America: No One trick pony for sure!

[exlrrp]

I don?t know as there?s anything I do anymore that makes me as glad and proud to be an American as go to the jazzfest and crawdad fest. This is where our culture, history and way of life all come together in one place for me . They should call this the American Music Fest.
I think this aspect of our culture is America in microcosm. You can?t get over the black influence in our culture and this is also brought out here, but also all the rest (except Hispanic!). The various music genres exhibited here?Jazz in all its manifestations, blues, Zydeco, Rock and roll?these started with black people but they are not ?black? music , it took a bunch of diffferent kinds of people?Americans of all races-- to create this, a real cultural melting pot. Black people don?t play this music in Africa, No, this was put together by Americans-Louis Armstorng and Elvis, BB King and Stevie Ray Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald and the Dixie Chicks.
Ive heard it said that there is no ONE American culture but this opinion doesn?t look far enough?American culture is the circus tent that covers all the side shows, the context that holds it all together.
I love America?its history and culture, there?s nothing like it anywhere?others are mere copies. And I think our greatest strength lies in our diversity, the teriffically rich and differing expanse of our American experience?I see this everyday, there is no more diverse place in America than Richmond CA, more so than Berkeley for sure but we don?t take on big about it?its just the way it is.
I love the South, too, its part of my home, too and sometimes its my favorite part of the country. My favorite place in the country is usually the one I?m standing on at the moment?home is where you thow down yr webgear. Yall think you got the bragging rights on southern history but its my history too?I?m the son of a Southerner and a Westerner and ALL American?and CA?s history is yours too, as much as mine, so?s Minnesota?s, New Jersey?s and Colorado?s. That?s what makes our history really, REALLY rich?and its ALL ours, yours and mine.
Going to the fests I can really see this?people from all over our country come here for this?and no matter what the history, this is where America gets down and boogies together. Its no accident this happens in the South.

Sue and I flew into Baton Rouge on Wed?we like to go in and out of smaller airports(as opposed to NOLA or SFO) if possible, its easier. They were oversold on the flight from Houston to BR so they were asking if people would take a later flight?we weren?t in a hurry so we took it?they flew us to Lafayette and vanned us to BR, about 60 miles. We got there bout 1 ? hrs later than expected but they gave us a $300 fly anywhere certificate apiece?there?s Augusts trip to HI free (I stay with friends) We drove to NO, about 75 miles of the nicest freeway anywhere..

