So what if there’s not snow?
On Saturday, November 18, Jake and I, along with our friends Kevin and Diana, journeyed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to partake in a tail-gate extraordinaire. Louisiana State University (LSU) has a mighty fierce passion towards tailgating before football games, and we decided this was an affair we just couldn’t miss. Even though the game didn’t start until 7:00 pm, the party was well underway by 1 pm.
As we snaked our way through the many groups, there was fun being had in every direction. Entire families were decked out in purple and gold (LSU Tigers’ colors), games were being played, dancing, singing, eating… Oh, yes. Eating. Ever seen a cauldron of gumbo cooking? Being stirred with a paddle? Or commercial size deep-fryers rigged up at an outside picnic-esque setting for a maximum of 10? No joke. There was an endless array of food.
It was here that Jake was able to have his first real dose of boudin. Pronounced “BOO-dan”, it is a mixture of rice, sausage and spices, then served two ways. Deep-fried (of course) or stuffed into an intestinal casing. Don’t everybody rush down here at once to try it. His report (on trying the stuffed intestinal casing boudin): really good. So good, it warranted several tastings, each with the same report.
Whatever your own experiences with tailgating may be, I must share with you that I was blown away by how family-oriented and non-rowdy (but still tons of fun) the scene was. Maybe it’s the consistent weather down here that eases people into a calmer-state of relaxation and celebration, or maybe it’s just that these people really know how to stir up a good time without being crass, rude and unnecessarily rowdy.
One more thing—just when I was starting to doubt that there existed any hills or even the slightest rise of elevation in the state of Louisiana-there it was. A hill. A real hill. And, as you can see in the photograph, people know what to do down here just like they do in Minnesota. You grab whatever means you can find to zoom down the hill, with or without snow.
As we snaked our way through the many groups, there was fun being had in every direction. Entire families were decked out in purple and gold (LSU Tigers’ colors), games were being played, dancing, singing, eating… Oh, yes. Eating. Ever seen a cauldron of gumbo cooking? Being stirred with a paddle? Or commercial size deep-fryers rigged up at an outside picnic-esque setting for a maximum of 10? No joke. There was an endless array of food.
It was here that Jake was able to have his first real dose of boudin. Pronounced “BOO-dan”, it is a mixture of rice, sausage and spices, then served two ways. Deep-fried (of course) or stuffed into an intestinal casing. Don’t everybody rush down here at once to try it. His report (on trying the stuffed intestinal casing boudin): really good. So good, it warranted several tastings, each with the same report.
Whatever your own experiences with tailgating may be, I must share with you that I was blown away by how family-oriented and non-rowdy (but still tons of fun) the scene was. Maybe it’s the consistent weather down here that eases people into a calmer-state of relaxation and celebration, or maybe it’s just that these people really know how to stir up a good time without being crass, rude and unnecessarily rowdy.
One more thing—just when I was starting to doubt that there existed any hills or even the slightest rise of elevation in the state of Louisiana-there it was. A hill. A real hill. And, as you can see in the photograph, people know what to do down here just like they do in Minnesota. You grab whatever means you can find to zoom down the hill, with or without snow.
posted by Meg at 3:29 PM
1 Comments:
Just thought I'd post a quick "hello." I've not had a chance to read back through your posts yet. Hope all is well! I look forward to reading...
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