Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Shrimp Festival Adventure

So....Saturday I was up bright and early for the highly anticipated shrimp festival that I've been talking about since I found out about it back in February. Sean wasn't quite as thrilled to get up early since he'd gotten in from the field in the early a.m. He was a sport though and got ready to go without much prodding from yours truly.

We start out on the Great Shrimp Journey and it takes us about 3 hours to get to Delcambre. We had to deal with idiot drivers, lots of heavy rain and a wrong turn or two before we make it there.

I'm envisioning the shrimp festival to be a buffet of my favorite shrimp dishes, I literally have the voice of Bubba from Forrest Gump in my mind naming things off: shrimp creole, fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, shrimp jambalaya. Shrimp is obviously a favorite of mine. My immediate family loves it, in fact, at almost every holiday we have a big platter of boiled shrimp and it's gone within no time.

Imagine my disappointment when walking around the festival and seeing none of this great spectacle that I'd imagined in my mind for the past six months. It was a collection of kiddie rides/ midway games, a few local bands, some beer tents and then a large pavillion with boothes underneath it selling various shrimp dishes. I'll give them the fact they had boiled shrimp, shrimp jambalaya, shrimp po' boys and a few others, but not nearly what I expected. I was all about getting me some boiled shrimp until I realize they didn't serve it with cocktail sauce. Instead it was served with ketchup. Ketchup! Ok...I'm sorry shrimp unless fried cannot be enjoyed with ketchup. I require coctail sauce. So I immediately nixed the idea of eating boiled shrimp. Instead I settled on some jambalya and a cold pina colada that wasn't half bad. Seeing the shrimp boats was neat though. I even got a picture of one.



Sean was a good sport about driving all that way for really not much to do and we only stayed about an hour before we high-tailed it out of there (not without my souviner t-shirt though!)

We decided to head back up I-49 to Alexandria where we did some shopping and ate at an Applebees. It wasn't the perfect day I thought it would be, but any day that I get to hang out with Sean is pretty superb in my book.

I was thinking about hitting the Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival in September, but after this festival experience I may have to think twice....

14 comments:

oº˚ Homeschool Mom˚ºo said...

Thanks for stopping by and I luv me some shrimp it is one of my favorite foods. I never get tired of strimp.

MediMonsters said...

Never been to the Meat Pie Festival but have been to Natchitoches for the Christmas Festival many times. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! Tons to do, lots of food, music, parades, fireworks. We always go by the Meat Pie place when we are there to get some fresh ones--so good. Natchitoches is wonderful on its own--even without a festival. Just walk the streets downtown along the river, go to the cemetaries and enjoy the scenery--it's a beautiful town. www.meatpiefestival.com has a lot of information

kd said...

I love shrimp! And am deeply offended that these folks were serving boiled shrimp without cocktail sauce (Bookbinder's Cocktail sauce is our favorite).

The meat pie fest sounds fun! I will definitely keep it in mind if we are ever at Polk. Hubble's favorite post as a child was Polk...I think there are some tar pits nearby? He also learned to beatbox there! haha

Erin said...

It sounds like a cool thing to have done...if you didn't have to drive 3 hours to get there! I love reading about your LA stories!

Lindsay Gray said...

Oh gosh, that sounds exactly like something I would do.

I get all worked up about how it's going to be SO great, and SO wonderful. Only to find it to be SO pathetic. :-(

At least when people ask if you've ever been to a shrimp festival you can say, "been there, done that, bought the t-shirt".

:-)

Sara said...

I went to the meat pie festival last year. That town has a lot of festivals. It was fun though. And the meat pies were good. I'm allergic to shrimp in an almost scary way so no shrimp or crawfish to me. I get so sick from them I don't feel like I'm missing out.

As far as shoes go, I got the Nike Air pegasus. I supinate so I needed a cushioned shoe. I was actually fitted for the right shoe at a runner's store about 1 month ago. It got rid of my shin splints for a while, but yesterday scared me a bit. I hate running anyhow so I'm not going to fret about short runs. Another thing I don't feel like I'm missing out on.

Marla said...

thanks for the heads up on the shrimp festival... festivals can be hit or miss... and with ketchup I'd say this is a miss...

EmmaP said...

how funny! you'd think if they were gonna name the festival "shrimp fest" it would be about shrimp! Hmmm....surprising. And what a good sport Sean was. So - now you can say you've been to the shrimp festival...and don't have a need to go again! lol! Cute blog...

Lady Dorothy said...

Visiting you from BATW.

Sorry your shrimp festival didn't quite meet up with your expectations. But, definitely don't give up on festivals! One of these times, probably sooner than later, you'll find the festival of your dreams!

Pamela said...

Sorry the day wasn't as expected...hope you still had fun. :)

Heathahlee said...

Stopping by on the tour of BLATHW...sorry for your disappointing festival! On a side note, I had an aunt and uncle that lived in Alexandria. Random, I know. : )

Melissa Lester said...

I came over from BATW, and it was really neat to get the perspective of a young military wife. Your blog is so pretty, and that picture of you and your husband is just priceless. I'm glad you two got a little time to yourselves, even if the festival wasn't as festive as you had hoped. :)

d.a.r. said...

Oh totally go! I mean, if nothing else you will get another tshirt, some pictures, and another fabulous story! :)

Tracy P. said...

Thanks for coming to the state fair with me today, Melissa! Must be a challenge having your husband gone so much. Many thanks to both of you for your sacrifices.

And now I'll spend the rest of the evening hearing Forrest Gump's voice...