Betty's Lagniappe

Mardi Gras is over but the great times continue here at Betty's. The week after all the parades was typical of what goes on here. On Saturday we went to Cafe Des Amis in the morning and to see the Abbeville Players perform Steel Magnolias in the evening. A few people attended the Cajun jam session at the Museum Cafe in Erath that day, but we opted for a nap and passed on it this week. On Sunday most of us went to Cypress Bayou Casino for a bit of gaming and a free meal and party. On Monday we celebrated a 58th anniversary and on Tuesday Nanc and I did a road trip to Baton Rouge. On Thursday a couple of local celebrities visited the park and on Friday we went out to eat crawfish. In addition to all of this, there are the daily happy hours where we all gather for food, fun and telling tales and lies.

An almost daily point of discussion at happy hour is an ongoing disagreement between Marvin and Betty about the true location of the Heart of Cajun Country. Marvin seems to think it is somewhere along I-10 near Jennings while Betty knows it is right here in Abbeville. We saw this billboard, which I modified a bit, that backs Betty's argument that we are staying in the middle of Cajun Country.

Along with Joycelyn, Gervais, Judy and Bob we were on the road at 6:15 AM Saturday morning so we could get into the first seating for the Zydeco Breakfast at the Cafe Des Amis in Breaux Bridge. As always it was a great time with good food, music, dancing and Bloody Marys all before 10AM. Here is a link to a short video showing some of the fun that morning. If you want a fun time, a stop at Cafe Des Amis for the Zydeco Breakfast is a must for anyone travelling I-10 through Louisiana.

We did a road trip to Baton Rouge to have dinner at Tsunami, a sushi restaurant, with Richard and Valerie. It is on the fifth floor of the LSU Art Museum with a great view of the Mississippi River. Richard has finished the project he has been working on and they are making plans to get back on the road real soon after sitting in one spot for over a year. We have a lot of common interests and always love getting together with them when our paths cross.

When Betty found out that Judy and Bob were celebrating their 58th wedding anniversary it was just another excuse to have a party, so we all gathered in the Louisiana Room for a fun, fun evening.

And what is a big party without entertainment? So the Country Music Association's 1982 new artist nominee, Judy Bailey, stopped by to play for all of us and especially for the honorees. Here is another short video of Judy singing a song she wrote in honor of Bob and Judy on their big day.

Top left are Cookie and Joycelyn, right are CeCe and George at the party.

Bottom left are Joycelyn, Gervias and Betty singing a French song while at left are Dick and Natalie enjoying the show.

Top left are Steve, Wendell & Jim and right are Dan and Merlene who heard there was a big party at Betty's so they came in a day early.
Bottom left are Marie and Darlene and right are Jim and Marvin.

Top left are Jim, Marie and Rick and right is Ruth.

Bottom left are Judy and Cal listening to Carleen as she joined Judy for a song on the right.

Here is Betty on the left with Liz Choate, Gator Queen and on the right with Kristi Broussard, Gator Wrangler from the History Channel show, Swamp People. Check out their web sites for more pictures and information on these two gator ladies. Liz, who lives on nearby Pecan Island, was recruited for the show last season when she worked with Troy because she and her husband Justin had already caught their limit of gators. For this season's series, which was filmed last September, she and Kristi teamed up to form a female team.

Here is everyone at Betty's with Liz and Justin, kneeling in the center. It was great talking to them and learning how they are trying to make the most of this opportunity. They have hunted gators for years and being on the show is just an added bonus. For most of the year when gators are not in season they hunt nutria for the bounties that are paid on these invasive pests that are taking over the bayou.

Here we are with Liz and Kristi. It is hard to believe that these beautiful ladies go out into the bayou and hunt these big dangerous monsters.

Here is everyone with Kristi, center by Betty. That evening we all gathered to watch the latest episode of the show in which they killed a 900 pound gator that was over 13 feet long.

We ended the week with a trip to Big John's in Erath for a dinner of mudbugs. Top left are Wendell, Ruth, Max and Judy and right are Dan, Merlene and Steve. Bottom left Nanc & I are between Betty and Marvin to keep them from arguing about the Heart of Cajun Country. Right are Dick, Natalie, Carleen and Tom. In the center is a rare blue crawdad that the guys in the kitchen showed us when we went to see how they were able to get all those mudbugs on the table so quickly.

This was all in one week and there are already things planned for four or five days next week. This is the longest we have stayed at Betty's and we will sure need a rest when we leave next month.

