Road Trip: Eunice, LA

It was a cool night but the low (38 degrees) was warmer than it had been all day on Tuesday.  I heard on the weather that yesterday was the coldest March 4 on record.  Today it got up to 54 degrees and was partly sunny or partly cloudy (depending on your outlook on life).  We took a nice drive to Eunice, LA where the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center is located.  This is a part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Reserve.  This center tells about the culture of the Acadians who settled in the prairies of this part of Louisiana.  We enjoyed a short movie on the history of country-style Mardi Gras.

  Basically each community has their own take on Mardi Gras but they all have roots in medieval France.  Some communities use horses, masks, costumes to "run" the countryside begging for ingredients for a communal gumbo.  Others use wagons.  Almost all end with a parade and a community gumbo with music, music, music.  In medieval France, following the winter when  the peasants were low on food, the people would dress in masks (so no one would know them) and go out into the countryside to beg for the ingredients for a community gumbo.  Eventually, the timing of this Mardi Gras celebration was moved to coincide with Lent.

After touring the displays in the center, we decided to eat in Rubys, a restaurant we had been told about.  Unfortunately, it was closed so we drove to Opelousas to a restaurant we had been told about when we were there last week.  We could not find it.  We found another, Mama's Fried Chicken, but it was a take-out style and we wanted to eat in.  We ended up eating in Breaux Bridge at Crazy About Crawfish.  The food was delicious and the decor was interesting.  We are back at camp relaxing with Sandy.  Tomorrow we are going to Crowley, the Rice Capital of America.  

This mural was painted on the side of a downtown building.  It says "Eunice:  the Gateway to the Great Prairie."

An example of a costume worn at a country Mardi Gras.

Carol is modeling what a man from Central Illinois wears on a Louisiana road trip.

A look at one side of the downtown business district of Eunice.  It looks like a typical Central Illinois small town business district...deserted of businesses.

Rubys Restaurant, where we had wanted to eat lunch.

This is an old house in Opelousas that is being brought back to its original grandeur.

A good place to eat in Breaux Bridge.