Wandering Browns

The Saturday before Fat Tuesday, we had a full day planned participating in all sorts of fun Mardi Gras festivities. I took one last look at the event calendar and realized that there was going to be a Mardi Gras trail ride that started and ended very close to our hotel. It was called the Carlyss trail ride- Carlyss being the next rural town over from Sulphur. I was planning on going for a run in the morning anyway, and Austin had some work to do, so I put Landon in the stroller and started off. Turns out, it was less of a trail ride and more of a long parade. We got to the route just as the last floats were rounding the corner and we saw the trail riders on horseback pass. We had missed almost the entire parade! Well, I was dressed for a run and Landon was expecting me to run, so we started running on the side of the street along the parade route. I was running slightly faster than the parade was moving, so it took about 2 miles, but I made it to the front of the parade! Floats a...

The Mardi Gras celebration in southwest Louisiana is the second largest celebration in Louisiana behind New Orleans, so I would say that it is a pretty big deal here. We went to the Lake Charles Civic Center Saturday around lunch time for the gumbo cook-off. Apparently Mardi Gras krewes face off to see which krewe makes the best gumbo. People who want to try gumbo and other Mardi Gras treats pay $5 and can have as much gumbo and king cake and other sides as they want. Pretty good deal if you ask me! Austin with some gumbo When we first arrived, the room was packed full of people- most in costume or at least matching T-shirts. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing, and I was just not quite sure what to do. Do we pay for the big bowls of gumbo? Do we have to go up and ask or something? We walked through the thick crowd on one side of the room, and there was not any food out to try. I was confused about how this all worked, because everyone seemed to have bowls of gumbo an...