At 07:52 PM 9/16/1999 -0400, Ramona wrote: [SNIP] >Jan--Thank you for the information about yourself. >I would love to visit Louisiana for the cooking---visiting the >cemeteries--and Anne Rice's Ghost Tour. The cooking is the best anywhere. I KNOW you folks cook good too, but you never hear of anyone going up there for the food. ;o) The cemeteries here are above the ground with vaults. Even over here on the west side of the state. The ground water level is so high, especially in south LA that folks have to be up higher than up thar in the high country! >The thought of attending the Mardi Gras scares me---have you been to the >Mardi Gras--is it as wild as it seems? Yes it's wild. I have been, but not since the early 70's. I used to go when I was a little girl but things were a LOT different then. That was in the 50's. Even then, we wouldn't go on Canal Street. We (hubby and I) lived there in the early 70's. Folks start Mardi Gras on the 12th night of Christmas, so there is much more to it than just MG day. In fact the schools in NO close the two weeks before. There are parades every day and lots of parties. Those are great. It's just the ones on the weekend of Mardi Gras that get rough. King Cake is what I love about it. It is like a big cinnamon roll with lots of powdered sugar icing on it but it is shaped like an oval tire (hole in the middle) It is about 13 x 9 and they bake a little plastic doll in the cake. The deal is that who ever gets the piece with the doll in it has to have the next king cake party. Well...guess I've rambled enough. Jan