First thing th ol lrrpster does when he hits NO, after thowing down the LBE this time at the Williams Ave Holiday Inn, is to head for The Levee. This means jackson Square in the Quarter, buying some caf? Au Lait an beignets at the Caf? Du Monde and walking up and sitting on the Riverwalk park there and watching the Ole Miss roll by. I been doing this pretty steady since 1977.
This is another All American view, like looking out the Golden Gate or the Front Range. Or walking thru the French Quarter?this is another thing I do?I love walking through the dark streets of The Quarter late at night when its cool?this is when you see ghosts of people like jean Lafitte, Stanley Kowalski and the Vampire Lestat walking the streets?more Americans. This is Ambience Noir with a capital A N, the darkness with the air of intrigue and danger. One of the things I love about this place is that, tho its getting kinda themeparky, its still a WORKING themepark?people live and work there, its still home and funky, not spiffy clean and Disney. It?s a sensual experience, as is the rest of the south. I used to restore old buildings and still see a lot of work to be done here. They?ve had the good sense to develop it without changing the look and feel of it, the narrow streets, the ironwork, the smells of exotic food, music and laughter falling out the open doors.
I love to sit in an open air caf? or restaurant and watch the horses and buggies clop by?its easy to imagine being in the 18th or 19th century. I sometimes think I was born in the wrong century and sometimes here, it feels right. Safe, too, I feel MUCH better walking here than downtown San Francisco?I have to say I never encounter panhandlers and aggressive weird homeless here like as usual in SF.
I got my favorite restaurants, bars and cafe?s here too, esp Irene?s, Rita?s, th Caf? Du Monde and The Secret Garden. Southern Cuisine usually falls into 2 categories: Fried and Deep Fried but not in the Quarter?this may be the best food area in the south for diversity, nuance and exquisite taste.
Having got our feet on the ground, we just hung out and chilled Wed night.
Thu AM went down to the JazzFest?I told last year bout our little trick of parking right next to the rear entrance on La Salle Ave around the corner form th main police station?skip the $8 apiece shuttle fee that way and the cops at the back gate watch it all day? few know about this and its the safest place in the state which ain?t saying much?you still have the highest crime rate in the country, coonasses, altho you may be chahming in other aspects.
The Jazz and Heritage Fest is held on the racetrack/fairgrounds bout 2 miles outside of downtown near carrolton.There?s about 8 stages, each with a different flavor: Jazz(all kinds),Dixieland, Blues, Gospel, Cajun/Zydeco, Country, Rock, African, and a new one now: Native American. They have a bunch of side stages too besides this with history and culture talks, dance and food shows and whatnot?it?s a whole experience, not just music?think nationwide couty fair carwrecks with Rock concert.
It?s a family experience, too and here?s where you see the South-As-Family as good as anywhere. These people are used to living with each other and here you can see they actually enjoy it?little black school kids standing right next to Rebel outlaw bikers in the ice cream line and it looks good. There?s a big black school kid presence in their uniforms and a big biker presence here too which tells you about the diversity of our American experience and our tolerance and acceptance for each other also. Also similarities of taste. Lots of interracial couples and kids. There?s a low profile police presence, them strolling around dressed lightweight, heads bobbin to the music, most of em are black. Lots of herb smokin pretty openly.
Basically the day for me is strolling around doing everything but C/Z?we get PLENTY of that later in Breaux Bridge and Rockin Bowl.
For me the day is the experience?its not just the music, its watching everyone having a good time. Its also catching up with friends Ive met over the years, there?s groups coming in from everywhere and Zydeco people from all over the country hang and chill together.
We had a terrific time but that?s as usual-the lrrpster don?t go aywhere that far and pay that much money and not have a good time?I?m just cheap that way. It was hot, into the 90s so we didn?t dance that much but some. Bought one of those little battery fans with the water spray?an ALLTIME great Southern invention, don?t let the damyankees tell you they got all the ingenuity, no sirree ,not by a damsite!
The headliner of the day was Blues Travelers and they were terific, I bought couple of their CDs. We snuck out the back gate with the last song playing in our ears.We went back to the H Inn and we had it mostly to ourselves, cept for a college baseball team from Louisville, which Sue liked ogling in the pool a LOT?hadda look at her mighty stern to attract her attention. We must watch this. Tourism?s taken a big hit since 911, the shuttle van driver ( a talkative disbarred lawyer) told me his business was back to 50% down, up from 70% down. (Heheheh, he also told me some VERY scandalously cogent things bout baton Rouge politics for when the next time I?m slugging it out postwise with some unreconstructed Southerners)
Then it was HO for the Quarter again for Shrimp Patrick at the Secret Garden at Royal and St Dumaine, my secret find. Sue was feeling bad, female wise so I went out by myself, (Aw, gee, I HATE when that happens[snicker] )
Well there aint no better dance hall ANYWHERE than Mid City Lanes AKA The Rockin Bowl, its world famous. It?s a bowling alley on Carrolton and tulane with 2 seperate dance halls in it. Thu is Zydeco night and the big names are always there?tonite: Geno Delafosse and French Rockin Boogie in one and Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas in the other, $12 admission gets both. The crowd is mostly older, 30s to 50s, this is mostly boomers nationwide?see people here Ive been dancing with for years.
Well there also aint any better dance music than Zydeco anywhere, in my opinion and the ol lrrpster can swing a mighty efficent shoe in this category if I do say so?there?s others here that have seen me do it, I?ll go by what they say, not that I care. Don?t have no problem getting dance partners anyway, It may be just the huge smile on my face while I?m doing it.
It?s a great dance, sorta the louisiana lambada. People dance it different, but its customary for the woman to straddle yr right knee and sorta grind on it depending on how good a dancer you are and how they like you. Can be very stimulating for both parties, I?ll ?fess up to having to walk scrooch, legged sometimes to hide the more obvious signs. Lotsa belles looking atcha all slantendicular?this is a good sign and also when youre glad not to have the ol B & C around to fling you dagger looks. Next year I?m going by myself, first time in 5 years or maybe I?ll take my son?he was sposed to come this year but he?s still in Chile or maybe Peru now.
Well I did enjoy myself dancing and still got back in time to hit the pool and whirlpool at the HI. This is when the old lrrp likes to sit by himself and laugh his ass off thinking bout the times in VN when I thought I wasn?t going to make it. STILL Happy just to be alive, thanks to the One. It?s a religious experience, I tell ya.

