Louisiana Vacation Recap We flew from PDX to Dallas/Fort Worth airport Wednesday. Had BBQ from The Salt Lick in the airport. Not as good as going to the actual Salt Lick restaurant in Austin but still good compared to any BBQ from around Tillamook. We got into Baton Rouge Wednesday night and checked into Hotel Indigo in the old Downtown. Headed out to watch the Blazer game at a bar downtown called Lucys Retired Surfers Bar and Restaurant. I noticed several people exit their car with beer and wondered why the police didnt take notice. Drinking rules are much more lax in Louisianan then in Oregon apparently. We took a late night walk on the levy I and peed into the Mississippi river for the first time. It was pretty gross looking and I didnt want to get to close. Very dirty. We woke up Thursday morning and drove to New Orleans with Barrett. We hung out in the french quarter and had drinks in all the bars up and down Bourbon Street. We got a drink at the alleged oldest bar in the United States Lafittes Blacksmith Shop Bar. It was built in 1772 and has been in operation since. I enjoyed my first Daiquiri (what we call a slushy but it has liquor in it). We later walked by the other building that claims to be the oldest building still standing in New Orleans the Ursuline Convent (1733). We ate lunch at a cool old bar called Coops Place in the French Quarter on Decatur St. At a bar down the street named Aunt Tikis legend has it that one day a customer told the bar tender there was a dead mouse under his chair and the bartender replied “what do you want me to do about it” and everyone continued to drink on. I could see this happening because pretty much every place is dirty and stinky. The French quarter kind of has a smell about it that is a mixture of human waste, barf, old peoples house, and a freshly scrapped loafing barn floor. We went to listen to some music in Congo Square and Louis Armstrong Park. Formerly known as Place de Negres, it took its name from the tradition of slaves who gathered there on Sundays, their day off, to sing, beat drums, sell home-made goods, and celebrate. Then we ate dinner at Dat Dog a sausage place on Frenchman street and people watched from the second story porch for an hour or so. I was still having a hard time with how it is ok to take your drink outside and walk around town with it. We then walked back and checked into Hampton Inn New Orleans-Downtown French Qtr Area. Steph and I decided we needed a little more to eat later and went to Daisy Dukes and had some Alligator Sausage. Then we called it a night. Woke up Friday and picked up Barrett at his buddies house. We found out his neighborhood was under 14 feet of water after Katrina. Hard to believe and a good thing most of their living space is on the second story. Then we headed to Jazz Fest to listen to music. We heard Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie, Lil’ Buck Sinegal Blues Band, Dee-1, and The Avett Brothers. I also bought a cool hat and ate my first Snow Ball. Snow balls are called snow cones in Oregon but they have a scoop of ice cream in the middle and have condensed milk or cream poured over them along with the flavored syrup. Very yummy when it is over 90 degrees and humid. After an amazing time at Jazz fest we drove back to Baton Rouge to stay the night and meet up with one of Barretts friends Lanise. After we checked into the Raddison hotel Steph and I went out to have dinner at a place called The Bulldog. It had probably 100 beers on tap and was a pretty nice place. The food wasnt great but I enjoyed the beer selection. Then we went back to the hotel to watch the Blazer game. We got pretty excited and got a noise complaint about our room. Lanise said she had never got in trouble when she was hanging out with white folks before. The next day we got up and had brunch with Barrett, Lanice, Jeremy, Anna, and their daughter. We were all supposed to be in the wedding that day so we called it the disengagment party. The place we ate was TJ Ribs. They have much LSU memorabilia including the 1959 Billy Cannon Heisman Trophy and a pair of signed Shaq basketball shoes. Steph and I then went on a tour of the Bluebonnet Swamp nature center. There were lots of turtles in the pond by the parking lot and they had a large number of snakes and other small animals to look at in displays. Then we drove down the River Road and got a snowball to cool us down while we sat on top of the levee and watched the muddy river flow by. We then drove by Tiger Stadium and I got a picture with the kitty. The stadium is huge and looks even bigger because the highest point in the entire state is Driskill Mountain at 535 feet