Saturday, May 06, 2006

Friday continued....

The cab ride out to the Fairgrounds gave us a feel for some of the devastation that occurred here. Street after street with few signs of life. Rubble everywhere. The cabbie said they were about 4 feet underwater at one point. But then you would see some commercial activity. Strange sight.

Out to Jazzfest early for Mark must leave us at 2 to catch his 4 o'clock flight back to CT. He will rejoin us on Saturday night. When you arrive this early, it can be a LONG day. The festival runs from 11am to 7pm daily so lots of music, food and.....beer.

Lots of great music on this hot, sunny day kicking off with organist Joe Krown at the Southern Comfort Blues Stage. As we await Wayne Toups, who will follow Krown, we sneak over to the Sheraton Fais Do-Do Stage and catch a few accordian/fiddle efforts from the Pine Leaf Boys. Back to see a great set by Wayne Toups and Zydecajun, who whips the large crowd into a frenzy with his enthusiastic playing.

Getting hungry. We sample some of the great food booths. Everything shared for maximum efficiency; a helping is about $5. Crawfish strudle, Crawfish Monica, Cuban sandwich, Natchitoces meat pie, pheasant/quail/andouille gumbo, crawfish bread, cochen de lait po-boy (pork), Creole chicken & tasso w/ Creole rice, Creole sweet potato pone. No longer hungry!

More music, beers, standing :Marcia Ball, Doug Kershaw, Marva Wright & the BMWs, Eric Lindell, the Chris Owens Show (think a stripper doing Vegas), Little Freddie King Blues Band (with our boy Bobby on harmonica), Lil Brian & Zydeco Travelers and finishing up with Koko Taylor & Her Blues Machine. My legs are killing me! Off to the bar across from the fairgrounds for beers and more music. When we finally decide to catch a cab back, there are no cabs to be caught. More walking until we finally find one.

No rest for the weary. Shower and a walk downtown, ending up at Emiril's Nola for dinner. Upstairs via elevator to our table where we endure a very noisy birthday party nearby. Stuffed chicken wings are fantastic.