Gotta go for now, I?ll finish this later

James

[phuloi]

Thank you for posting this wonderful,diverse tour in La...Beautifully described! I swear I can smell cafe and biegnets.Also love your poignant description of American music and culture.You`ve made me all the more commited to going next year.Great pic,Too!

[Packo]

Sounds like a great trip. Dan and Sallie arriving Friday.....it will be a great time!

Next time you go down to Nawlins' try the St.Charles St. Cafe. It is where all the cops eat. Best crawfish etoufee', a lot of it, and priced unbelieveably cheap. Just a thought and a new place to try, if you havn't already been there. Not far up St. Charles on way to English section, on the right next to a drug store.

Glad you guys had a great trip.....looks like your having a ball in the picture.

Packo

[chilidog]

James,
I've been surfing to "Jole' Blon" and "Don't mess with my toot-toot."
I haven't seen any of that stuff that you are talking about and I live here. I think that you can see the colors because you have seen the darkness. That's just one more reason that I appreciate all of you guys.

I really enjoyed the visit and I'm looking forward to next year.

chilidog

[exlrrp]

?I went down to the Audubon Zoo
And they all axed for you?
What all could I do?
They all axed for you.?
(old Zydeco song)


Friday Am we spent just in the quarter, eating sumptuously and cruising NO a little. One of NO?s personality things I like is to park out in Audubon Park near Loyola and take the St Charles Streetcar into downtown. This is a classic old streetcar line the only one left in the South I know about (anybody?) It?s a great ride for $2.50 round trip The little old open air trolleys bump and grind down the grassy lane in the middle of St Charles Ave several miles at about 20mph. This is the Avenue of some of the nicest old mansions, ante and post bellum, in the South, almost all restored. Some Historic Churches, Sacred Coeur, Touro Synagogue, St Charles Hospital, some nice old Hotels and inns. There?s several old cemeteries here too with their above ground tombs. These are fun for history buffs to cruise thru. This is called the Garden District and Magazine street, a couple blocks over, is the hippy college kid district with coffeeshops and bookstores.
New Orleans has some pretty distinctive architecture and there?s a lot of old buildings around NO waiting to be restored?you can see the whole warehouse/waterfront district west of riverwalk will be developed into lofts and galleries a la the SOMA district of SF. All the real industry moved to the West Bank, containers killed the longshore docks, same same as SF.
Theyre adding to the streetcar lines now which is good, going to connect the riverwalk line with the St Charles line on Canal and extend another line all the way out Canal to City Park. (interesting historical note: They had a streetcar line here but they took this line out rather than desegregate it) (another historical note: This means there will once again be a streetcar named Desire, no kidding, this is planned--Desire is a neighborhood thats comng back)I hope they continue to use the old style cars like on the other lines.
Walking around Downtown NO I?m always struck about how black the inhabitants are, sort like walking around the streets of Nassau?this is because there?s a much higher % of Oriental and Hispanics where I live. I hope they rejuvenate this part soon along with the trolley line. There?s a bunch of buildings just waiting to be restored, you don?t see that many around here, theyre all snapped up?maybe what NO need is a bunch of immigrants to spruce the place up, maybe add some Ant Climbing Tree or Chicken Tikkun to Southern menus. Its damn hard to find a decent taco in the south(not Texas!)?I think some enterprising carpetbaggers could make a fortune setting up Burrito shops such as are popular here. I see theyre getting sushi bars even in Lafayette .Its also hard to find a good salad in the south, probly because you can?t fry it?they think a salad is lettuce with dressing?the best I found: At TGIF.
