See You at the Fish Fry

On Tuesday, I shared with you photos I took at a Bahamian cemetery. The reason I was near that cemetery was because I was in the area for the weekly fish fry. The event starts at 6 p.m., so if you arrive earlier, the place looks like this:

But if you arrive at 7 p.m., the line looks like this:

You may wonder why the heck all these people are willing to to stand in line. Here's what's being served right there on the beach:

I recommend you start with an order of conchy conch fritters, then a plate of fried fish, peas & rice and baked macaroni and cheese:

Gross? No way. No how. This is the best thing you'll have all year, and the view from your seat isn't half bad either:

Now at this point, the haters are going to ask what this has to do with genealogy. It's about creating family memories, my friends. The answer is here:

We do this once a year, every year. Won't you join us next time?

Tombstone Tuesday: Bahamian Edition

Last week I went on vacation to the Bahamas. One night, we went to the local "fish fry" on the beach. Down the road was a cemetery, so I took some pictures. 

I didn't enter the cemetery, but took pix from outside the walls. There were both older and newer grave markers.

The cemetery did not look like it was maintained on a regular basis. There is a newer, nicer cemetery down the road that is next to a neat (as in tidy) church.

This cemetery is located right next to the ocean. The picture below gives you an idea of just how close.

Though the cemetery isn't in the best condition, you must admit the view is spectacular.

I tried to find a name for the cemetery but didn't succeed. I believe the nicer cemetery down the road is Smith Point cemetery. So I'll just refer to this place as the cemetery between the Smith Point cemetery and the fish fry.

All pics were taken on Grand Bahama island. Copyright me. Special thanks to my family for pausing during the fish fry adventure so I could take these photos.

I'm back, but not quite

I'm back from vacation, but need a little extra time to catch up on everything. Therefore, for the next couple of days, I will force upon you share some vacation photos like this one:

You may be thinking this has nothing to do with genealogy, but I promise you that I was listening to genealogy podcasts while enjoying this view from my hotel room.

Best of the We Tree Genealogy Blog: Obligatory Kitty Picture

I'm taking a brief blogging break, but you won't even know that I'm gone because I've planned several posts to pop up in my absence.

For Caturday, I bring you:

Feline Hurdles in Records Management

Have a great weekend!

Best of the We Tree Genealogy Blog: Most Commented Post

I'm taking a brief blogging break, but you won't even know that I'm gone because I've planned several posts to pop up in my absence.

Today I bring you the post that's received the most comments in this blog. I must admit, I was surprised at the popularity of this piece. Since I use these ideas every day, I never thought of them as new or exciting. I'm thrilled so many people found this article helpful. I'm running it again for the newcomers:

Digital Cameras as Notepads

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Rice Capital of the World Edition

July 2010, Acadia Parish, Louisiana

Tombstone Tuesday: Under the Big Oak Tree Edition

Fuselier's Cemetery

Acadia Parish, Louisiana

July 2010

Best of the We Tree Genealogy Blog

I'm taking a brief blogging break, but you won't even know that I'm gone because I've planned several posts to pop up in my absence.

Today I want to share an early blog post in the We Tree collection. Have you ever fixated on a particular issue in your genealogy? Once upon a time, I had a poor photocopy of a picture. I wanted more and I focused my attention on finding the owner of the original. I struck out for months until I just gave up and moved on.

This post titled "Call Me Ahab" discusses this quest and how the story ends. I hope you enjoy it and it inspires you to never give up.

2010 Family Heritage Tour, Part 3

[Part 3 of 3 in a series. Part 1 here and  part 2 here. --Amy]

Yesterday was the final day in the tour of my mother's "ancestral homeland" (aka Louisiana). In the morning after checking out of the hotel, we drove out to Iota:

The town may have a big heart, but there's zero cell phone reception of which to speak. What Iota does have is a lot of rice fields:

We paid a visit to the St. Joseph church and cemetery. I've read a couple books and records that say the church was built on land my ancestors used to own. There was a big house here once upon a time.

At the cemetery, which is part of the church grounds, I showed my mom the grave site of her great grandmother, Eliza "Lizzie" Eldridge Thibodeaux Matte. At the back of this photo is also the marker of Eliza's daughter Malina Thibodeaux, who is the great-aunt of my mom.

In another section of the same cemetery, there is a marker for Josephine DeGreve Bourgaux, who is my mom's great-great grandmother from Belgium. The stone also shares the names of two of Josephine's grandchildren. Upon seeing this marker, my mom realized that her own grandmother Josephine was named for this woman:

After that, we drove around Iota, which took about 2 minutes. Then we took the slow road home.

