The alarm was set for this morning’s special breakfast, but we didn’t need it, a storm rolled through early and did the honours. After that, sleep was a lost cause. Matthew picks up a book by the bedside and sees it written by our host, and enjoys filling in the time soaking it up.

We do keep ourselves across the time as our ‘special breakfast’ is down at a place called Buck and Johnny’s and each Saturday morning they host a Zydeco breakfast. Zydeco is a Louisiana-born music style that makes your feet move before your brain catches up – a kind of two‑step with a Cajun heartbeat. We head down to find there is a queue outside. This place is well renowned for this Saturday morning frivolity, so we join the queue of revellers and soon get to meet Otis and Jerry. Otis and Jerry are so Southern they could be cast in a documentary about it. Jerry soft‑spoken and sweet, Otis ready with a story before we even finish saying hello. He tells us all about how he ended up in the South and falling in love Zydeco music and dance. There are a lot of cowboy hats around, Otis included, and people of all ages and demographics showing up to experience this morning’s event.

Now the place doesn’t look much from the outside but the magic is all inside. I’m glad we got there early and manage to secure a table close enough to the action, but far enough away we can take in the full atmosphere. Our table has 2 extra seats and Otis and Jerry ask if it’s ok to join us, which of course we say yes.

We are approached from all kinds of people, some cause they heard our accents, a couple of people to compliment me on my outfit, and one more to talk about my tattoos. There were 2 seperate people tell us they have family in Australia, who both live in Mackay, Queensland.

A group of guys walk out who look like they’re about to drop a rap album… and then I realise they’re the band. What follows is pure, unfiltered joy! This music cannot really be described, but if I tried it felt like jazz, mixed with country mixed with blues and rock and roll. A combination that should not work, yet absolutely does.

My cheeks hurt from smiling as I watch all walks of life hit the dance floor. There’s a 78 year old guy living his best life with a t-shirt that says “the party has arrived”. He wasn’t wrong as he worked the dance floor and the room (you can catch him in the video in the red shirt further down). Cocktails are being served along side breakfast and so I enjoy a mimosa and some beignets. I wasn’t quite ready for anything to strong, unlike our new friend Otis who’d announced he wasn’t really a drinker, but returned from the bar with a whiskey neat, and throughout breakfast was finishing his 3rd as we were leaving.

I never expected to say this in my life, but I witnessed a washboard solo that genuinely moved me. These guys are incredible. You cannot help but move, tap your feet, smile and soak in the atmosphere.

Between the washboard, the Cajun accordion and the other talented musicians, this has been such a wholesome and special experience. Sadly we are needing to go, and farewell our friends, thank the staff and go back to pack up our stuff ready for the next part of our adventure today. I look at the clock and it’s on 10am!

While packing the car Yvette pops her head out to say farewell. Matthew tells her he read her book this morning, which her immediate response is run back inside and gifts another one she wrote to him. We hug, and she tells us we must come back. I wish I could promise we would – the world is big, and we’re greedy travellers – but goodness, she makes it tempting.

Now something Yvette had told us about was Festival International, a huge free music event happening this weekend, and she is playing at, where Lafayette shuts down all the roads and it turns into a massive party. Artists from all around the world come to perform, and given we need to pass some time before we check into our next stop, we head off in search of some more music fun!

A bit of research uncovered the local university offers parking for a small fee and the City of Lafayette provide free shuttle buses right to the doorstep of the festival. Given the event is celebrating it’s 40th year this year, it’s safe to say they run like a well oiled machine. We park and are immediately shuttled off. It’s not even 11am and I’ve already had three outfit compliments. By the end of the hour, I’m up to six. Was it the colour? The cut? The fact it cost $10 at Best & Less? Who knows, but I’m wearing it again.

As we weave through the closed off streets we can’t help but notice there’s not a ‘type’ for this festival. Parents and kids, groups of teens, older couples with walking sticks and mobility scooters, all genders, colours. It’s absolutely amazing. 5 stages spread out, cafes and bars selling drinks out of their windows out front, food trucks and portable toilets around every corner. We popped over to a stage that promised a Youth Orchestra. I was anticipating some Mozart, perhaps a crowd pleasing pop song. We were absolutely gobsmacked to hear them playing country music, complete with foot tapping. It was a cool spectacle. We only spend about an hour and a half walking around as we have heard from our next AirBNB host our accomodation will be ready a couple of hours earlier, so we grab a bite to eat, soak up the last bit of atmosphere.

New Orleans (NOLA) is calling us now, and this will be our one and only big city stop. If you’re in the south, you really just have to do it. The love bugs are still… loving… so our windscreen looks like a crime scene again. Then we hit a stretch of highway so uneven it felt like a theme park ride, not unsafe, just unintentionally entertaining.

We make good time, even after taking a more scenic route to steer clear of the bigger highway of the two into NOLA, and also to make another necessary Walmart stop. Once we roll into our accomodation, we walk in and are so incredibly impressed with our selection. It was very French and as stunning as the pictures, and complete with a complimentary bar – which just so happens to stock one of my favourite tequila brands.

While Matthew gets the washing on, I start on some dinner research, which is both easy and hard. We aren’t staying right in near the French Quarter, but chose to be out in the suburbs, but there are so many options not far from here. With a decision to hit a local joint called Dat Dog, which gives us some time to unpack, chill out, put our feet up after our busy music filled morning.

Arriving at Dat Dog we are greeted by Chloe who’s working the bar and the counter with the kind of grace and calm we soon learn is her baseline. She’s a sweetheart and so super friendly. We also have another regualr at the bar. His name is Edwin (or Edward – Matthew and I can’t agree on what we heard when introduced) and has been there for a number of years apparently – or obviously if you check out the picture we snapped of him below.

Between the sliders, hotdog and tater tots we ordered, we learned Chloe grew up here, moving from LA when she was 5. Her French mother had moved to the USA as a 13 year old and eventually moved to NOLA with Chloe and her sister. Her mum has recently opened up a bar just of Bourbon Street, which we may even check out tomorrow. Our only Aussie education we gave Chloe tonight is that we call tots potato gems and she agrees that name is so much nicer and decides to call them that from now on.

And with that, another day of music, magic and unexpected characters comes to an end. Tomorrow has big shoes to fill, but down here, anything feels possible.

Missed a day? Catch up here!