A Damn Good Easter Weekend (Pardon My Cajun-French...)

 Well, it's about time there's a post from the PANTS in this relationship. That's right, this is Andrew writing this time. And I promise, I have no intention of stealing the thunder from the writer I married. I just figured it was proper that I contribute to the blog that was meant for the Lee's plural, and throw in a dose of testosterone. I've been behind the scenes for so long now, I told Whitney that maybe I'd like to try my hand at blogging. Judge me after I've gotten a few of these under my belt. And for the record, she did tell me I shouldn't have made my debut post with a title that has 'damn' and 'Easter' in the same phrase, but c'mon, you're reading it now, aren't you?

Anyway, y'all should've been there with us for Easter down in the bayou.  No, we didn't ride around in the airboats to hunt for Easter eggs, but had I not flown into New Orleans, I would have bought and towed back an airboat for my brother that I saw for sale in a nearby front yard as we drove around this past weekend. (He loves to kid Whit about riding around in AIHR-BOATS, eating JAUM-Buh-LIE-YA) I'll tell you this though, I'm about to show y'all how fun it was. I took pictures. Check this stuff out-->

Okay, so Thursday night before Good Friday, Whit and I took off from ATL and made it by the skin of our teeth to the Big Easy and met up with Doc and Mrs. Deb (a.k.a. the in-laws; I am more respectful to their faces with titles, but I like to call them that in passing conversation) and they took us to the legendary, century-old Galatoire's.

Notice, they talk about politicians and movie stars standing in line, but not us. We were BALLIN', and sat downstairs and didn't wait an instant. Talk about l-i-v-i-n' right in New Orleans. It's like you taking your taste buds out on a first date and you have to restrain them from calling the good food back the very next morning. It's that good. By the way, Bourbon St. NEVER slows down. Hoochie mamas and craziness 24/7. Just sayin'.

We drove on to Napoleonville, LA that night to wake up the next morning to a great breakfast and preparations for the best crawfish boil I've experienced to date...

You haven't done Easter weekend til ol' Ryan Baldwin gets a hold of some crawfish all afternoon and lets you photograph all the hard work he does.

And look at my oldest nephew, John Collier. I was proud of him. He wanted to know how they were rinsing and prepping the crawfish, getting in the buckets and finding which ones weren't alive anymore. (So did I. I had never seen this before.)

He was a brave little guy. Definitely got that Cajun' in him.

Then it was time to get cookin'. If you know the aroma of the boiling spices that are simmering in those big pots before the crawfish go in,... cue the senses. It was incredible when those lids came off...

So in they go, for about... well I was told everyone has their own strategy down there. Whatever Ryan was doing, I'd stick with his timing--those crawfish were fantastic.

Talk about a newspaper-wrapped buffet of Good Friday goodness. John Collier and I sat there and didn't move until we couldn't eat anymore.  I'm telling you what, I was impressed how fearless he was once they were cooked, too--he peeled 'em like the best of us!  (thanks without prior permission to my lovely, understanding sister-in-law Ashley Beth, who snapped a few shots while I had crawfish on my fingers).

Next day, we got the Lake Veret tour from Mr. Shawee and Grady. I hadn't been out there with them since our wedding day, and it'd been too long. 

They're great guys who'll do anything for ya'. They take movie producer-types out to these locations for filming movies like Deja Vu, and stuff like that. And man, can they entertain ya' with a good story!

Apparently, this boat was in some movie, too. Not sure which one it was, but Shawee and Grady could remind me. Check out Grady's sister's web site: http://www.attakapasadventures.com/index.html

It's just cool out on Lake Veret. The people wave to ya' from their piers, and the water is always muddy lookin'. From what I'm told, it's a 7-mile wide lake, but it never gets much deeper than 6' deep. More wildlife than you expect, and really great views, too. But it isn't the lap of luxury out there.

I'll tell you this though, I saw more WAR EAGLES out there than I've ever seen at once. There were probably 10 of them that we saw in 30 minutes, and had I had a decent lens to capture them with, you'd be able to see how awesome they are out in the wild, perched at the top of trees.

What was closer to the boat were a LOT of gators, and they had their eye on us the whole time.

And just in case you were wondering, I found the biggest Easter egg I've ever seen down in the heart of the swamp; that's right, big ol' egg-shaped rescue pods stranded in the middle of nowhere. :)

Anyway, I've always said they do it so differently down in Louisiana. There's no place like it in the entire country, so I figured I'd give you a taste of where I spent my Easter this year. 

Jealous? :)

Happy{belated}Easter, everyone. Remember the sacrifice that was given for you so you might live life to its fullest. Everything hinges on that resurrection. 

He is Risen.