Vacation...Does It Have To End?

We are back from the wilds of Louisiana. While we were there I managed to eat (with the help of Darling Hubby):

crawfish: two ways, in an etouffe (super yum creamy sauce over rice) and fried
alligator: two ways, tailpieces battered and fried, and in a wonderful croquette-style ball blended with meat, bread, herbs, and then fried
catfish: in a brown butter wine sauce
soft-shell crab: stuffed with crawfish(!)
gumbo: yum
jambalaya: double yum
dirty rice: good with the creamy crab sauce
beignets and chicory coffee au lait: good, but not as good as I was hoping for...
And one out-of-this-world bread pudding with rum sauce. Oh yeah, it was that good.

The surprise meal came from a little hole in the wall cafe in a refinery town on a lake. The town was a disappointment, but the dinner was the best. Andouille sausage stuffed chicken breasts (presented as little chicken breast rolls, beautiful) with a raspberry demi-glace served over mashed sweet potatoes and asparagus. To die for good. The sweet potatoes were worth the trip alone.

We had a very good time. Some parts of the state were very distressing to look at, though. It's very hard to imagine the devastation in some areas, and the relative intact-ness of others. We did cruise down the Gulf Coast, before we were turned around...local traffic only...and that was the worst of it. I could not go back and rebuild, I don't think I would have the strength, but there were folks building and plowing; resetting houses and fields. That was an inspirational sight. Amazing.

The wedding was very nice, and Darling and I danced the night away. I was saving myself for a rare treat...a 1/4 glass of the bubbly for midnight, but when the time came the champagne was not so good for simple sipping and I didn't even finish my 1/4 glass. Oh well...everyone else was so tossed, they simply assumed I was as well...at least, those who didn't know that I am pregnant. Little do they know that it does not take the magic of alcohol to get me to dance like a fool.

Daring is still on vacation from work, so we are still bopping around the house doing nothing. We watched 12 hours of television yesterday. We finished "The Two Towers" went straight into "Return of the King"...then we continued through two disks of "Firefly". We didn't even really eat...we scrounged on what was left in the house. Yeah, lots of chocolate, cookies, crackers, cheese, peanut butter, yogurt and for dinner...microwave green beans with Parmesan cheese. Looking at all my food lists, it's no wonder I've gained 5 pounds in the last week and a half. As long as the baby takes his/her share, I'm fine. And, I'm going grocery shopping today.

Perhaps now is the time to begin acting like a real person again. Do some cleaning, some present putting away, vacuum, and grocery shop. Oh well. Vacation is nice, but if it lasted forever, would it really be as fun?