More & More & More Mardi Gras

On Monday we continued our Mardi Gras adventure with a trip to New Orleans with Valerie and Richard where we saw three of the sixty parades the city had for this year's festivities. We went to the Garden District where the parades begin and where it is very much a family affair. The streets were lined with families and kids so it did not include the same level of debauchery that is found near the French Quarter but it is still a great and crazy time. Val and Richard have been to many parades in the city over the years and know how to get in and out while avoiding all the traffic. We were back in Abbeville and in bed by 11:30.

We arrived in the city with enough time to stroll around, have lunch and watch the start of the first parade from a sidewalk cafe. Here we are with our "seed" beads that we were able to grow into a huge collection.

The first parade, Krewe of Tucks, was a rescheduled event from Saturday's rain out. The krewe takes its name from Friar Tucks, a local tavern, and its motto is Booze, Beer, Bourbon, Broads. The theme of this year's parade was Tucks Gets Culture and, as you can see by the King's "throne," they take great joy in poking fun at everything.

Two more cultural floats were, Velvis, in honor of velvet paintings of Elvis and Michelangelo's David Vitter, which poked fun at the Louisiana U.S. Senator who was caught with a prostitute who reported he loved to dress up in diapers. The citizens of LA still saw fit to reelect Vitter. The pic includes a couple of Velvis want-a-bes, Nanc and Valerie.

The culture of these paraders was from the play, Little Shop of Horrors. All parades in New Orleans are sponsored by krewes and no corporate floats are allowed. The theme and the floats of each parade is different from year to year and next year's are already under construction.

Here are the floats Pristine Chapel and Expelling the Culture. The Tucks had a couple of unique "throws" that went with their theme and were different than any others we have seen. In addition to beads and wooden doubloons, they threw tiny plungers and toilet paper. This was the first parade that we have seen where the whole purpose was to poke fun and we loved it.

The next parade, Krewe of Proteus, has the theme of Egyptian Mythology. Proteus was founded in 1882 and is the second oldest krewe in the city. Their throws include 60 inch beads, plastic doubloons and tridents.

The Proteus floats are the most elaborate we saw. They are built on old wagons that still have wooden-spoked wheels dating back to when horses were used to pull them.

Another beautiful Proteus float.

The final parade of the day, Krewe of Orpheus, was founded in 1993 and takes its name from the musical son of Apollo and Calliope. The flambeaux, who are a big part of this night parade, carry on the tradition of how the parades were lit before electricity. A couple marching groups included the Organ Grinders and the Muff-A-Lottas who both dance their way along the entire parade route.

This year's Orpheus celebrities included Poison's, Brett Michaels.

And Cyndi Lauper. This parade with its musical roots includes many local high school bands.

This train float was one of the most fantastic in the parade. It has several cars with flashing lights and the smokestack on the locomotive shot confetti into the air. Orpheus is famous for its large medal doubloons that we were lucky to get last year. I could have had one this year but it would have meant pushing a little kid and an elderly lady out of the way so I let them fight over it.

Here are a few post parade spectators. Valerie with her Tucks paper throw, Nanc with her glowing crown and the many beads she got, Jim with beads after only one parade and an unidentified reveler, whose face I blurred to protect his identity, laying in the parade gravy. We had a wonderful time in NOLA and have to recommend Mardi Gras to anyone who loves having a fun, fun time.

On Fat Tuesday this group of international travelers from Betty's, Gervais and Joycelyn from Quebec; Jim from Pennsylvania; Marie and Cal from Nova Scotia and Cookie and Jim from Washington headed to nearby Kaplan for a small town parade.

This parade was similar to the ones in Church Point and Scott with many local businesses sponsoring floats and many participants dressing in Cajun Mardi Gras costumes. While the floats are not as fancy or the beads as big, these local small town parades are every bit as much fun as the ones in New Orleans.

Even with the rain out on Saturday we still managed to see six parades and collect many beads and other throws while having a great time and even after attending two years in a row, there is still NOTHING like Mardi Gras.

Church Point Chicken Run

On the Sunday before Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) it was up at 5AM and on the road to Church Point for the traditional Cajun Courir du Mardi Gras or Chicken Run. This rural event was brought by the Acadians when they were expelled from Maritime Canada in the 1700's. It was meant to mock the royals and to be one last feast before Lent. Revelers are lead by Le Capitaine as they travel from farm to farm begging for money and chickens for a communal gumbo that is cooked at the end of the run. Here is a link to the story of the run held in Eunice that is the same type of event but is on a different day. The first formal organized Church Point run started in 1961 with 400 horsemen and has grown into today's event with many horsemen and revelers and then a traditional parade.

