We had a challenge today: Ride 62 miles before noon so we could get to Fred's in Mamou LA. The route took us into Evangeline Parish and into rice fields. It seems the rice farmers figured out how to cycle a crop of crayfish into the rice fields in between the cycles if wet and dry. innovative but still hard to make a living down here.
Mamou is the center of Zydigo music and Fred's is the birthplace.
Ok, but why did we need to be there by noon? Why, because the bar is open at 8:00 AM and the music starts at 9:30 and only lasts until 1:00 or so. The tradition started in the 1940's when a radio station started broadcasting the music from this bar. They recorded in the morning. So why mess with something that works? Been doing it the same way since.
The decor hasn't changed since then either. Men's room sign and Exit sign are on the same door. Same vinyl booths and chairs. The place, less than 2000sf, was perfect as was the music. Dancing was somewhat challenging since the band is set up in the middle, leaving only 2 narrow aisles for dancing. We managed and had a great time.
We're camped in the town baseball fields. The Chamber of Commerce actually came and, from scratch, cooked gumbo for us. We added a belated Marti Gra flavor to the evening just for fun.
