Saturday, February 13, 2010

We have a lovely, sunny day for our drive to Creole country in Lafayette, LA, making our way over miles of mossed draped bayous and swamps. We arrived at the Frog City RV Park in the early afternoon. How lucky were we ending up in the Frog Capital of the world (so they say)? I never saw any frogs except on my plate and they were delicious, I must say! As soon as we unhooked and got settled, we were on our way into Lafayette to find the parade route for our first Mardi Gras. We easily found a good spot for our chairs and walked around taking in all of the local sights. We met a friendly family next to us who filled us in on all the local traditions. The Grandmother, in her eighties, was born and raised in New Orleans. She told us where to go and not to go when we go to N’Awlins for Mardi Gras. She whispered to me that this parade is “rinky-dink” compared to the parades in New Orleans. We were thrilled to see the floats come rolling by and the beads being thrown our way.

We realized quickly that we had better keep our heads up or we might get whacked in the head; some of the beads are honkin’ huge. When the parade is over, our new friend and very sweet lady gave me her prized beads: the Bonaparte Krewe medallion because it was my first Mardi Gras. We haul a hefty bag back to the car and make our way back to the RV Park.

On Sunday, we relaxed in the sun in the morning and checked out the Mardi Gras Festival at the Cajun Dome. Along the way, we spotted a little market selling crawfish. We bought 3 pounds and had a feast on their picnic table. They had a little cajun bite but were delicious. We decided to take in an afternoon movie, Dear John, at the local theater. After the movie, we did a search for the famous Mulate’s restaurant in Breaux Bridge, LA featuring Cajun cuisine and Zydeco music. It was packed and the dance floor was full of smiling people doing the two-step. Picture the jitterbug with a bit of a bounce, but only faster. These old folks had to be in good shape to move like they did. It was fun to watch and listen to the music. Many of the locals were speaking Cajun French, an integral part of the local Acadian culture. Of course, we had to sample the specialties of the area: catfish, gumbo, and frog legs. Yum! It amazed us how you can travel a few hundred miles into a new state and become immersed into unique and different culture. We truly were able to experience what they call the “joie de vie”( joy of life) and loved it.