My mom doesn't *do the genealogy* like I do, but I think she really enjoyed this trip. She had heard stories of Acadia Parish from her parents, but had never been there. Now she has pictures, memories and new cousins.  And the food...we can't forget the food!

2010 Family Heritage Tour, Part 2

[Part 2 of 3 in a series. Part 1 here and part 3 here. --Amy]

Day 2 in the 2010 Family Heritage Tour of my mom's "ancestral homeland" started early. We had a lot to do.

First, we headed out to the area where my great-great grandfather was killed in 1889. According to the newspaper articles, he stole his neighbor's wife, and flaunted the fact around town. Then he stole the neighbor's horse and that sent the guy over the edge. Anyway, here's the scene of the crime:

Last time I visited, this field was rice. I'm think these might be soybeans:

Near the scene of the crime, there was a cemetery. We stopped to see if my great-great grandfather was buried there. I've never found a grave for him and I didn't here, either:

I thought it was an interesting stop. My mom, not so much. She stayed in the car. There she is in the front seat:

For lunch, we met my mom's second cousin at Chef Roy's. We had never met before today, and this meeting was the product of a letter I sent out of the blue in March. We had a wonderful meal. She shared pictures and I feel like I hit the jackpot. I have a photo of my third-great grandmother and a possible contact with a cousin in Belgium. We'll see what happens. After lunch, we visited some more and saw some family homes.

I think my parents had a good time and my son wasn't entirely bored so it's a good day in my terms.

For dinner, we went here:

The food was fine, but really I wanted to go there for the Cajun tunes:

As you can see, I'm serious about my food, I'm serious about my live music, and I'm serious about my Family  Heritage Tours.

Next up... we'll spend some time in Iota, Louisiana before taking the slow road home.

Click here for part 3.

2010 Family Heritage Tour, Part 1

[Part 1 of 3 in a series. Part 2 here and part 3 here. --Amy]

Today began the 2010 Family Heritage Tour, where we go to my mom's ancestral homeland. For many folks, that would be another continent. For my mom, it's Louisiana since the 1700's. This particular tour, however, is focusing on the French and Belgian immigrants who came to Acadia Parish in the 1880's.

After we crossed from Texas into Louisiana, I went south on route 27 to go to Cameron. However, I forgot there were two route 27s, and I was on the wrong one. That's ok because I got to see Holly Beach again. You'll be glad to know we didn't see any oil, just a lot of shells.

The because of my wrong turn, we had to go on the ferry to get from Holly Beach to Cameron. My son took this picture while we were waiting for the ferry:

When we got to the Cameron Parish courthouse, we paid a visit to the Civil War memorial that had my great-great grandfather's name on it (among many other who died that day):

All that travel made us hungry, so we stopped in Lake Charles for lunch:

I recommend a plate of pistolettes.

After lunch, we ventured off I-10 and took the more scenic route to our hotel. My mom got to see a bit of her "ancestral homeland" along the way. Once we got to the hotel, we chatted by the pool, which overlooks the bayou.

For dinner, we went to Prejean's, where we had delicious food and sat at a table in front of the web cam. We called my aunt in California and told her to look for us online. She said it looked like we ordered a lot of food, but I think she was just jealous that she wasn't with us. (Need I remind her of the fried pie incident? But I digress...) Maybe I can do these family heritage tours for hire...

Next up, a visit to the cemetery where my mom's great grandparents are buried and a first-time meeting with my mom's second cousin. Big day ahead on the 2010 Family Heritage Tour!

Click here for part 2.

My 2010 Family Heritage Tour

My parents are visiting from another state. In the near future, I'm am taking my mom to her "ancestral homeland." This in reality is just western Louisiana, where her family roots go back to the 1700s. 

There are a couple cemeteries to visit. We're going to walk (in the oppressive heat) around the cute little town where her great-grandparents lived. I'm also taking my mom to the scene of the 1889 murder in our family. Now it's just a rice field and I bet nobody who lives there knows the significance.

Much of the time will be spent just being part of the culture. That's just a polite way of saying we're going to eat our way across the Acadia Parish and hopefully here some good Cajun music, too.

So my dad isn't left out in this Family Heritage tour, we're also going to pay a visit to Sgt. Jones. I also want my son to see this part of our family's history and the Civil War memorial on which is ancestor is named.

And of course, we're going to do it all in the Ultimate Genealogy Purchase. I knew that thing would come in handy. When the zydeco radio station comes in somewhere around Lake Charles, we might even hit the Party Button. 

