If your ideal getaway consists of great antique shopping, zesty crawfish, zydeco music, beautiful scenery, and a vibrant culture, head yonder to Louisiana’s Cajun Country. Keeping with the area’s heritage, several dealers specialize in French furniture and decorative accessories, while the rest offer fine country items and a fair share of fine formal pieces. Acadiana’s “antiquing capital” is the small town of Washington, on Bayou Courtableau, established in 1720 as a French trading post. This was one of the areas earliest settlements, and it features over 100 antiques dealers, an Old School Antiques Mall, as well as numerous musical festivals, including Washington’s catfish festival in March, Breaux Bridge’s crawfish festival and Lake Charles’ Contraband Days.

Cajun Country is one of the culturally richest parts of the nation, its lush landscape comprised of Creole architecture in plantation houses and backwater cottages. Also part of the landscape; plenty of museums. The Arlington Plantation, Magnolia Ridge Plantation’s Garden, Starvation Point are all gems. And if you could use some more Cajun culture during your stay, some three hours from Washington is New Orleans, with Baton Rouge smack dab in the middle. Whether you stay in the heart of Washington, or take the slow Southern route from Washington to New Orleans, you’re sure to return from the experience with a spicier take on life.