More Change, More of the Same

This week was filled with change at Betty's with many people moving on to their next destination. For a couple of days there were only four RVs in the park.  That did not last and by the end of the week we had many new arrivals to talk with and share travel tales and Acadiana adventures. 

If it's Sunday it must be mudbug day.  This was a first for Ray and Wendy who had never eaten boiled crawfish before.  They cheated a bit by checking out a Youtube video, thus denying us the chance to watch a true rookie experience.  Some of these babies were huge and as usual they were great. 

On Tuesday we were invited to local friends', Dave and Linda, for an afternoon of great food and fun.  Linda cooked a huge wok of stir fried pork, shrimp and veggies with noodles.  Here are Diana, Dave and Linda putting the food on huge platters to be served.  Tom and Linda, two new RVers, pulled into Betty's just a few minutes before we were ready to leave for Dave's and quickly unhooked and plugged in so they could join us.  What a great way to be immersed in Cajun hospitality.  They have already extended their stay.

Dan and Dave sharing a cold one while waiting for Linda's great cooking.

And cook she did, filling the wok with oil to fry several dozen of her homemade egg rolls.  What a great day of food and friends.

Here is Betty with that huge platter of egg rolls.

A big THANK YOU to Dave and Linda for a wonderful day of food and Cajun hospitality.  Tom and Linda, who are in Acadiana for the first time, were totally in awe at someone opening their home to all of us, some of whom they had never met.  Another reason we love coming to Betty's. 

By the time Jim and Cookie left (pictured behind Nanc) their were very few people to wish them farewell and safe travels.  They are heading to Arizona and as I write have already met up with friends from Betty's.

On Friday a few of us did a road trip to Arnaudville for lunch and a brewery tour.  We found a very neat restaurant that overlooked the bayou, The Little Big Cup.  After a bit of a slow start that resulted in the waitress being fired on the spot, we all had wonderful meals.  They made up for the problem by giving us a full tray of every homemade dessert on the menu.  If you are in Arnaudville check out this place.  As you can see, Dan, Merlene, Nanc, Jim, Wendy, Ray, Linda and Tom were all very happy. 

After lunch we went to Bayou Teche Brewery for a tasting.  They had eight brews on tap and I tried four.  While some people liked the beer, the best thing I can say about it is, that because we were there we missed driving home through a storm with baseball size hail.  Not my cup of "tea," but to each his own.  We still had a great time.

Our plan for Saturday was to go to the Festival International in Lafayette, a weekend long music fest with groups from around the world.  With several new people at Betty's who had never been to the Zydeco breakfast at Cafe des Amis in Breaux Bridge, we decided to get up real early (again) and make it an all day music fest.  We always tell people you need to be in line by 7AM for the 8:00 opening and this pictures shows why that is true.  This is the line outside after the first seating.  Some of these people did not get breakfast until after 11:00 though they did get inside to hear the music, dance and have a toddy all before breakfast. 

It was a great morning of music by Cedryl Ballou and the Zydeco Trendsetters.  When the weather turned ugly with an all day downpour predicted we opted out of the festival and danced until noon.

A few of the folks from Betty's, Renata (from Germany), Mike, Nanc, Jim, Connie, Ken, Judy and Dan, who all had a great morning of food and dancing at Cafe des Amis.

Cafe des Amis is always a very crowded, but very fun filled morning and don't forget to get there early.

A few more RVers, Tom, Linda, Wendy, Ray, Merlene and Dan enjoying the food and the music.

Just because it rained does not mean we could not find more music.  We went to the Cajun jam session at Touchet's and got to hear Black Foreman on the accordion.  He not only plays, he also builds squeeze boxes.

It was a wonderful afternoon of music and dancing with many locals and Betty's RVers who are big supporters of the Cajun jams.  As Mike pointed out, the big difference between Cafe des Amis and Touchet's is that almost everyone at des Amis is a tourist while those at Touchet's are mostly local people having a good time and supporting their culture.  We had a great music filled day and were pretty danced out by the time we returned to Betty's to once again gather with everyone and talk about our day.  As the favorite saying goes down here, Let the Good Times Roll!