WEATHER: Sunny and cool. High 50.
We hiked around the state park, to the fishing pier and some trails. Then we drove into town. The nearest town is Ville Platte. One of the brand new tires on our truck had a leak and we needed it patched. Luckily, we found a place, and luckily it was open.
Then, we went looking for lunch. Nothing much was open, either for the day or permanently. We finally found a place. George tried ordering a beer. He asked if there was anything other than the regular line-up....Bud, Miller, Coors. The waitress tried to be helpful. She said she would see if there were any others. When she returned from the back, she reported that the only "abnormal ones" were Shocktop and Abita. Abita is a Louisiana beer, so we ordered that. It came in a frosted glass which George hates. When we asked, she said that's all they have. (Guess running it under some warm water wasn't an option). We settled on iced tea glasses. When George started to pour the beer, he found it frozen. She got him a new one. What an effort! Our food was good and unusual. We split an order of eggplant fries in crawfish étouffée.
This town proclaims to be the "smoked meat capital" of the world. We found a meat shop, and what an adventure! The butcher had a hard time understanding us, with his strong Cajun accent, and was fascinated that we are from the North. We bought some smoked sausage in a long link, some bacon he thick-sliced for us, some pork sausage patties, a catfish fillet, and jumbo shrimp. After he finished with us, he switched to Cajun French to talk with the next customer who was buying smoked whole rabbit.
Back at the campground, We drove around, looking for wildlife. The cypress trees are so pretty growing in the lake.
We made a nice fire in the grill. George cooked the bacon so we would have it on hand. The dripping grease made a good fire. We also boiled some of the shrimp to eat later. As an appetizer, I prepared some pimiento cheese-stuffed pickled okra. I had heard that this is a tasty Southern combination, and it is!
DINNER: We made a foil packet with the catfish, a tiny bit of cooked smoked bacon, a few shrimp, onion and ginger slices, and drizzled it all with sesame oil. Cooked it on the grill. Yum! Sides were rice and sautéed cabbage, which is really cheap here, and we see it in everyone's fields and gardens. We drank champagne with dinner. How decadent!
We managed to stay awake until about 9:00. Happy New Year!
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