A Streetcar Named Zydeco Special

Last weekend was spent in New Orleans at Jazz Fest. If you don't know about jazz fest, I'll start by saying it's the most awesome thing ever. Ever. It's a two weekend long music festival with something like 64 performances each day. It's awesome.

Day 1: Saturday

We arrive in NOLA and check into Erin's friend's of a friend's apartment...On JACKSON SQUARE! Margaritas commenced immediately. Then something bad happened. On the way to catch the bus to the fair grounds, I found out I had a parking ticket. Soooo we had to move the car. Then we took a 45-minute ride on a streetcar named Zydeco Special. Then there was a 20-minute walk from the streetcar to the fair grounds. Finally there was sitting and festing. Here are some things we saw that first day:

Ludacris
Norah Jones
A Plastic Alligator Po Boy on a 10-foot high stick
Lots of Sun Burn
Alexa Rae Joel
Lots of garbage
Lots of men with their shirts off that shouldn't have had their shirts off

After a long trip back, a disco nap, and a long night out on Bourbon Street, day 2 began early

Day 2: Sunday

We awake early due to a man singing hymns on the street below our balcony. During breakfast we watch a race go by with many talented "speed walkers". Most people pack up and leave at that point, leaving only us die hards for a second day. Here things go a little wrong.

Lauren was planning on driving Erin and I to my car so we could drive to jazz fest (we weren't wanting to brave the streetcar again). But then we realized Lauren's car had gotten towed. There were many curses and loud sighs before we called the whole city of Gulfport to find her car, all the while now WALKING to my car. Lauren's car was fine though and we then came across some good car Karma, for we beat the odds and got a free parking spot within 10 minutes walking of Jazz fest. On Day 2 of Jazz Fest (which was mostly Erin and me) we saw:

Jerry Lee Lewis
An art vendor from Rockaway, NJ
The inside of the blues tent (the shade was a nice break)
Clarence "Frogman" Thomas
Marcia Ball (look her up, she's great)
Lots of middle aged people dancing their pants off, mostly in the Jerry Lee Lewis area
Some hallucinations because it was so hot
Brad Paisley

There was some worry late in the day because Linda was supposed to meet us but was running late and was at the wrong entrance. It was crazy, but we found her. An alligator Po Boy on a 10-foot pole would have made finding her lots easier.

That night we all crashed hard and slept like the dead. It was awesome.


Separately from all that, my parents visited this week and we had a great time. They were very helpful at Andy's Club and paid for lots of things, which I appreciated.

We spent Thursday through Saturday in Natchez, MS visiting many historic homes and learning all about the ridiculous Natchez society. They have a pilgrimage each year to get tourists there. In each home a member of the garden club is dressed up in period costume. It's a BIG deal apparently. More importantly though, during this time, someone is elected Queen and King of the Pilgrimage which means they have to spend $50,000 on costumes and attend many balls and parties. It's ridiculous and so backwards that it's wonderful.

Finally, I would highly recommend the B&B we stayed at. It was called The Briars and sat overlooking the MS River on beautiful gardens and walking paths.

Whew! That was a long one, but now you're all caught up!