My Friends, Mon Amies

As has often happened, we ended up extending our stay at Betty's because we had some friends who we did not want to miss passing through Abbeville. In addition to seeing several more people, extending also gave us a chance to enjoy another feast at Betty's, hear one more band at Sounds on the Square, see our local friends who played music at Betty's and attended another cook-off. That sure made for a very busy week. 

Since we were extending our stay, the spot we had been parked in was reserved for someone else so we had to do the famous Betty Shuffle. That required Wayne (who also extended his stay) to move to another spot  and we moved into his old spot. We have done the shuffle several times and it's not really that big of a deal.

Getting to stay meant we got to see Elda, a local who we had not seen since we arrived. We also visited our friend Ollie who had a stroke since we were here last year. She is doing very well but did want any pictures. We sure hope that by our next visit she will be out and about. She and Elda both live up to Ollie's philosophy, there are no old ladies, there are only old clothes. 

Donna and Calvin Touchet wanted to show their appreciation to the support Betty's RVers give to the Cajun jam sessions at their bar, so they cooked lunch for everyone in the park.

A huge pot of Cajun spaghetti, yes it was spicy, salad and rolls for 35 people. A few of the RVers brought dessert, making for a wonderful meal. Thanks Calvin and Donna for a great feed.

A few of our friends waiting to eat Sue, John, Sharon, Mike and B.J.

More friends Priscilla, Betty, Jerry, Gloria, Sandy and Debby.

We always look forward to seeing our friends from Quebec when they pass through Abbeville on their way home from wintering in Mexico. Mon amies Lucie, Michele, Vitale, Jules and Alain.

Mon Amies Mado, Denise and Michelle.

More friends, Merlene, Karen, Reg, Steve and Bill in front. Donna, Calvin, Nanc and Rick in back. As usual at Betty's, the food brought everyone together for a fun afternoon.

Because of the big rain the week before, the Sounds on the Square was held the first Thursday of April. The Bayou Beats Band played a variety of swamp pop, which to me is just adding a Cajun flare to many old time rock songs.

For Friday's happy hour we had a Party on the Patio at Betty's. Dan, Dave, Kristy, Eddie and Joe had the place rockin. We sure will miss these fun times when they play at Betty's.

Our Quebec friends Mado, Denise, Lucie and Michelle enjoying the music.

Paul, Sandy, Merlene and Steve listening to the band and chowing down.

More Quebec friends Michele, Remi in front and Evon and Rick standing.

Nanc and me with Mado. She is the one who originally brought this group to Betty's. A couple years ago we went to Quebec for her 80th birthday. 

Paul, Sandy, Reg and Karen had the front row seats for the music.

Monica and Cordell stopped by for the evening and to wish us good-bye.

B.J. and Mike.

Gloria and Jerry.

Brett, Betty's son, and the best hostess ever, Betty.

Sandy, Bill, Steve and Debby.

As you can see, the band had them out of their seats and rockin and rollin.

One last picture with my Canadian friends Michele, Remi, Vitale, Jim, Evon, Alain and Rick. We always know we are in for a fun time when they arrive.

Michelle, Denise, Mado, Lucie and Nanc saying those last farewells until the next time. Without a doubt, making and seeing friends is one of the best things about our lifestyle and we have made more friends at Betty's than anyplace we have stayed during our nearly 12 years on the road.

By staying through Saturday we were able to go to the Cajun Culture Association's Black Pot Cook-Off at Touchet's. The music started at 10AM with the first of three bands that played all day. All the things in front of the band stand were auctioned off to raise money for the association.

Over twenty groups prepared their favorite black pot creations.  Everything from gumbo to cracklin cooked with many different meats and seafood. Your $5.00 admission let you taste as many as you wanted and no one went away hungry. These cook-offs are the best deal around if you want to try a lot of different food at a very cheap price. My hands were so full I failed to get any pictures of the food. 

The last band really had the place rockin. This accordion player got his start when the Cajun Culture Association bought him his first instrument years ago. The association does a great job of keeping its culture alive. 

Another fundraiser was the 50/50 drawing and look who won, one of Betty's RVers, Sharon. She was a happy gal taking home over $250 after making a donation to the association and buying drinks.

Steve "Rooster" and Nanc on the dance floor. I had to keep a close eye on how he was holding my wife.

Our dear friend Betty and Nanc. We had a great, fun-filled month at our favorite RV park. While we were sad to leave, as we always say, if you don't leave you can't come back.

The Caught in Betty's Web signpost had added a few more names by the time we left. There is still plenty of space for more signs as people pass through what Sharon calls "The Happiest Place on Earth".

We are back in Stuart until after Memorial Day and are looking forward to enjoying the pool, beach and warm weather of the Treasure Coast spring. While we are not in Opus, we are still Running Down Our Dream. 

