Crawfish crime: attempted murder on the bayou

This is true: a woman and her child were picking crawfish out of a roadside ditch after dark near Lafayette, Louisana a few days ago. Suddenly bright headlights came swerving toward them and a pick-up truck barely missed hitting them. According to the police (as reported on TV) the man in the truck claimed the crawfish were his–that they had escaped from his nearby crawfish pond. He accused the woman of theft. The woman countered that the ditch wasn’t near his pond and that she was entitled to pick crawfish from a public roadside ditch. She accused him of attempted murder.

It’s clear they take their crawfish seriously here in Louisiana.

I don’t know the outcome of this crawfish crime, but the story stuck in my mind as I drove over to the tiny town of Breaux Bridge, the “Crawfish Capital of the World”. Like many small towns across the U.S. its old downtown was emptied out by the advent of big box stores and now is home to antique stores and cafes intended to appeal to tourists. And once a year they hold their big crawfish festival–which I missed by a few weeks.

It was hot and muggy so I took a few photos and drove back to Lafayette.

This is the bridge that gives this small town its name. See below for a photos of the “Breaux” part of the name

There has been a lot lof rain here and the muddy water is high in the Bayou Teche. I have no doubt that the water in the ditch where the woman was picking out crawfish was equally muddy and probably contained oil from cars, too.

The woman who owns this antique store is a furniture refinisher–she was painting and antiquing that blue-green dresser–and a soap maker. Apparently she is also a notary, too.

Three of the four corners at this crossroads in old Breaux Bridge were two story buildings like this, with antique stores on the lower level. A bank in a modern building was on the other corner

Above, left: The latest generation of this old Cajun family is running for Sheriff. And above, right:The idea of winning a toddler beauty contest and “peaking” at age 3 or 4 is positively creepy. But I guess that’s the South for you.

I didn’t eat any crawfish in Breaux Bridge and doubt that I ever will. While they looks like small lobsters they are also known as “mudbugs”–with good reason. They thrive in dirty water.