we learn to play accordion...

more on that later in the post-

our day started out with dancing lessons (I of course have a tear in my left knee meniscus so was unable to join in- LOL- thank god for small favors- LOL) but everyone seemed to have a really good time and the teachers (Lou & Cal Courville) were very patient.

after dancing we went on a city tour of Lafayette - many murals on buildings and a number of lovely parks -

 

 

then on to Dwyers (which was one of the Plate Lunch places featured in the movie last night called "Raised on Rice and Gravy"

 

 

 

Phil had the chicken and I had the meatball stew- both were yum yum yummy!

then we went back to the hotel for a lecture on Louisiana history which was extremely interesting including a little known fact that West Florida was once an independent nation! who knew???? the woman (Diane Monteleone) who lectured was fabulous and knew her material- we could have had another hour with her no problem! but- we needed to move along to the accordion factory!

 

where we met Junior Martin and his daughter Pennye and his grandson Joel!

Pennye gave us a brief history of the accordion and some information about the various styles of instruments-

and Joel gave us similar information but about the standard Cajun accordion...

Penny added some more about the manufacturing process-

then they all gave us an in-house concert of some of the local music!

even Junior's dog joined in-

afterward we were free to explore the company quarters-

then we headed straight to DeanO's for pizza samplers which were fab! - I liked the Cajun Executioner and Phil loved the Jacques Boudreaux

tomorrow is our final day of the course (boo hoo! - we have been having such a good time and learning so much we really aren't ready quite yet...)