1960 Summer Trips

      A lot of my life was spent in New Orleans.  It was here that I learned how to fry chicken and  make French potato salad. 
     I also learned how to eat chili dogs, while standing on one of the French Quarter street corners, without dropping any sauce or mustard on my white shirt!
     After a two hour drive from Lafayette and a roadside stop in Livonia, Louisiana, we were finally at our destination;  to visit my Aunt, Uncle and cousins in LaPlace.  That night all of the children slept on pallet quilts in the tiny living room at my Aunt Eunice and Uncle Pemon's home. 
     Early in the morning,  my mother and Aunt would fry chicken and all of the fixin's to take with us to " The City" as New Orleans is called (not Big Easy) for the day.  You could hear them in the early morning behind the swinging kitchen door laughing and drinking coffee.  The smell of the chicken permeated the house.  You knew that this was going to be an exciting day for everyone!
     The trip started off at Ponchartrain Beach where we could choose only three "rides" because it was 25 cents a ride and money was tight.  There were four of us under 12 years old, standing in line to ride your special ride, with Daddy. Then off to City Park where other family members would meet us. Then the men would sit at one of the picnic tables, smoking and playing Bouree (a card game) while my mother and Aunt would lay out the picnic dinner.  We would all eat after a game of croquet and then nap through the afternoon on big quilts that were laid on the soft St. Augustine grass. (I can still feel the softness that surrounded me on those lazy summer days.)
     In the evening our parents would "pack up the day" and our families would head to the French Quarter for beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde. 
    After "window shopping" late into the evening, we would eat hot dogs from one of the "Lucky Dog" stands for supper. 
    We would then say our goodbyes and pile into Dad's little Cheverolet Coupe and head back to Lafayette on Highway 90! (no Interstate). Crowded together in the back seat of the car, shoulder to shoulder, legs everywhere, we four children, with pillows scrunched up, slept all of the way home.
    I miss those days.