More Fun Times in Betty's Web

The good times continue to roll at Betty's. Spring is such a fun time to be here, as many friends pass through on their way from their warm winter homes heading north for the summer. As always, there is a mix of old friends and many new ones.

Last year we visited Abshires Corner Store for the first time and found a wonderful place for a great lunch. When we go with a large group it is an all afternoon happening because this is the kitchen; a small grill, a two basket fryer and a stove. There were twenty people from Betty's with more than half wanting the fantastic Cajun shrimp salad. Since they only have room to cook the onions, peppers and shrimp for four salads at a time, it takes awhile. 

Here are Dan, Susan, Randy, Sue, John, Sharon, Irene, Charles, Sandy, Dan, Dick and Kathy.  A couple people who did not order salads already had their meals.

More of the crew; Steve, Penny, Monica Nanc, Merlene and Dan sitting at the counter since they don't have enough seats at the tables for all of us.

Everything is fresh and the grill has to been cleaned after each use. This little out of the way place in Meaux, Louisiana is well worth searching out. Make sure you have plenty of time because this is not a fast food restaurant, especially if you are with a big group.  We just turned it into a great social hour(s).

Another Thursday in March, so it is another Sounds on the Square under the giant oak trees in Magdalen Square. This weeks' group was Yvette Landry and the Jukes.

On another day John and Sharon took us to Acadian Park in Lafayette, another place we have never been to on our many visits to Cajun country. There are both natural trails and this boardwalk through the swamp and woods.

Of course, since we were with John an Sharon we knew we would see a snake, they always do. This little one was slowly swimming while looking for food.

There were many beautiful spring flowers in bloom.

The water was so far down, even the canoe launch was out of the water. Those cypress knees across the stream are usually in the water. Check out Acadian Park if you are looking for a nice hiking place near Lafayette. After the hike they took us to Olde Tyme Grocery, another unique little lunch place we had never been to.

Many of the RVers at Betty's do their morning walks in the neighborhood and often meet the locals. We talked to Jean at Sounds on the Square and learned he plans to RV to Newfoundland after his wife Karen retires. We invited them to check out Betty's famous happy hour so they could talk to everyone about their RV experiences. They did and are now officially "Caught in Betty's Web".

Into every life a "little" rain must fall and it sure did. Over six inches in just a few hours. The good news, it stopped and we were all high and dry in time for happy hour.

You never know what you will see here. A local fisherman stopped by to show off his catch of several really huge catfish that he caught in the bayou.

We decided we needed one last fix of Zydeco music at Buck and Johnny's Saturday morning Zydeco Breakfast in Breaux Bridge. 

Susan and Dan were the only other people in the park who wanted to get up real early for another fun morning of food and music.

The band this week was one of the best, Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco RoadRunners. As you can see he had the place rockin. He did a fantastic job singing Prince's Purple Rain, which he will be recording for release soon.

Susan, Leroy and Nanc hamming it up. If you ever get a chance to hear Leroy, don't miss it. As always, the Zydeco breakfast was great fun.

That same Saturday most of the RVers went to Touchet's for the Cajun jam session. Here are Karen, Linda, Diana, Nobby, Sue, Ernie, Dan and Gene enjoying the music. We met Gene and Diana at the Florida Keys Elks in December and told them about Betty's, so they added it to their to do list and plan to return. Someone else caught in Betty's web. 

More of Betty's RVers having a fun time in the Horny Corner at Touchet's.  From the left are Paul, Jerry, Mr. Curtis (a local), Betty, Gloria, Nanc, Reg, Mike, BJ, Susan and Dan.

Front are Paul and Sandy who are at Betty's for the first time and in the back are Wayne and Marlene who are really caught in Betty's web, stopping every spring for fifteen years.

Betty and Sharon, who often closes her eyes, when getting her picture taken,  Not this time:-)

It being a little chilly brought on a little silly when Marlene got out her warm winter stockings. You never know what will happen at Betty's RV Park.

Sunday dawned with a severe weather alert for the afternoon. That was a bummer as we wanted to go to the Boudin Festival in Scott. We did not want to miss it for both the great music and food.

After watching the approaching line of storms we decided we had time to hit the festival before the rain arrived. Here are Sue, Dan, Marlene and Wayne lining the rail to hear the music.

The music we wanted to hear was Geno Delafose and French Rockin Boogie, without a doubt our favorite Zydeco band. Good news, the foul weather held off long enough that we got to hear Geno.  Bad news, they cut his set short because the storm was fast approaching.

Dan, Dan, Merlene, Susan and Nanc gathering our chairs so we could get to our cars before we got wet. 

We made in back to Betty's and as you can see, this storm did not bring nearly as much rain as we had earlier in the week. It sure was nice of Nanc to brave the shower to get me a beer.

I have one more post about our busy last week at Betty's and another about our stop in Tallahassee to see a friend and tour the capitol. We are now back in our condo in Stuart and plan to stay here until after Memorial Day before heading north for the summer.