Hey?NOs got as many red light runners as SF does, no sht.
Then we took the leisurely cruise up to Lafayette, up the impending 49 corridor.
I moved to New Orleans in 1977 after going thru a professional divers course in La Jolla. I?d worked as a pro diver in HI and was looking for work as an oilfield diver. I found it some, and also working as a welder and const rigger, worked the Gulf Coast from Biloxi to Galveston. I drove all these levee roads, catching crewboats and helicopters in venice, Grand Isle, Houma, morgan City, Patterson , Port of Iberia, Lake Charles, beaumont, Buffalo Bayou.I been to Avery Island where they make Tabasco Sauce (Tour the factory!). This is bayou country to the max and where I became aware of Cajuns and Zydeco. There?s a big French influence here, many locals speak it or a bastardised version, anyway.
I lived in Algiers, which is right across the river from NO, shared an apt with 3 other guys who also worked offshore. I had a Dodge Tradesman van with bed and CB and did some extensive cruising, sleeping in const yards and parking lots when not offshore , in the apt maybe 6 nights a month(it?s the offshore culture) I did this for almost 2 years. Its still nostalgia for me to cruise through these places, esp down Engineers Road in Jefferson, worked several places there, also Avondale Shipyard. There?s some mighty industry there, its still kind of surprising to be out in the boondocks and round the corner on some levee road and be confronted by a huge oil rig laying on its side on barges being shoved down some bayou by a pushboat.. All these back bayous have some mahor industry tucked down em.
Got to Lafayette and went with the Holiday Inn-Patsy, they lady we stayed with last year is in Europe. Then we went out to Breaux Bridge, 8 miles out of Lafayette for the Craw fish Fest?Friday Night: geno Delafosse, Steve Riley and the mamou Playboys and lil Band Of Gold
Sat Am, I met Ron?he was staying in the Holiday Inn. We went cruisin in his Mustang after breakfast. It?s the fastest car Ive been in lately, we were up over 100 afore I knew it. Ive gotten to know and love Ron over the years, he?s just one of of those all time people, someone I really wanted to meet. You won't find a better guy and my girlfriend thinks I'm loonier(she don't read the posts)--also said he was goodlooking(??) We cruised around a while through Oppo and Eunice telling war stories, dishing on yall,had some good laughs then went out to the crawdad Fest. A salute to all 3 year E4s, fck the lifers!
Saturday is the big day at the Crawfish Fest. This is not near as big as the Jazz fest, in Parc Hardy, a small fairgrounds. This is even more of a family affair, they got carnival rides here along with the music. Got more cops around too?every cop in 4 parishes (counties) is there, but most of em are just siting around talking or cruising around on their quadratracks. They could improve the situation a lot if they put a little time on trafic control but maybe not?they fck it up pretty bad, guess traffic control don?t mean much out in the boondocks. Example: While driving in this time, all of a sudden a cop stopped the line and started waving us onto a side road leading away. This happened less than 2 blockss away from the Fest. Everybody followed obediently. I got about ? mile down the road before I realised it went nowhere, that we were heading directly away for no reason. I knew that because it happened the first time I went there also?that time I got 10 miles away and completely lost before I realised the cop had fcked up and sent us completely the wrong way. So this time I turned around, made a left turn and got right back in the original line. Other people not so fortunate to know this went way the hell out and got lost. Dave did this and was over an hour late getting there. There seems to be no reason for this?when I asked the cop the first time why he had directed me that way he answered very rudely that if I didn?t know where I was going, why should he? I mean you go where the cop points, right? I think someone makes a left and then he starts waving everybody that way just for fun. They sure have a lot more cops than they need here, probly just to collect some OT. Strategic Parking can save a lot of time (Hint: Park at the Walmart)
