perimeter, getting closer each time. It dawned on me that wild means wild and there was a chance one of us could end up the pages of the Daily Mail.

They were just feet from us, within striking distance. Found myself googling “How fast can an alligator run?”

I respect the alligator more now.

My role quickly turned into Gator Patrol, grabbing a heavy tripod just in case. Like wolves or hyenas, you’d be watching one as he got closer, only turn left or right and see a different one sneaking closer.

As the sun started setting, the flatter the light, the closer they got.

Lake Martin is just a gorgeous setting. Every direction you turn, there’s a perfect view. I may or may not have taken 274 more of these type of pics.

It was cloudy for most of the several hours we stood there, glancing at a sunset time app and checking our watches every five minutes. We wondered if this was all going to be a bust, still a dark cloudy blue cloud cover as the time clicked by, the longest minutes on the planet.

And then suddenly the sun peeked out from under the cloud layer and everything changed. We scrambled like soldiers. “Go! Go! Go!” flipping on our cameras like we were under fire.

Stay a Quick Overnight in Lafayette

Lafayette is the biggest city in Acadiana, Cajun Country, and the 4th biggest in Louisiana. It has a cute little downtown, with some nice old streets, some gorgeous houses. The University of Louisiana has a big campus here and there’s the most perfect new little regional airport to fly in/out of (the food is good there, too). There are a ton of things to do around here.

It’s also oil country out here, so you’ll see lots of oil suppliers and oil platform rig services, like helicopters to fly crews out to the rigs, just like in the movies.

Stop in for Amazing Views at the Lafayette Visitors Center

We were looking for sites to shoot — on the fly, just looking at maps and google images for cool “atmospheric” to shoot. Finally pulled into the Lafayette Visitor’s Center thinking we could find info about the area and get some suggestions, but instead discovered a surprisingly beautiful little setting… inside a split between two busy thoroughfares.

For a visitor’s center, it’s pretty amazing little gem, the most photogenic trees, every leaf and pine branch reflected in the still pond. It was like being on shrooms.

Definitely make a stop here. It’s easy and free.

Grab an Amazing Meal at the French Press in Lafayette

Looking for somewhere to eat after early morning shooting early morning things on a Sunday morning, we googled and found The French Press. At first, I thought it might be a little dated, with a 90s coffee reference, but it was actually named after an old newspaper printing shop, complete with leftover press room knickknacks and printing press memorabilia in the most gorgeous set of dining rooms. Huge paintings on the walls and just beautiful decay.

This was one of the best restaurants I’ve been to in years. I would, and have been thinking about, flying back to Lafayette just to eat here.

If you’re in Lafayette, you gotta eat at The French Press. At least once. I’ve thought about every dish we’ve had every day since.

This is the food I came looking for. I wanted to order every single thing on the menu… and we nearly did.

Pay Your Respects at the Home of Tabasco on Avery Island

Many years ago, a bunch of us Chipotle people spent two nights on Avery Island at the Tabasco guest house, hosted by the one-and-only “Mister Paul” McIlhenny who ran the company for nearly fifty years. The nicest guy, ever. And super smart. I have long been The World’s Biggest Tabasco fan, even carrying small bottles around in my backpack for emergency uses.

Avery Island is actually a salt dome, one of several around these swamps. Mister Paul said salt was so valuable during the Civil War that both armies fought over the sale mines and Avery Island flipped possession several times during the war. After the war, Paul’s great-great Edmund, started making Tabasco in the late 1860s and the family has been making it every since.

For a Tabasco nut like me, this is like going to St. Peter’s in Rome.

As Mister Paul said “Tabasco is the biggest little company in the world. There’s only around a hundred employees, but you can go nearly anywhere in the world — from Thailand to Namibia to the Arctic — and find a jar of Tabasco in the kitchen, on the table or behind the bar.” They even are certified providers to The English Crown.

Avery Island is a gorgeous little island, with its own nature preserve you should drive through on a self-driving tour, then stop and load up on Tabasco products or take a factory tour. The whole island is perfectly manicured and like a national park, you gotta come here.

All of Tabasco is made on the island and all the rootstalk is grown here. (Most the major production is in Mexico, but the seeds all come from here.)

“Island” is a bit of a misnomer, the salt dome is surrounded from the swamps by a narrow moat your drive across. The only people who can live on Avery Island are McIllhenny descendants and their kin, plus the long-time workers at the factory who are provided free housing.

And yes, they have gators here, too. These are actually named, like pets.

Stop For Cool Drink in St. Martinville

We were heading back to Lafayette from Avery Island and rolled in the movie set perfect town of St Martinville. A main square with a pristine church and big ole tree and a main street lined with nice little restaurants and shops. It’s right along the Bayou Teche. What more can you ask for? There’s a nice coffee shop right on the main square by the church.

Here’s more info on St Martinville from the Louisiana Tourism website.

The End Result

If you’re curious what the end product turned out from all this running around on a video shoot, here’s the brand film we made about this Louisiana “gas station chicken” institution that was founded right here in Lafayette, now with thousands of location in gas stations across the country. What a blast.

— Last Visited August 2022 —

More Information on Lafayette and Cajun Country

Here’s the TripAdvisor for Lake Martin — 5 stars! Very rare. Louisiana has always had a best-in-class state tourism marketing and the have a fantastic website, they have a whole sections on the Lafayette area and south to Avery Island.