Blazing new trails

With the hustle and bustle of traffic on the interstate system, most motorists in America lose their sense of adventure while focusing on getting from point A to point B.
In an effort to recapture that sense of adventure, a group of individuals have taken to the open roads to explore South Louisiana by bicycle.
“One of the things about travelling by bicycle is we’re out in the open and only moving an average of about 12 miles per hour,” said Wilson Hubbell of Santa Barbara, Calif. “We get to see things and smell things and hear things somebody going by car at 65 miles per hour with the windows rolled up and the air conditioning on would miss completely. Plus, we get to eat more because we’re burning all these calories, and the food around here is really good.”
Hubbell was part of the group of cyclists that stopped in Ville Platte on Thursday.
While some of the cyclists have been to Louisiana, Thursday was the group’s first time to Ville Platte. One group member, who previously has been to Lafayette and New Orleans, was Peter Roe of Fayetteville, Ark. “I think I have been able to absorb much more information about the Acadian Creole Cajun culture on this trip,” he said. “I knew it was there before, but it was more tourism in New Orleans where they were pumping it up. But, here it’s real, and the experience is much more people-to-people.”
The cyclists who visited Ville Platte were on a six-day bike tour that left Lafayette last weekend. The tour began at the Festivals Acadiens et Creoles. Peter Roe said, “We started in Lafayette, and we’re averaging about 40-miles a day. The first night was in Lafayette, then we went to Catfish Heaven and went up to Poche’s RV Park. Then last night (on Wednesday) we were at Chicot Park. Today (on Thursday), we’ll be at another stop and then go back to Lafayette.”
Gordon Froese of British Columbia, Canada, described Chicot Park as being very nice, quiet, and beautiful. He said, “The vegetation and foliage there is a lot different than what I’m used to in northern Canada. We’ve got big trees, but we don’t have nearly the vegetation that you have here. It’s almost like a rain forest in a lot of the areas here.”
Robert Philipson of Oakland, Calif., said about the park, “It was beautiful and had surprisingly few mosquitoes, which we were grateful for.”
The highlight of the group’s stop in Ville Platte was an opportunity to visit the Swamp Pop Museum to see and hear what makes Swamp Pop music unique.
Museum director Nancy Duplechain said, “When they came last year, it was so cool to see people from all over the United States come over here and explore our little town. It’s great that we have something like this museum for them to learn how Swamp Pop is different from Zydeco and Cajun and what makes it special and unique to our area.”
Duplechain defined Swamp Pop as being “a unique sound that incorporates New Orleans Rhythm and Blues and early Rock ‘N Roll and Southwest Louisiana music.” She added, “It’s like a big gumbo of sounds that we have come to love.”
For cyclists like Froese, Thursday was the first opportunity to experience this musical gumbo. “I don’t know anything about Swamp Pop music,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve even heard about it. It’s fascinating, and I’m enjoying looking at the names of the different recording artists. Once I get back to Canada, I’m going to see if I can find some more Swamp Pop music to explore it further.”
Peter Roe said, “I really don’t know anything about Swamp Pop at all, but I recognize one song.” He said the song he recognized was “Sea of Love” by Ville Platte native Phil Phillips.
Another cyclist familiar with “Sea of Love” was Philipson. He commented, “I’m not really familiar with the Swamp Pop genre. Although, I grew up in the 60s and I am familiar with some of the big national hits such as “Sea of Love.”
He added, “I’m a compulsive reader, so I’m probably going to read every sign in here. It’s a real educational experience.”
Seekonk, Mass., native Donald MacManus said, “I never heard of Swamp Pop before I came here today, but I do recognize it because there were some songs that got on the national Number 1 list when I was a kid like “Running Bear.”
Other group members like Christopher Roe of northern California were familiar with Swamp Pop because of the national exposure in the 1950s and 1960s. He said, “I’m looking at the list up there on the wall, and I know those songs from my childhood. A lot of those were in the Top 40 on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand that I used to watch as a kid.”
Michelle Cortes of Providence, R.I, commented about Swamp Pop, “I think it’s interesting that there are so many stories in the music which I think is a great way to pass down history and culture.”
While the cyclists experienced this unique style of music on the tour, they also experienced the Southern Louisiana hospitality. “I love it here,” said Froese. “The people are friendly and seem happy. It seems like a great place.”
He continued, “I would say the thing I have really noticed all the way from Lafayette to here is just how friendly the people have been everywhere we’ve gone. Quite often we hear about how friendly Canadians are, but I think the people down here are a step above Canadians as far as being friendly.”
Similarly, Christopher Roe expressed, “I find the drivers here have been very respectful. I felt pretty safe because we’re vulnerable when we’re out on a bike. The people here have been friendly. We like to wave, and they wave right back.”
Duplechain concluded, “It’s great that we get to expose our culture to people from all over the United States. We’re really grateful for the tour to come this way. Slowly everybody is getting exposed to Swamp Pop. To see it going worldwide is really something.”