LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULER (Let The Good Times Roll)

 Lake Charles, Louisiana is located in Calcasieu Parish.  Our visit to this area included a stop at the Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu.  The idea of this museum originated in 1997 when enough Lake Charles Mardi Gras costumes were collected to fill two classrooms of the Central School Building in Lake Charles.  This amazing collection now takes up the entire east wing of the second floor of the Central School Building (built in 1912), and is now recognized as the largest Mardi Gras costume collection on display in the world!  Many of the original costumes on display are valued between $3,000 to $5,000 each.  Not only does this museum display these elaborate costumes, it also preserves and interprets the tradition of the Lakes Charles history of Mardi Gras.

ONE OF THE FIRST OF THE KREWE QUEENS
IN LAKE CHARLES, LA.

Many people mistakenly associate only New Orleans with Mardi Gras, and once you travel through the different parishes and small towns of Louisiana you know this celebration takes place in Louisiana as well as Alabama, Texas, and some parts of Florida, as well as Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Cayman Islands, etc.  Several years ago while visiting Lafayette, La. on the day of their Mardi Gras celebration, a friend explained there are many Mardi Gras celebrations, most of which are family oriented and the New Orleans celebration does not portray Mardi Gras in the tradition it was intended.

AN AFTERNOON IN THE MARDI GRAS MUSEUM OF
IMPERIAL CALCASIEU
may not give you time to see everything!

Mardi Gras is a day long celebration the day before Ash Wednesday.  The term Mardi Gras, French for "Fat Tuesday", refers to the old custom of leading a fattened ox through the streets of a Catholic village.  The ox is later cooked and celebrants feasted and made merry before the dawn of Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent.

What is Carnival?  Carnival is the name of the season derived from two words:  "Carne" meaning meat, and "Vale" meaning "farewell to meat" during the 40 days of Lent.  The Carnival Season begins on the "Epiphany" or the twelfth day of Christmas, January 6, and goes until Mardi Gras day.

THE MARDI GRAS MUSEUM OF
IMPERIAL CALCASIEU

Many museums are presented in such an amazing fashion that they take your breath away.  This one qualifies as one of those museums that defies your imagination.  We walked away imagining the talent, the creativeness of the designers, the years of tradition, and I'll have to say....if you can believe it...WE WERE SPEECHLESS!

ON THE BOUDIN (Boo Dan) TRAIL....and Cracklin' Country.

We could stop at just about every food store on the way to New Iberia and Avery Island and buy someone's version of Boudin (boo dan),  but you wouldn't believe how many stops that would be!

Cajun Meat Market
Henderson, La

Fine Cajun Cooking to eat some Boudin and Cracklins'
Southern La.

So what is this delicacy usually listed with Cracklins'?  Boudin is a Louisiana French type of sausage made of chicken, pork or veal.  If you're from this region you must eat it frequently because it's everywhere and on most menus in some form or another.  Cracklins' is a whole other story - pork belly cubes deep fried until crispy crunchy and then seasoned with a unique blend of Cajun spices (think pork rinds with extra fat and meat attached).   Recipes on request.

Don's Specialty Meats 

Crawfish Town USA - Henderson, La.

CRAZY 'BOUT CRAWFISH Cajun Cafe'
Breaux Bridge, La.

The other Cajun food delicacy is crawfish (mudbugs) - boiled, steamed or fried or added to a gumbo.  This weekend is the Crawfish Festival in Breaux Bridge, La.,  and that's where you can get crawfish prepared about 500 different ways to be eaten in a variety of ways (with Cajun zydeco music and dancing to boot).  

Crawfish Festival - May 5 - 7, 2017
Breaux Bridge, La.

And there's plenty of gator as well.  I'm trying to work on these foods but shrimp, oysters, catfish and blue crab are as far as my palette has extended so far.

Bridge to Avery Island, La.

However, if you want to "kick it up a notch" and savor the spices used in foods in this area you usually use a hot sauce seasoning or seafood boil.

This just about says it all!

 The number one sauce would probably be some flavor of Tabasco Sauce, manufactured and distributed by the McIlhenny Company on Avery Island, La.

Life Size Bottles of Tabasco Sauces

McIlhenny Co. - Avery Island, La.

Tabasco Sauces aging in oak barrels - McIlhenny Co. - Avery Is., La

We leave this beautiful region of Louisiana with a large jar of Tums and Prilosec capsules, but resolve not to let indigestion and heartburn get us down.   It's on to Lake Charles, La. for a week of exploration,  rest and more delicious Cajun food.