In mid-May I participated in my first, but not last, Road Scholar trip. The Road Scholars is an organization that was previously called Elderhostel. I think they probably changed it to the updated catchy title because the baby boomers didn't like being in the 'elder' category. Tsk, such a vain bunch of youngsters! Anyway, the trip I joined was a week in Cajun country, Lafayette, LA..
The week's events were scheduled by the Univ. of Louisiana History Dept and our guide for the week was a wonderfully patient and personable young woman, Patti. Our week started on Monday afternoon when we all met in one of the ballrooms of the hotel we were staying in for the week. We had a time of getting acquainted, Patti giving us a rundown of the planned activities and then we went to a Cajun gumbo dinner.
There were 38 in the group and they came from all over the country, with one husband and wife from Canada. I don't know any one's exact age, however, there were some in their late 50's/early 60's, a handful in their 80's, and then the rest were in their late 60's up through the 70's. All in all, a pretty good group of folks that, by the end of the week, I can safely say there were only 2, maybe 3, that I wouldn't care to travel with again. I think that's a really good number of good hearted folks that enjoyed themselves.
We visited a swamp that had alligators and lots of turtles, a pontoon boat ride through a bayou, there was a living history village of the early 1800's, a sugar cane plantation, the Tabasco plant, a 500 year old tree that had large posts holding up the branches. There were also speakers that regaled us with stories and slides of early bayou life, the history of the Acadians and how they came to the lower half of Louisiana. One of my favorites was a visit to the Martin Accordion factory which is family owned and operated. The Martin family have their own little band and played Cajun music for us and I fell in love with this music. After hearing the Cajun history and listening to their music it touches that corner of your heart that is reserved for a people that perseveres and stays independent.
The grand finale of the week was an evening at a Cajun dance hall and restaurant. During the week we were given lessons on the Cajun Two-step and the Cajun Waltz, culminating with an evening out to practice what we'd been taught! What fun! About half the group got up and danced, the rest of us were rowdy staunch cheerleaders!!
I'm looking forward to another trip with Road Scholars. This time I may find something that is close and I can drive to it to save the airfare. But! I do have some of their trips marked for the future that will be exciting and take care of some bucket list items. It was absolutely great being a Ragin Cajun for one week!
Lord keep our minds learning about new things and searching for new ideas that we may enjoy your creations. Amen
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