SELA 2012 Cancelled

I want to renew this thread now that NFL 2012 is in the history books.   Bob and I had a chance to meet with some of the members planning to make it to SELA this year and we got some good ideas about things to do.

One of the the things we talked about was maybe a guided fishing trip.  Bob knows some fellas that do it for a living and I'm willing to bet we will be treated extra special.  There will be more info about this a bit later but if we can get a minimum of 4 people to commit the costs are fairly reasonable.  Plus you have the benefit of a guide that knows where the fish are and is experienced working with people from outside of the area or are new to fishing.  Bring your lunch, a couple of soft drinks and you're ready to go.  They'll even clean the fish for you.    We can fry them up at the gathering or you can take them home.

We also talked about touring New Orleans,  If enough of you want to schedule a Voodoo tour or cemetery tour I'm willing to bet there are group rates.  Liz and I grew up down here so we can help out with the non-tourist stuff.   Drinks at Pat O'Brien's, the street car ride down St. Charles Ave,  Mint Juleps on the veranda at the Column's hotel, eating and window shopping in the Quarter, maybe even a super sized fried seafood platter at Deanie's.   Lots to do and experience and it's only a bit over an hour away from SELA. 

A lot of people enjoyed watching Bob and I cook up our Cajun specialties at NFL, maybe we can plan a cooking class or two

Make plans to attend, there should be lots of football on the big screen, lots of good food and a bunch of great times with our SMF friends.  If you have suggestions for the menu now is the time to mention it.  

Well judging from the way we handled the Bama butt kicking if Florida can beat us then I guess we'll just man up and want to fire the coach like every other fan does!  We have a QB this year,  watch out!

Hope you can make it Mark,  I'd like to see a nice long caravan coming from the East bringing fresh vegetables from the greenhouse! 

Drop it,  He He, I forgot about that for a minute!  For sale  BCS Championship Trophy, slightly damaged,  super glue included.

Updating the thread with a tentative menu in the original post.   I know all you local guys asked about making a dish last year so sign in and let us know what you want to do!

There was a great deal of interest in scheduling a fishing trip during the gathering.  I checked some websites of guides I trust and it looks like the cost is $600 for a boat of 3 people.  As you add people the per person cost should go down a bit.   The cost includes tackle, bait, fuel and fish cleaning.    Right now they are having a great year with the speckled trout and redfish.   Depending on when we decide to make the trip I would like to try and go.   It will be a bit of a ride from the farm to the dock because the guides I recommend fish out of Hopedale.  If you have never done this it is quite an experience and may be worth coming or staying a day or two more just to go fishing.   Right now they are limiting out on specs in the 2 to 3 lb range and LA's limit is 25 per person.  The trip is normally 6 to 7 hours long.  If the boat limits on trout the guides will normally go after redfish to try and fill that limit of 5.  October is a transition month for fishing in Louisiana so you should get a tour of the oil rigs in Bay Eloi and Breton Sound as well as the marsh.  The cost of the trip is almost worth the cost of the sightseeing tour.  Plenty of brown and white pelicans as well as countless seabirds. 

I also looked at a swamp tour in the Pearl River.  Dr. Wagner has been in operation for as long as I can remember.  The cost is between 15 and 20 dollars per person and the tour will last about 2 hours.  They are scheduled several times a day with the last trip in the late afternoon.  You can normally count on seeing Gators (the kind with teeth), osprey, eagles and numerous other birds and wildlife.  Pearl River is a beautiful swamp and kids always enjoy the boat ride.

There are many cemetery and Voodoo tours in the French Quarter.  Their costs are normally about 20 dollars for a walking tour.  Since SELA is in October they should have evening ghost and vampire tours.  They are cheap enough that just having someone walk you through the quarter is worth the money.  I have never done one of those but they make a great addition to the street car or carriage rides. Don't forget New Orleans has a world class zoo, aquarium, insectarium and antique or art shopping.  The parks along the river are great places to eat poboys or muffalettas and drink and ice cold Barq's root beer while you watch the ships go by.

We hope to have a very good local turnout this year and I can bet they all have ideas and experiences they can share with you.

Great news that you will be in town Ahron.  I'll try and work on getting you a spot in the camper   Bring ear plugs!!

Sorry I haven't been more active in promoting this recently but I had a week or two of poor health and I am just now getting back into the swing of things.

I am going to start contacting some of the people that have expressed interest and see what kind of attendance to expect.  I do know it will be bigger and better then ever! 

Those of you that are expecting to attend please drop me a pm or post to the thread, it goes a long way to making sure we have what we need.

AfricanMeat, Ahron

I sent you a pm with maps to SELA!  Let me know if you need more info or driving directions.

Al 

Just want to remind everyone that I'll have the smokehouse going with pecan and oak if you want to take advantage of the cold smoke.  I'll have a couple of bellies going and probably some cured sausage.  It sure is hot now but October is still a ways a way and maybe we can get some cooler weather in here!