Sea to shining sea part 4

Feb 13

Duson, Louisiana and the “Frog City” RV Park. Not sure why it’s called Frog City. We never saw a frog. Duson is a suburb of Lafayette.

After the long drive we were tired so we stayed home and barbecued Mahi Mahi for dinner.

Feb 14 (Valentine’s Day)

Jerre coerced Stan into making sure Valentine’s Day would be special! Soon after we arrived on Friday, Rob and Stan went off to get a new battery for Stan’s car and while they were gone they conspired on what to do for Valentine’s Day.

So, after mulling over, breakfast in bed versus going out we decided to go out. We had planned to go to the Savoy Music Center in Eustice sometime between 9 am and 12 pm. Saturday mornings during this time is a jam fest of local Cajuns playing, what else, Cajun music. With breakfast out now in the plan we headed over to Eustice to find an open café. Ronnie’s Cajun Café fit the bill. The crowded parking lot told us it was either a popular place or the only place. Might have been both. No hostess to seat us and no clean open tables. One table had just been vacated so we claimed it. Since no one seemed to mind that we were standing around a messy table, I picked up a few of the dishes and deposited them in the appropriate tub a few tables away. As soon as I did that, a gentleman at the next table brought the tub over to us and started clearing the table. Then he grabbed a wet rag and wiped off the table. I asked him if he worked there and he said he didn’t but he knew the owner. Soon enough the waitress came over with place settings and took our order. It was worth the wait and we weren’t at all displeased with having to clear the table ourselves. Had we not claimed it we might still be waiting for a table. It was a very popular café.

Next stop was the Savoy, another popular Saturday hangout. The center was established by Marc Savoy in 1966. As a young boy (in the 1940’s) he became enthralled with the accordion. His interest grew from playing to repairing to building accordions. His hand built accordions were so popular he moved his workshop from his father’s outdoor kitchen to the current location. A Cajun tradition among the farming people was to go to town on Saturday’s to pay bills or shop. The shop owners would have coffee available along with doughnuts, boudin or cracklins. The atmosphere was friendly and conducive to neighbors meeting neighbors and exchanging information on farming techniques, etc.

Marc Savoy wanted to provide the same kind of environment at the Savoy. Saturdays were considered non-work days for the Cajuns so a few customers would drop by, have a cup of coffee and play a few tunes on store instruments. Word soon got out and slowly the tradition was born. Every Saturday morning from 9-12 is a Cajun jam session. We arrived mid-morning to cars lined up and down the highway for blocks (only there are no blocks). This is a big room with chairs set up in a circle for the musicians and chairs set up in rows for the audience. It was standing room only and elbow to elbow at that. The oldest musician was a 93 year old gentleman playing the fiddle. His daughter joined him after a few sets and sang along with the group, in Cajun. There were some performers sitting in with the audience. These are from the younger generation, not from age so much as from musical experience. The inner circle is reserved for the older generation. Almost all in the inner circle have been playing for decades.

For a time, Cajuns felt ostracized for not becoming “Americanized”. Much of their history was being lost as younger generations grew up. The Newport Jazz Festival in 1964 helped to change all that. Cajun music and history became popular with news media which led Cajuns to see their heritage as an asset rather than a stigma. Cajun culture is very much alive in this region of Louisiana, although French is not generally learned by the youth of today.

The bass player is one of the "kid"s. I really liked his bass design.

The man in the middle is 93 and plays every Saturday. The gal in

                                        blue is his daughter.

After spending an hour or so listening to the music, we went sight seeing. Rice farming is prevalent, however, the fields had already been harvested. Instead, now many of the fields are used for crawdad farming. The fields are flooded for the rice and remain flooded for the crawdads. Crawdads are freshwater crustaceans and look like small lobsters. They thrive in swamps, ditches, streams and rice paddies, all of which are abundant here. Louisiana produces about 95% of crawdads harvested in the U.S. We stumbled upon a field being harvested and went to investigate. I think we intimidated the laborer with our questions, but he was a good sport and showed us his haul for the day.

The boat he's on is flat and is propelled by a paddle wheel. He moves around the rice paddy picking up traps.

Crawdad trap in a rice paddy.

Crawdad "chimney".

Because the water table is so high here crawfish “chimneys” are seen everywhere. Lawns are dotted with them. The water table is also responsible for burials being above ground level.

Private graveyard for a prominent family.

After the big breakfast and gumbo planned for dinner we decided not to have lunch. However, we hadn't had any boudin yet. Billy's Boudin was just down the highway and reputed to be the best around. Billy's is not much more than a deli counter with fried everything and clerks working as fast as they can to fill orders. There are a couple of tables, if you want to eat in, but most everyone was ordering take out. The line wrapped halfway around the building when we joined it. We picked up a couple of pounds of frozen boudin for later and some Billy's Balls for eating now. They are a battered meatball made of boudin and seasoned rice then deep fat fried. Delicious!

Stan has some pseudo-relatives in Lafayette and we were invited for dinner afterwards we would attend a Mardi Gras parade. We were picked up and chauffeured to dinner of chicken and sausage gumbo. It was delicious and very filling!

Mardi Gras season actually begins on the Christian event of the Epiphany, traditionally January 6 and ends on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Parades can be scheduled throughout the season and are frequent in New Orleans. In Lafayette there was a parade on Friday night, as well as Saturday, Sunday, Monday and the big one on Fat Tuesday. The parade on Saturday was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. We lingered through dinner and finally headed for the tail end of the parade about 7:30. Stan’s pseudo relative has an office on the parade route where we parked and waited for the parade. At least an hour later the bands and floats appeared. The first band provided a show in front of us and played quite well (this coming from a prior marching band member - me!) The succeeding bands were dragging and lagging, not in formation and not holding their instruments up. I guess they were tired. The parade route was only 2 ½ miles (isn’t the Rose Parade is 5?), but it the parade didn’t hit our location for at least two hours. The purpose of the parade seems to be to hurl strings of beads and moonpies as hard as possible to the audience. Jerre was beaned on the noggin and is sporting a small abrasion. By the end of the parade bags of beads were being thrown. We came away with plenty of beads.
This band did a little routine in front of us.

Prancing along despite being tired and cold.

Feb 15

Under Mobile Bay

The light at the end of the tunnel

Another bright and early and long drive to Foley, Alabama and the Elks Lodge. Dinner out at a restaurant recommended by Stan and Jerre as one of their favorites. Royal Reds on the menu!! (These are giant Gulf shrimp.) We ordered an appetizer to share. They arrived whole, head and tail still attached and they were delicious. Tomorrow we’ll go in search of some in the market. They’re expensive, but worth it.

Feb 16

Rain is forecast. Jerre and I walked over to the outlet mall, across the street for some exercise while Rob and Stan went in search of a suitable fuel station to fill up the coaches when we leave. Lunch at Tacky Jacks on the back bay in Orange Beach for Bushwackers and something to eat. A Bushwacker is a frozen rum drink. Tastes like a milk shake. Rob and I shared one. Back at the coach, the sky is darkening and rain is expected tonight. Maybe the coach and car will get a little cleaner.

While we were dining, a young man, wearing a wetsuit, was performing outside the restaurant on some kind of contraption that lifts him out of the water. Even with the wetsuit he must have been freezing.

Feb 17

Officially Mardi Gras. Today is King’s Parade. We will not be going. The crowds are incredible!

We had a gentle rain last night and this morning it’s foggy, but more rain is not expected. The temperature at 8 am was 33° with a slight breeze making it feel colder.

Pushing on to Florida tomorrow.