above sea level. I think the stadium might be that high. Everything is so flat! Steph and I then went back to our hotel to get ready for a crawfish feed with some of Laneses friends in the Gamma Alpha Psi Fraternity. This turned out to be some really good food and some interesting people. The crawfish boil was delicious and I must have eaten 200 along with corn, sausage and potatoes. The secret is the seasoning in the brine. It was also the first time I have ever been a quadruple minority. I was white, male, straight, and a northerner. This made me stick out quiet a bit but all the people were very hospitable and answered all my dumb crawfish eating questions. After that we went out to have a drink at Chelseas Cafe and listened to some more great music by Erin Miley and Jodi James. Jodi James was really really good. Then we called it a night. The next day was Sunday and we got up early to head to Lafayette. We stared the day with a catholic mass in French and then listened to music the rest of the day at Festival international de Louisiane. Two of the more interesting bands were Ten Strings and a Goat Skin and Radio Radio. Most everything was in French and I couldnt understand what they were saying but it was fun. I also liked ending the day with Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole. Zydeco music seems to have a way to make you want to dance. We then went out to dinner and a double date with Barrett and Kayrn at some restaurant, it was pretty fancy and expensive but Barrett paid so that was ok. Then we went to a dive bar and coffee house called Caffe Cottage to watch the Blazer game. Yes is was an espresso bar on on side and drinking bar on the other. You can still smoke in some bars in Louisiana so that was kind of lame but one of the cooks was from Oregon and a couple people were from Houston so everyone was pretty into the game. Then we went to our roach motel for the night. It was a good place to stay in preparation for our morning swamp tour. Monday we got up early and headed to Lake Martin for a swamp tour. We learned a lot from Shawn who is an expert on the Acadiana swamplands and showed us all kinds of animals including Gators. But he thinks they are stupid and all the other animals are more interesting. Thank you Cajun Country Swamp Tours your knowledge was local knowledge was much appreciated. We saw bald eagles, herons, turtles, and many many more. We then drove around the Breaux Bridge area and had breakfast at a cafe in St. Martinville and walked in the Acadian Memorial and looked at the Saint Martin De Tours Church. I was interested to learn that most of the original inhabitants of the area (Besides Native American tribes) were French Canadian refugees that were kicked out of Canada and relocated to Louisianan. We drove around in the country side for a bit and got some Craklins on our way back to Baton Rouge. Driving over the swamp is pretty intense when you are on a bridge for like 50 miles traveling the I-10. This highway apparently goes from Los Angels to Florida. We dropped Barrett off at his house and check into our hotel the Belle of Baton Rouge Hotel and Casino. This was a nice place. A little bit old but still clean and nice. We headed out to Walk-ons for some dinner. This place was a classic sports bar and all the waitresses wore cheer leading outfits. It was next to LSU campus and had a lot of college kids. We went for one last walk on the Levee and saw some rats and other animals coming and going out of the muddy gross Mississippi river. The next day we got up with the intention of driving to the Mississippi Gulf Coast with some stops along the way but the weather didnt look good for the beach. I think I heard it rained 10 inches in some places that day. We decided to go to the Abitta brewery in Abita Springs. They had some great beer and we made friends with the locals and ended up staying for most of the day. We got to try some delicious home made crawfish bisque with stuffed crawfish heads. Amazing! We then headed back to Baton Rouge to say goodbye to Barrett. We ate dinner at Fleur de Liz Pizza. Very old school place with rectangle shaped pizza that was tasty. We then went back and threw some bones with Barrett and a had a teary goodbye. Wednesday morning we got up and headed for the airport and made our way back to Oregon. Probably a pretty rare day that the temperature in Louisiana was colder (70s) then when we got back to Tillamook. It was 88 that day in the Mook a record. Overall a great trip and I have no idea how we fit some much in.
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 18:34:14 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015