Downtown Houma — The Canal Streets

Six bayous converge on Houma, and the city was built around them. The real landmark here is the street grid itself — two-lane avenues split down the middle by canals, with small vessels moving alongside traffic. There is nowhere else in America that looks quite like this. The grid is the result of a city that never fought its water, just routed everything around it. Shrimp boats dock in front of houses with engines idling. That tells you more about Houma than any museum. Downtown Houma is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic district is centered on Main Street and Bayou Terrebonne. Walking tours are available, but the point is to see the canals doing what they've always done — moving through the middle of ordinary life, not around it.