The reason we came to LaBelle is for the "Swamp Cabbage Festival". There is such a thing as swamp cabbage. It is made from the sabal palm. This is the state tree of FL. Swamp cabbage is the heart of the palm that is boiled and season. It was a food source that supplemented the early settles.
Friends Dianne and Marvin from Cape Coral came over to go to the festival with us. Well we tried the 'swamp cabbage" and all decided we only needed one taste and that was enough. It was very bland tasting. We did talk to several folks that said it was what they were raised on it, and it was great. I guess it must be a acquired taste.
Before we tried the "cabbage" we watched the "Swamp Cabbage" parade. A nice small parade with three small school bands from town. Two of the bands didn't have uniforms. They just wore white shirts and jeans. But they were dedicated to playing and marching. This is a small town and I guess uniforms are not part of the school budget. I remember all the fund raisers we helped with for uniforms when our kids were in the band. Don't want to do that again. The look may be different but if you close your eyes the music sounds the same. The most unusual thing in the parade was a few "swamp Buggies". A few had tires on them that must have been 10-12 foot tall. They do have swamp buggy rides and races. We are still amazed at how there is a uniqueness of each area of the county. People adopt to their different areas and climates with so many interesting ways of life. There are probably thousands of different festivals in this great county of ours, celebrating different areas and cultures. It is great finding some of these in our travels.
Did you ever bet on a Armadillo race? Well we did. The local Jaycees use armadillo races as a fund raiser for scholarships. Oh what the heck, "petea" wasn't around so we placed a bet on number three, "Belle" . Well she/he lost. But Dianne bet on number five and he/she won. She won a hat. Well it was for a good cause. In fairness to the Jaycees, they captured 17 armadillos and switch them through out the day. After the races they are given a big helping of crickets and turned loose in the area they where caught in. There were other things like lawn mower races, a bass fishing tournament and a rodeo. They had a swamp cabbage queen and princess, several bands and lots of food. It was a warn sunny day of about 85 degrees. Not to hard to take for February. It was fun and we got to see a lot of different thinks.
The fish fry. Friends Ed and Vivian and Betty and Lon.
Friends Diane and Marvin
Our guy came in Last. But Linda said he/she is cute!
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