Mardi Gras Tour of South Louisiana

It is amazing how much you can do and learn in 24 hours! I love that I am learning so much about Louisiana; the history, its people, food, music, scenery, mardi gras...I'm just taking it all in. Saying that yesterday was wonderful would be an understatement and I don't think that this short post will do it justice...but I'll try but giving a time-line of events.

8am – Breakfast at Southern Spice…didn’t eat anything out of the ordinary

9am – Driving tour of the Charpentier Historic District in Lake Charles, LA

11am – Drove to Eunice, LA

Noon – Lunch at the Krazy Cajun where I enjoyed my first ever bowl of gumbo!!! AND I LOVED IT!!!!

1pm – Stopped by the Eunice Depot Museum where we learned all about the town's Mardi Gras traditions. It sounds like so much fun and not at all the traditional form of the celebration that I envision in my head. Their Mardi Gras day is spent in the countryside, many on horseback, in home-made costumes and screen masks. I would love to celebrate with them and think I need to start a petition for the state to declare Mardi Gras an official state holiday so that I can go join in on the fun & festivities.

2:30pm – A quick stop at the Cajun Music Hall of Fame and Museum

3pm – Went to the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center for a Cajun jam session with a band and a cooking demonstration. I tried boudin for the first time even (I’d never even heard of it before) – it was alright, but I’m not going to be craving that anytime soon.

4:30pm – Tour of KBON 101.FM music station

5:15pm – Coffee break at Café Mosaic

6pm – Attended Lovesick Blues: An Evening with Hank Williams Sr. at the Liberty Theater. It was all about Hank Williams life with impersonator Hugh Harris singing 26 of his hits…very enjoyable…see below for a quick clip of the show. Oh, and our seats were in the front row!

8:30pm – Hit the road for Lafayette

9:15pm – Checked into the hotel

9:30 – Dinner at the Hilton

I got to my room around 10:45 and was excited to update my blog…unfortunately I wasn’t able to connect to the internet and gave up after 20 minutes.

Today has been just as full and fun in Lafayette…I’ll be posting about today after I get back to my room this evening. We’re already in Baton Rouge and aren't wasting any time.