Alas,
when we got to Poupart’s, it was closed for Mardi
Gras (“Fat Tuesday,” or, today), so we ate breakfast across the street at
Starbucks. Today is sort of a holiday
here in Louisiana, with some businesses closed for the day and some schools
closed for the week. We did get to the
festival site in time, and walked along the parade route for about a mile until
we found a spot in the shade. (The day
had started out cool and overcast, but it turned warm and sunny late in the
morning.)
The
festival grounds are essentially in the parking lot of Cajun Field, the
football stadium of The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (The Ragin’
Cajuns). Many regulars have rented spots
along the parade route as it comes into the festival grounds at the end of the
parade. Their RVs, and Trailers are parked
there and BBQ and picnic areas are set-up under covered picnic tents. Some of the set-ups are elaborate and include
music and dancing. Chairs along the parade route barriers are also set-up to
watch the parade as it goes by. Other
groups were set-up in parking lots and the streets along the route. There was also a large private party festival
site near the reviewing stand, apparently for the local dignitaries.
The
parade, typical of most parades we have ever attended, was late in starting,
but once it got going it was a lot of fun.
True to the descriptions we had read beforehand, the parade was family
oriented and neighborhood-based. The
floats and costumes were less elaborate than those in the New Orleans
celebration, and the marching bands were all from local high schools. The people on the floats were throwing beads
and trinkets, just like in New Orleans; we caught our share, but gave most of
them away to children who stood near us, since we still have two large bags of
beads left over from our Mardi Gras
trip two years ago. It was a happy crowd
and everyone was having a good time.
Bringing up
the rear of the parade was a flatbed truck covered in beads that people were
throwing back on it. We learned later
that the local environmental groups were encouraging people to recycle the
beads.
After the
parade was over, we went back to the Cajun Festival grounds and ate lunch
(brisket barbeque sandwiches) and listened to live Cajun music. We also met Elsie the Cow from the Borden’s Milk
Company, a local business in Lafayette, and one that we remember from our early
days on the east coast.
We decided to
wait for the next two parades in a spot closer to the festival grounds and to
the car. There was lots of shade there
which was very comfortable on a warm afternoon.
Many families were waiting there as well, picnicking on the grass. However, when the second parade still hadn’t
shown up by 4:00 pm due to several breakdowns along the way we were told, we
decided to leave. We came back to the RV
and rested before dinner.
Dinner was an
adventure, at Gator Cove, a restaurant recommended by someone at the RV park. Pat found the address and put it into the
GPS, but it was dark by the time we went out and the address turned out to be
on the not-well-lit frontage road of the listed street and not the street
itself. After going up and down the road
3 times we finally found the place, set back from the frontage road, down by
the bayou with a “Live Alligators” sign beside it. It is a restaurant frequented by locals – we were
definitely the only out of state people there.
The food was good – they actually do serve alligator as well as shrimp,
crab, tilapia and crawfish. (We passed
on the alligator.) Most of the locals
were eating trays of boiled crawfish.
The serve them in 3 and 5 pound trays and a lot were being consumed.
Napkins on the tables were rolls of paper towels and a wash station to wash
your hands (either before or after eating) was along one of the walls. We noticed some of the pro crawfish eaters
wore surgical gloves while eating, I guess to keep their hands clean and not
smelling like crawfish when done. Also, when they bring your beer to the table,
they don’t ask if you want a glass. The
place is very casual and a popular place for the locals to eat, well off the tourist
circuit.
Tomorrow it’s
on to Destin, Florida and the beach.
Day 19 Pictures
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