Saturday, April 18, 2009

The Rain in Raine...the Brits try "Crawfish"

Jean meets crawfish in her continuing story of our trip..
When we were in Florida, we overheard a man telling his wife "It's not that I feel dizzy - just top-heavy!" Well, we were certainly feeling top-heavy this morning!

At lunchtime, we headed over to the main hall to watch the preparations for the great crawfish feast.

It began with the boiling of the crawfish - thousands of pounds of crawfish were emptied into huge baskets and then dumped into boiling water and it was all carried out like a military operation.


(We finally got Jean to take a peak at the crawfish after they were boiled--her reaction was classic "Jean")

Before eating, crawfish races were held during which many of the Cajuns placed bets on the outcome.

(For the second year in a row- I got to be on the betting table- taking bets and handing out the payouts)

We had a great laugh and a great meal though have to admit it was a lot of effort for a tiny piece of crawfish from each one. We were dressed in our crawfish-decorated aprons, courtesy of Brenda - just as well as we were in such a mess. Actually, we looked quite smart compared to some who made do with just a Wallmart carrier, and most people were in red and white, the Cajun colours. It was all great fun and a very different experience for us Brits.
(Cheryl taught the boys how to "suck the heads" of the crawfish)

The rest of the afternoon was spent chilling out in the RV - the thunder, lightening and rain had started again so we were in no hurry to go anywhere. Brem & Dipper left in the afternoon as they had some family function to go to so we said our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch.

At about 6, we once again braved the horrendous weather and headed to the main hall for the evening entertainment. We started with a sing-along where the 'stars' lip-synched to popular country and western songs. The theme of the night was Mexico so many were in Mexican clothing and as no food was provided in the evening, the women took along sandwiches, potato crisps etc. One guy dressed as Uncle Sam mimed to 'God Bless the USA', a very corny song about how proud they were to be American. It brought the house down and everyone was standing with hands on hearts or waving their arms in the air. I couldn't help wishing that there was that level of patriotism in our country - the nearest we get is 'Abide With Me' sung at the beginning of the soccer cup final!

Anyway, it was another fun night though we got absolutely soaked on the way back to the RV and arrived to find we were parked in a lake! After a couple of renditions of "The Rain in Raine" we settled down for the night.

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