Friday, June 11, 2010

Meridian MS June 2010



Natchez MS





















Lake Charles LA June 2010








Louisiana June 2010















CARE & The Blue Shoe Kazoo Review















Louisiana June 2010

The 10 volunteers for the month of May put on a show called "The Blue Shoe Kazoo Review" on our last day at CARE. We had a ball and most of the audience had a great time. We saw folks having a good time who we never saw laugh before. They say laughter is the best medicine , and we hope we made some folks feel good.

We left CARE and Livingston TX on the 1st of June with friends Barry and Donna fellow CARE volunteers. We went to Kinder LA and the Coushatta Casino and the Red Shoe Indian RV Resort. We stayed there for 5 days for $57. with a on line coupon. A super RV park with full hook ups, cable TV and wifi. We did a little of the casino thing and took in a few shows. The pool was great as it was in the low 90's every day.

One day we took a ride and saw many rice and crayfish ponds. They raise 2 crops in these ponds, rice and crayfish. We saw many wading birds. We saw a large flock of pink birds thinking they were flamingo's, but remembered they were on the lawns of many homes in FL., so what were they? They were pink Ibis. very neat to see. We also saw the unusual boats they use to harvest the crayfish. They have a hydraulic arm with a paddle type wheel to push thur the ponds.

One day we went to Lake Charles and toured many great restored old homes. Many of the mansions were build by lumber company owners. Lumber was a very big industries then and is still the number one agricultural product today. After several hours of driving and reading about the many restored homes we headed back to Kinder and the pool. We did spend several afternoons in the pool, as it was in the 90's every day.

The next day we went to Jennings and toured the Tupper Museum. A super little museum. Read about it here http://www.tuppermuseum.com/ . We also walked thur several local cemeteries with raised gravel sites. We had 2 great dinners at DIs restaurant in Basil LA., see http://www.discajunrestaurant.com/ . We had shrimp wrapped in bacon and breaded then deep fried. SUPER. We had gator bits. Alligator breaded and deep fried. The meat is white and soft with a slight fish taste. There was Cajun music and dancing. We watched and enjoyed.

We then went to Vadilia LA on the banks of the Mississippi river. We enjoyed watching the tugs pushing large barges up and down the river. We did this from the pool as the hot weather continues. We are across the river from Natchez MS. We walked and drove and took a bus tour of the town. The tour told about the history and people of Natchez. Here the many mansions were build by money made from cotton. In the late 1800's there where 20 millionaires in MS and 19 had homes in Natchez. After the bus tour we walked and toured some of the old churches and homes. We drove thur the old city cemetery and the National cemetery. See at http://www.visitnatchez.org/ http://www.stmarybasilica.org/ wwwnps.gov/natc

Next we went to Meridian MS. We had a few laid back days but did tour a few things. We went to see the Dentzel Carousel, see at http://www.meridianms.org/. We also road out to Lake Okatibbee.

On the 11th we sadly said good bye to friends Barry and Donna. We had a really great time with them over the passed 7 weeks. We had many many great laughs with them. We will miss you guys. hope you put that RV pad in soon.