Louisiana

Baton Rouge / New Orleans Louisiana

When we pulled up to our new site in Baton Rouge on Saturday we quickly new that it wasn’t going to be a place that we wanted to stay for a whole week.  The showers would not stay warm and there was only one washer and dryer for the whole campground and it was outside. The most concerning was that it seemed that many of the people staying there were men that had random jobs in the area for a short time.  We had discussed as a family that if we ever got to a site that we felt was either unsafe or super unaccommodating we would leave even if we already had paid for it. We came to that decision after suffering through a loooong week at a previous site.  Luckily, we were able to just pay for the night and quickly leave the next morning to a great KOA in a much better part of Baton Rouge. 

After settling into our site on Sunday we took a spontaneous 1 ½ hour drive to New Orleans to just check it out.  It happened to be Mardi Gras week and we knew that it could either turn out to be a fun experience or well, lets just say an “interesting” one.   Mardi Gras has its roots in Catholic history and many people around the world still celebrate it! The French colonies that lived in New Orleans took these old customs and brought them to a whole new level.  Prior to going to New Orleans that day we learned that the carnival season of Mardi Gras actually starts on January 6^th 12 days after Christmas. This is also called Kings day and is in remembrance of when the three kings brought gifts to Jesus. So there are parties and parades happening for a whole month, but most happen in the couple of weeks prior to Mardi Gras day otherwise known as Fat Tuesday.  After Mardi Gras is Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent when many people give up something for 40 days ending right before Easter Sunday.   All this to say, we were aware that parades were going on and if we saw anything questionable we would use it as “ a learning experience”.

We ended up having a fun time. Right as we walked up to the first parade we saw, the kids got a huge bag of beads thrown right to them.  They also all caught a football and many people on the parade route turned around and gave the kids something that they had caught. The kids all left with plenty of “loot”. We took off right before dusk, and we were glad that we left when we did because things seemed to get more rowdy as the sun began to set. 

 The middle of the week we just hunkered down and did school and work.

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On Friday we went back to New Orleans to go visit some of my old friends that I have known for most of my life and haven't seen in years.   Glori and Abby are sisters  who moved to New Orleans about five years ago. It was sooo fun being able to see them in their new hometown and have them give us an “ insiders look at NOLA”. 

 

We grubbed on some amazing Southern food at a restaurant called Gumbo Shop.  Abby’s husband Jeremy ordered us alligator sausage which all of us enjoyed.  The kids ordered Po’boy’s which are traditional submarine sandwiches made in Louisiana.  From there we took a stroll down the streets and were lucky enough to see the  “ Second Line “ of a wedding. In New Orleans many people will have some form of second line to their wedding. Some weddings will give their guests white handkerchiefs to wave around and celebrate by dancing at the wedding celebration.  But some couples will take it to the streets of NOLA and make a parade out of it, with the couple being the center of attention!

"Doreen ketchens" ( a popular NOLA musician "busking" )

Our favorite part of this day was listening to Abby and Glori sing and play their beautiful music for us.  We got to sit in on a rehearsal they had before playing at a venue. Both of them have beautiful voices and when they sing it's like magic!

They also took us to the Famous French Market where they sell their hand made beautiful hair fasteners. Abby and Glori surprised all of us girls by giving each one of us one of these treasures. (Collin was happy to go find an alligator necklace at another venders stand ;-)

They also made sure to take us to the famous Café Du Monde where the only thing on the menu is the famous, delicious beignets and yummy coffee. (My kind of place)  These are like glorified funnel cakes. We left with our bellies full, our fingers sticky and our clothes speckled with powdered sugar.

Visiting friends along the way on our trip has been such an amazing experience. So fascinating to see how people live their lives in different parts of the country, especially those that mean so much to my heart.