Church Point Mardi Gras Two!

Aside from Betty's famous Southern hospitality, and the camaraderie of the other RV'ers we meet there, and the infamous Mandatory Happy Hours, and the endless Cajun and Zydeco music, one of the things that keep us coming back to Betty's RV Park in Abbeville, Louisiana is the old-time, original, country-style Mardi Gras she squires us to in nearby Church Point, Louisiana.  We get to the farm of our hosts early in the morning, before the roads close, and in time to see all of the preparation.  This year, we got to our destination so early that we had to pack our coffee and breakfast:

Betty is a good friend of our hosts, Miss Kate and Mr. Brian.  Here is a photo, taken in 2018 by our friend Bernie Rosling, of Miss Kate (L) and Betty (R):

No Mardi Gras is complete without the gumbo (displayed by our friends Dan and Merlene) --

-- and the whole roast pig (hidden from view in the Cajun Microwave below):

By mealtime, the pork will have come out of the smoker and be pulled and sliced into plenty of servings for everyone:

By around 11am or noon, the Mardi Gras Parade Marshal arrives on horseback, leading the (mostly drunken) revellers onto the farm field, where they ask the farmer for a chicken for their gumbo pots:

The chickens really don't have much to say about this business, and they glumly await their fates:

Soon, the chicken is released, and revellers tear off across the farm field, sliding in the mud as they dive to catch the chicken:

Eventually, one of the revellers comes up winners.  This year's victor displayed his prize.  Again, the chicken was not amused:

Once the farmer has bribed the revellers with meat for the pot, the revellers return the favor by parading past the property:

Not all are on horseback --

-- in fact many ride on homemade floats or walk along the parade route.  This masked reveller stopped to dance a turn with Kathy:

For the most part, the fancy costumes are found among the parading revellers, but occasionally, one spots parties watching the parade who are more of a spectacle than the parade itself.  One of our friends asked these two femme fatales to take our group photo.  The lady on the left just walked out onto the highway and singlehandedly stopped traffic more powerfully than Superman ever could do, simply with her commanding voice and policewoman's hand.  Then she calmly took our photo and waves the traffic to continue on its way.

For parade watchers, part of the fun is to catch beads from the revellers on the floats.  Kathy is not too shabby at that sport:

After the parade, and some gumbo and pork, it's time for the Children's Chicken Run!  This is at least as entertaining as the other parts of the festivities, as you will see from this video of the children's chicken run!

The eventual winner, a young girl who, if you watched the video carefully, looked as if she's gotten left by the wayside in the chicken's first roundelay, but streamed back into the action as the chicken passed a second time.

Here, she holds her prize.  David asked her, "What are you going to do with the chicken?"  She answered, "Keep it for a pet!"  David queried, "Have you named him?"  The reply:  "Yes!  Mardi!"

Back at Betty's ranch, Kathy added her extra beads as mulch for the garden and we admired the bright Mardi Gras colors, a fitting, quiet end to a day of raucus celebration:

Laissez les bon temps roulez!