The Crawdad Fest is like the word series of Cajun Zydeco, EVERYBODY is there. They have 2 stages going all the time and there?s ANOTHER Zydeco Fest on the same day in the same town.
The best music anywhere, for me. Accordions Rule!! It was in the 90s most of the day, which is hot esp when humid. We bought some $5 folding chairs and umbrellas at the Walmart.
Ive said before that Louisiana residents top CA residents volummetrically by considerable, it is definitely the Land of The Big Black Butt and there?s some pretty good size white butts there too. Sue likes the place because she says it makes her look like she lost 10 lbs. I spect this may be due to local nutrition which varies mainly between Fried and Deep Fried.
You wonder how people can sit around eating all this hot fried food?fried onions, crawdads, turkeylegs, etc--during the max heat of the day. Well, Louisiana is full of people walking around in long sleeve denim shirts that never lose that starched crease, even while dancing, they look like they never sweat-this in the 90s with high humidty. Well one of the things that keeps it cool is the excellent homemade lemonade they sell there. You buy one of those sipping glasses, bout a quart, for $4 and refills are only $2?a great deal.
Dave showed up an hour after we were sposed to meet, having gone down the wrong road as directed by the police. Made me feel a little better when I realised a local had gotten caught there too?I still don?t understand this, its dumb. Glad I posted thd picc of me sailing--he printed it out and had it looking for me, after I waited 1/2 hour by the Budweiser booth--he recognised the hat.
Ron had disappeeared by this time so me and Dave hung out there for a while, he had to leave early but thre lrrpster stayed there bumpin with the ladies until 10:00pm--thank God they teach endurance at Recondo School.
The next day had breakfast with Ron again, then went to the fest again until it closed with Andre Thiery. Andre is a local boy for us in the bay Area, we?ve been watching him play since he was 14. We hit some clubs that night?El Sido?s and Slim?s Y-Ki-Ki.
Dave invited us to spend some time with him over to Zachary (right by Baton Rouge) so we drove over there on Monday. We took the scenic route, driving from Lafayette up thru Alexandria and over to Natchez, then down 61 to Zachary. I?m really glad I went this way?this is the prettiest part of LA and MS Ive seen and Ive never been to Natchez before, either, always drove down the middle of the state. I really liked that rolling, beautiful savanna, We cruised Rosemont, tipping the old Raiders cap to jeff Davis and also Oakley Plantatuion where Audubon sketched birds--beautiful. Natchez is a kick, too..
Dave and Darlene showed us their house, it is magnificent, they?ve done a fine job.I work with designers/decorators a lot and none of them do better and some not so good. These are really talented people?offered them a job out in CA working for me but they said no. You won't find friendlier, nicer people than these folks either.
Then we had to run for the plane.

Another great Southern adventure, I?m looking forward to next year already

James

Happy just to be alive

[exlrrp]

Hope they don't mind me posting this

Darlene and Dave and the realChilidog

[exlrrp]

Jes kickin it to Horace trahan and the Ossun Playboys in Breaux Bridge. This is a highly complex dance move--Don't try this at home, kids!-- called the California Turn--we started it in CA and then named it after ourselves because, well, we're really cool.
yeah you right!

james
Happy just to be alive!!

[sn-e3]

James the stories and pics are great made me feel just like i was there. you ever think of becoming a travel writter you critique things very well thanks friend your brother chris