Cajun country: ashrimping we will go!

If crawfish are a local specialty, shrimp are the universal specialty of Cajun country. The closer I got to the coast on outings with Sson and family, the more shrimp boats we saw. Reminded me of my youth, it did. When I was growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, any seafood restaurant worth its salt had its own fishing vessel or perhaps two or three.

I remember seeing the high masts at a distance out at the edge of the word as the boats returned to dock at the end of the day. A line of vessels. Of course, they caught fish as well as shrimp.

Local Jacksonville folk back in the aught-30s & 40s had their own shrimp nets. At that time, the inland waters hadn't been shrimped out, so it was quite possible to get a good evening's meal with an hour of so of swirling the net out from the river bank. My dad and I used shrimp as bait when we fished -- either shrimp pieces or, for a classier catch, live shrimp.

I presume that these Louisiana boats are shrimping in the Gulf of Mexico or possibly the inland waterways.

There were no signs so I couldn't figure out whether these huge nets were drying or whether they were for sale. Probably the latter.

The big business of shrimping.

And the roadside business.

Buying the shrimp for the etouffee made by the Sson the evening of this particular outing. Yum! It's especially yummy when the young folk do all that hard work of shelling and cleaning the tasty little critters.

My Second Anniversary: Today, May 27, begins my third year of blogging. If you're curious, here's a link to my first post, The Pleasures of Strolling. It's been a grand two years. I've leaned a lot about digital photography and PhotoShop. I've enjoyed sharing my small adventures. But most important of all are the friends that I have made along the way. It's wonderful to read your comments and enter into a dialog with people from far and near.