"Hey! Philadelphia!"

That was the greeting of recognition, "Hey! Philadelphia!," that called to us one Friday afternoon in Lafayette (LA).

We had attended the first "Bach Lunch" program held at Parc San Souci in downtown Lafayette. Sans Souci means “without care” or “no worries” and the park's grassy areas, covered with chairs and blankets that local Bach Lunch veterans had set up, was the perfect setting in which to relax and welcome Spring.

We took one of the permancent benches near the spray fountain, but relatively far away from the gazebo and the performers. The sounds of the kids running through the spray competed with the jazz sounds of WATIV from New Orleans.

Each of us had enjoyed a box lunch from local restaurants--my jambalaya from Rivals Sports Bar and




Kate's catfish from Hub City Diner. Even under less than ideal serving conditions the dishes were both hot, full of flavor, and good to the last bite.

The Lafayette Science Museum Foundation presents the Bach Lunch concert series. All proceeds from the sale of the box lunches benefit the Lafayette Science Museum's exhibition and educational programming.
And it was one of the volunteers from the Museum who had recognized us with the "Hey! Philadelphia!" greeting. Pleased with the excited recognition, we turned to find JoEllen smiling and calling us over to her position behind the cashier's table.

She picked up where the conversation had ended some 15 days earlier when we first met while waiting for one of the Lafayette Mardi Gras parades to begin.

The people, the food, and the music of this area are special.

Two other venues for music have been the subject of earlier (November, '08) entries are The Coffee Break (left) and the Liberty Theater. The late Saturday morning jam sessions at The Coffee Break in Breaux Bridge take place in a small, confortable setting.

I should have said "took" place, because we recently learned that this little coffee shop is now closed. So, no more consulting the list of coffee selections (in the boat on the wall),










no more community gathering place, and no more connecting with other fellow musicians over a Cajun waltz or two-step.










The day we were there, we were part of a ten-person audience which heard a group of six performers, three of whom are shown here.















































And then there's the "Rendez-vous des Cajuns" Cajun Music Radio & TV Show held in the Liberty Theater in Eunice.

The show, sometimes called a "Cajun Grand Ole Opry," featured perfor-mances by "Cajun" August Broussard & Friends (above), followed by Pete Bergeron & the Bayou Boys (below).

A good portion of the spoken words of the show are in Cajun French, but fortunately the popcorn and music were in a language we could understand.