This weekend, however, saw the addition of sheetrock to the new wall, and I have to say I think it's going to look just fine. It's also gotten me back in the mood to share, so here is a nice photo catalogue of some my social activities of the past couple of months. I'll upload some pics of the progress on the house in another post.
From my trip to Natchitoches with Dad:
This was a great trip! We enjoyed wonderful weather, an awesome Bed and Breakfast about a block away from Natchitoches' historic Front Street, some delicious food, nature hiking, and even a round of golf on Northwestern's golf course. We also got to drive around the area and talk about a lot of family (mostly Dad's) history.
On the way up, we drove by Melrose Plantation, historic home of the painter Clementine Hunter. It wasn't open for tours, so I snapped a couple of pics with my phone and off we went.
After driving around Cloutierville, where we discovered to our absolute horror that the historic Kate Chopin house had burned to the ground, we made our way into town and enjoyed some poboys on Front Street. We played a round of golf, checked in at our B&B, cleaned up, and then ate dinner at a great seafood place called Antoon's, right on the river. The owner of Antoon's, who unfortunately we missed, is the son of the town barber (who my father remembers as one of the only other really avid fishermen on Cane River when he was growing up). We enjoyed delicious food and drank a couple of glasses of red while we watched the moon come up over the far bank. It was a really nice experience. We grabbed a movie and woke up early the next morning to have a steaming cup of coffee on the back porch of our Bed and Breakfast. Here is the porch:
And here are some shots from the porch that morning:
All of the guests of this B&B, the Jefferson House (which I recommend highly), had attended a Mardi Gras ball the night before, and we were the only guests stirring early in the morning. We took a little drive through the town, and when we returned, the proprietors Herman and Arleen Mayeux had breakfast ready. While we ate, we were subject to the cute begging of their two Dachshunds. After they realized that they were dealing with experienced dog-begging-resistors, they curled up in the corner for a nap:
After breakfast, we drove around all over the area, looking at different places Dad had spent time growing up. We ended up in Kisatchie National Forest, where we took a nature hike through land that Dad had camped out / hunted on in his youth. Here are a few pics from the nature hike we did at Longleaf Vista in Kisatchie:
Following our hike, we were a little worried about getting back to Lafayette (and for me, all the way from there to NO) at a decent time, but we couldn't resist heading to Clarence, LA to get a long-awaited taste of Grayson's Barbeque, some of the best barbeque in that part of the state. We arrived at the place in what appeared to be the post-church rush, but they handled our order very quickly and we even got an order of ribs to bring home to Mom. Here is a shot of me outside this mecca of meat:
Following that, we headed home with our bellies full and smiles on our faces.
From Valentine's Day weekend:
Becky and I had a wonderful Valentine's day weekend. There were some parades, but mostly we celebrated a day early by having a night out in the quarter. We began by meeting up at Monaghan's Irish Rose on Conti for a beer, then scooted over to EAT! on Dumaine St. The meal was pretty good, affordable and sans corkage fee for the bottle of wine we brought, but the service was a bit lacking. Fortunately, we were ready to have a good time so we did not let that faze us!
Then we walked over to the House of Blues to see the Old Crow Medicine Show, a great band playing a sort of bluegrass-y folk with a great energy. The show was sold out, but we had purchased tickets the week before and were good to go.
It was an incredible show, and the encore, which ran 4 songs, ended with covers of Neil Young's Tonight's the Night and David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust.
The following day saw some of a parade, but the weather was threatening and I had plans to cook Becky a steak dinner for Valentine's Day, so we walked the 2 blocks back to the apartment a little early. We were a little fatigued from our late night the evening prior and dinner at home was a very nice way to relax.
From various Mardi Gras happenings:
Becky Goes Bananas Mardi Gras day!
This Dragon costume was pretty sweet.
Becky and me, Mardi Gras Day
Proteus Float
Proteus
Nick and Allie's dog Spartacus, dressed as Elvis!
Becky, preparing some essentials for her ride in the Krewe of Mid-City
That's Becky and Dede, right in the center of this picture. Wait! or are they further right?!? Becky! Becky! Throw me something!!!
Here is Becky and Dede's float, #17!
This is a shot from my parade, Muses, when we stopped in front of Gallier Hall.
Kenny and Andrea and me hanging out before the Muses parade.
On Sunday before Mardi Gras, we went to see the Krewe of Barkus, which I think I am going to do every year from now on. Hundreds of costumed dogs, how could you lose? This year, the theme was Batmutt: The Bark Knight, but all I got was a picture of this hot dog somehow.
If you look closely, you will see that there is a Mardi Gras Tiger inside of this parked truck...
This dude, who we saw on Mardi Gras day outside of Molly's, was clearly living the High Life. Here's to you, sir.
