It's been a wet rainy winter and the Tuesday Group has had some soggy days. Today was no exception. Sort of. Today we celebrated Mardi Gras with a hike at New Quarter Park. It's been awhile since we did a hike here. And just about 20 years since TATC helped build 3 miles of walking trails. The Tuesday Group has its roots in the construction of those trails. Cloudy skies greeted eighteen Tuesday groupers as we assembled at the outer parking lot of New Quarter Park. A light rain fell-more of a heavy mist-as we gathered that morning. We had two newcomers today! Carmen, who learned about the TG at the Winter Wildlife Festival. And Mike who was supposed to join a birding walk with a local Master Naturalist group. But he was the only one that showed up! Evidently he hadn't gotten the message that their hike had been cancelled. I invited him to join our group, and he did! Our day began at the tailgate of my truck as I invited everyone to sample some New Orleans King Cakes in celebration of Mardi Gras! King Cakes are frosted seasonal cakes eaten between January 6 (Twelfth Night) and Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras). The cakes display several colors: purple for justice, gold for power and green for faith. Traditionally a little plastic baby is baked into the cake. This symbolizes the infant jesus. It's considered good luck if you get the piece with the baby (providing you don't choke or break a tooth) and you get to host the next King Cake party! Everyone had a piece and no one got the baby (it was "on the side"). Sherri also brought a cake that Richard had baked, as well as some Mardi Gras beads for everyone to wear. It was quite a celebration and a good way to begin our hike. Celebrating that morning were: John, Gayle, Stephanie, Steve, Bruce, Margaret, Catherine, Dan, Bob, Bill, Sherri and Dickens, Mark, Kevin, Carmen, Ellis, Marti, Susan, Mike and me, Phyllis. And everyone's best friend, Aubrey. We began our hike just as the clouds started to part and within 1/2 hour or so, the sun was starting to show. (Stephanie was very happy about this!) It was a bit windy and we had to be wary of falling limbs. We hiked Loops 1-4 before taking a short break at the fire ring. Then we hiked Loop 5 and 6. We decided not to go out to the point at Loop 7. It's a nice view of Queens Creek and the York River there but we were getting close to our lunch time. So we headed back along Loops 8 and 9. The trails are still in remarkably good shape though Loop 9 could use some work towards the end. After a brief stop at the restroom, we headed back to our vehicles. A few had to head home but the rest of us (16) drove over to Shortys Diner for lunch. (This was not a low calorie day!) We had to split up into smaller groups but the food and conversation was great. After lunch, we reconvened at the tailgate of my truck once again to eat some more King Cake! I'm afraid the calories outdistanced the 5 or 6 miles we walked today but we had a wonderful day. Hooray for the Tuesday group!
Phyllis
PS>>>Thanks for buying my lunch!!!!
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Thanks for a wonderful Mardi Gras, Phyllis!
Laissez les bons temps rouler!!!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2Ru6qrDR7pXPYxqW6
Sherri
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Thanks to Phyllis for leading this hike. The day started out cold and rainy. The Mardi Gras beads and the King Cakes seemed to help bring out the sunshine for our hike!
The lunch at Shorty's was lots of fun.
Bill