Fun With Search Terms

It's Friday and time for another rendition of "Fun with Search Terms." Here are some of the ways folks reached my blog recently. Please note that these searches are anonymous, and I don't know who performed them. Some are funny. Some are serious. I'll help when I can, but wish some would contact me when it's clear we're searching for the same thing.

we rock in the tree all day long
Now this sounds like fun! It also sounds like a line from a Jack Johnson song.

john r williamson acting governor of ark in 1844
So the story goes. He is my 4th great-grandfather. I wonder if he's related to the person doing the searching but I'll never know since he/she didn't contact me. Must not have found what they were looking for.

what does DAR do
DAR stands for the Daughters of the American Revolution. What they do is best described in their "Who We Are" page.

apg planning conference 2010
I don't know which APG the person was searching for, but if it is the Association of Professional Genealogists, then their Professional Management Conference may be the ticket.

coffin blogs
I am a coffin blog. Well, technically. Why try the rest when you have the best?

www.ancestry.com webinar June 16
You can view this particular webinar and others at Ancestry.com's webinar page.

genealogy "rock star"
Indeed. Ah, that never gets old.

Guess that's it for now. Have a great weekend!

Don't Call Me. I'll Call You

Last month, World Vital Records called me just to say hi. The lady was very nice, and she asked how my research was going. I answered all her questions. Fine. No, I don't have any brick walls right now, etc.

At that point, she must have looked at my profile on her screen and seen that I had written an article for them in the past. She then tried to sell me a copy of "Google Your Family Tree". I again said no thanks, as my master's degree in that area would suffice.

I was very polite. The lady was just doing her job, and doing it quite well in my opinion. She tried to help me, plug items and engage me in basic genealogy banter, but no sale on my end. Finally, she said thank you and that was the end of the call. I figured more information would go on my customer profile and since I wasn't buying, I'd never hear from them again.

Fast forward a few weeks to the present. One afternoon, I'm chatting online with Holly (aka awesome boss lady). At the same time, there is a massive thunderstorm and my pool is about to overflow, there's a lake in the backyard and clogged drains. For a good 20 minutes, I run between the chat inside and the pool outside. I'm juggling both these things and my son's need for attention when the phone rings...

...it's World Vital Records and they want to know how my research is going. Talk about timing!

The lady (again...polished, professional and polite) began the script, but I couldn't do it. I just asked to be taken off the call list.

I don't remember giving them my phone number, but I must have. I don't remember requesting to be called, but there is probably a box online I forgot to check somewhere.

I won't knock World Vital Records for the attempted pitch (which led to a strikeout) or the kind lady for just doing a job. It's just that I don't like telemarketing. Not even in genealogy.

Don't Try This at Home

Recently I was presented with an offer I couldn't refuse. Someone needed some items from somewhere and they would pay me to get them.

The "somewhere" was Woodson Research Center (WRC), which is the special archives section of the library at Rice University. I've always wanted to go there, but never had a reason. It's an archive, so you can't just browse the shelves. Now I had a list and a purpose.

The problem? My usual child care connection (aka school) was closed for the summer. My kid isn't old enough to stay home alone, but he is old enough to behave in fancy places. Should I take the chance? Did I have a choice?

The morning of the trip, I filled my bag with entertainment suitable for a tween. On impulse, I also included my netbook just in case there was free wifi.

Staff at the WRC were very nice. They got me situated (locker, pencil, lessons on how to use the scanner & copier). Then I got my son situated. He had his Nintendo ("Mute it," I said), his comic books and--praise the Lord--Internet on my netbook thanks to free wifi in the library.

After three hours of document retrieval and scanning (and scanning, and scanning), the boy and I took a lunch break. We found our way to the university food court and took in the atmosphere. I really think my son liked the "grown-up" experience of hanging out at a college, especially this casual area that was louder and more relaxing than the WRC.

After lunch we headed back to the windowless archive area where I asked that he sit there and entertain himself for another three hours. And you know what? He did. Awesome kid.

So when you ask what I'll be doing on July 5th, the government recognized Independence holiday, I will tell you that I am going to be sitting in a car, waiting for trains. Because that's what my son loves, and I owe him one.

And when you ask what I'm doing next week I'll tell you that I have to go back to the WRC one more time and my son is coming with me. I'm not trying to tempt fate. I'm just determined to finish this project in a timely manner.

Wish us luck.

We Tree turns 2

Happy birthday to my blog, started on July 2, 2008 with a simple post and a simple mission.

No big party planned here. Perhaps a little cake and a nap, as toddlers like both.

Plans for the coming year? Pretty much the same as this year. I look forward to where I'm going, because I know where my ancestors have been.

Now when do I get to open presents?