Be it ever so humble, there's no place like HOUMA!

Especially when LSU is playing OHIO and it's MARDI GRAS time!

I was met at the airport by a posse of 3 quilters, ready and willing to whisk me off into the whirlwind of bayou life! Our first stop?

THE VOODOO BBQ!! *LOL* (I am doing images small because there are lots of them, so click each one to get the full version)



Louisiana BBQ trumps South Carolina BBQ in my book! No funky yellow mustard based sauce! I had the brisket that was so fork tender it just melted in my mouth! And look at the shrimp appetizer...and this huge plate of onion rings! I knew my diet was in jeopardy so I just simply turned off the guilt and dug right in!

My side orders? Corn pudding and mustard greens of course! Mmmmmmmmm!

We left the restaurant more than full and satisfied and made our way to the QUILT SHOPS! I did a bit of damage....any fabric with BLUE in it was 20% off, so a couple shirtings with blue doo-dads in them came home with me, along with some quilting stencils (love those, they are light weight and easy to get home) and some needles! Two shops and a Joann's to do coupon-damage and we were happy travelers!






Our drive to Houma took us through Thibodaux (and yes I just had to recheck and recheck to make sure that is spelled right, because spell check said it was wrong!!) where we passed plantation after plantation. Sugar cane is still grown here, and we took a side trip through Laurel Valley to see the remains of this plantation. Google gave me this information about Laurel Plantation:

Laurel Plantation was a sugarcane plantation owned by Matthew Ramsey. It consolidated properties of George Mather, who arrived in the Baton Rouge district about 1775 and was a party in the West Florida Rebellion of 1810. The property has been bought and sold several times; a few of the plantation outbuildings, including a late nineteenth centry Acadian-style overseer's house and tenant shotgun cabins from the early twentieth century, are extant but dilapidated. Two live oaks suggest the possible site of the former big house.

We finally made it back to Mary Lea's house, unloaded the car except for the huge duffel bag, which stayed in the trunk of her car! Oh funny thing on that....when taking the bag to the Xray station at the airport...the officer asked "whatcha got in there, ma'am? A dead body??" So ever since that moment, the duffel has been nicknamed "the body bag". :cD

From Mary Lea's we went to their friend's house for a great night of LSU football where they slaughtered the Buckeyes! (sorry Ohio!!) Food food, more food, OMG...MORE FOOD!! Including a whole crockpot of to die for gumbo...mmmmm!


I also experienced my very first KING CAKE and the tradition behind it!
The King Cake is unlike any other cake. Imagine cinnamon bread coffee cake topped with sugary goodness and decorated in the traditional purple, green and gold of Mardi Gras! Three days of King Cakes and I'm ready to have Mardi Gras become one of my favorite holidays. (But not the diet that comes after it!)

Needless to say, LSU won to the relief of all the people at the party. It was so fun being part of a group so vibrant and team spirited! (Okay,plenty of the other kind of spirits were involved too...of the alcoholic variety!) I slept like a baby, raring to go for workshop day number one....

And I'll post about that tomorrow..I just got a call from the realtor that they want to show my house in about an hour and a half and I haven't unpacked, and stuff is kind of..well..dishelveled? ACKK!!