Betty, Nanc, Valerie and Lori dressed for the occasion with their own revelers outfits. The morning was very cold as we waited a couple of hours for the festivities to begin. We were at a different location than last year and we were not allowed to cook so we all just shivered together while we waited.

Here are the chickens (guinea hens) that are awaiting their fate. There were many more here than we saw last year. They were released a couple at a time for the revelers to capture.

The event starts with Le Capitaine coming on to the property to ask the owner's permission for all the revelers to come on to his land. Le Capitaine then waved a white flag as the signal for the chicken chasers to come charging across his yard. Here is a short web album showing the revelers running across the yard that was very wet from all the rain they had on Saturday. If you play the slide show at one second you can get a pretty good idea of what it was like for all the spectators.

Here are a few of the many different costumes. Traditionally they do not dress in the purple, green and gold Mardi Gras colors because they represent the royals, but today just about anything goes. I really liked the want-to-be horseman in the top row. The official revelers wore masks that were made of screens. The pointed hats are called capuchons.

The revelers mingle with the spectators while dancing and begging for money for the communal gumbo. They even had a wagon with a band that played live music.

And then the chasing begins. Not one bird escaped as they were quickly surrounded and captured. Here is another short web album that shows the sequence of the chase and capture.

To say no animals were harmed would be a lie, but for someone who has no problem eating poultry and who loves gumbo it was great fun to watch.

Here we are with Richard and Valerie who came down for Baton Rouge to attend the Chicken Run with us. They lived in Louisiana for 25 years and have been to many, many Mardi Gras events, but this was their first run. They loved it.

Nanc with Le Capitaine. As a reveler tried to "sneak" up on them Le Capitaine had to warn him to stay away. It was all in good fun and the Cajun Mardi Gras should be on every one's to do list.

The run was followed by a traditional Mardi Gras parade with many floats and beads. There were only a few floats during the run because the big parade in Church Point started at 2PM. We were tired, cold and hungry so we did not stay for that event.

As you can see we still did OK at gathering beads.

Here is the whole group from Betty's after the run.

The Chicken Run was on Sunday and we had two more days and four more parades where we partied and collected many, many more beads. More entries on those events to follow.

Good Times Continue to Roll at Betty's

As I write this we have sat through eight severe weather warnings including heavy rain, flooding, thunderstorms and a tornado in the area. We survived those warnings and, except for a lot of water everywhere, all is well but this is the second year in a row that most of the Saturday Mardi Gras activities have been cancelled. Oh well, into every life a little rain must fall and Southern Louisiana does need the rain. It's a good thing it doesn't snow here. After Betty's induction last Saturday we got started with the Mardi Gras events and to just have a general good time.

One way that Betty's is different from other parks is that when someone leaves after being here for a while we all gather to say good-bye. In this case everyone lined up not only to say their good-byes but also to see if Jay could get his big (65' + 7') rig out of his site. After hugs all around he was able to get it out with only one person having to close their slide.
Not every day here is filled with fun and games. One day when he was bored, Marvin decided he would show some Yankees how the Cajuns go crawfishing. He dipped his line down a mudbug hole and, as you can see, he was able to land a big one.

We went to Breaux Bridge to have dinner at the Cafe des Amis with Valerie and Richard. We first met them at RV Boot Camp in 07 and have crossed paths several times in our travels. Richard is finishing up a project he has been working on in Baton Rouge so they will be on the road again soon. We had a great evening getting caught up.

Our first Mardi Gras parade was in Scott and as happened last year they were very generous with the beads. This is a great parade as you can get up close to the floats. Here are Nanc, Bob, Judy and Cookie begging for more beads.

Left to right; Linda, Cookie, Jim G, Lynn, Richard, Vickie, Jay and Lori all had a great time and collected a lot of beads.

Marie showing off her booty.

Let the beading begin.

Another evening 21 people from Betty's went back to Big John's for more mudbugs. As you can see we all got our fill.

This was the first time Joycelyne and Gervias had eaten crawfish and they loved them.

Claudia, Eddie, Joycelyne, Gervais, Nanc and Marie preparing thier dipping sauce while they wait for their bugs.

One thing we really love when we come to Betty's is the music and one of our favorites is when Judy Bailey comes to the park and plays. This year she was accompied by Gerald (left) and Dave. Everyone packed into Betty's Louisiana Room for a great evening of fun, food, great music and dancing.

Joycelyne and Eddie doing the two step.

Judy brought a real smile to Tennessee fan Wendell's face when she played Rocky Top.

Betty's neice Monica joined the band and did a great job with a couple of songs.

After a couple of beverages even I got on the dance floor. It was another wonderful evening of fun at Betty's.