Morgan City sits on the Atchafalaya River in southern Louisiana, on US 90 between New Orleans and Lafayette. It is a working oil-and-shrimp town with a claim to fame: the world’s first offshore oil well was drilled from a platform in the Gulf of Mexico here on 14 November 1947, by Kerr-McGee. The offshore oil industry that now circles the globe started in Morgan City’s backyard. The restored Southwest Reef Lighthouse, once mounted on iron legs in the Gulf, stands on the waterfront as a reminder of the maritime era that preceded the oil boom.
The town’s other big event is the annual Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival — an unlikely pairing that makes perfect sense here. The Atchafalaya Basin, North America’s largest river swamp, surrounds the city and offers excellent fishing, birding, and swamp tours through cypress forest teeming with alligators and wading birds. The Cajun culture and food that define this part of Louisiana are well represented in Morgan City’s restaurants.