Translation: Holy Crap! Get your good luck charms on and head on down to New Orleans for some outstanding food and a lot of partying, darling (or love, whichever you prefer)!
As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Plunge boldly into the thick of life and seize it where you will, it is always interesting.” With that in mind we left the Everglades National Park and our volunteer position. We knew we had quite a few miles to go, stops to make, and friends to visit before we got to New Orleans and beyond.
As always we have looked forward with smile-filled anticipation of what is around the next corner or stretch of road, occasionally with a bit of trepidation and angst, but always with the knowledge that we will be running into something interesting. Our first stop was Wesley Chapel, Florida - near where our friends and fellow volunteers from our stay up in Greenbrier State Park Maryland spent the winter. Howard and Charmaine invited us into their home (RV) north of Tampa in New Port Richey and took us on a tour of the area and an afternoon in Tarpon Springs, which is the home of the Greek sponge fishing industry in southern Florida.
Howard and Charmaine brought us through the area and we had a very nice lunch at one of the Greek restaurants (which by the way served Zeos beer and is one of the reviews in my current beer blog–quite tasty!). Tarpon Springs is a very interesting / fun area with lots of unique shops and eateries and you can spend hours just watching the harbor, browsing the shops, and you can even go out on a sponge gathering expedition with the local guys. While we were in the area we also had the opportunity to visit with Jim and Diane, friends from FOY. Thanks again, Diane, for sharing your great lasagna. If you are ever in the area this is a worthwhile stop.
We moved on after a few days and visited the Madison, Florida area. The campground was in the middle of a very picturesque Cyprus swamp and we enjoyed just strolling around the paths through the swamp (I rode my bike also) and as you can see it was a very surreal and calming setting as the wind blew through the Spanish Moss and rippled the water.
On one of our bike rides we ran into a large fenced in area where we met Esther the Emu. She was a brand new momma and was being very watchful and protective of her new clutch of 10 or so big blue-green eggs - about the size of small footballs. She really wasn’t posing for me as I approached with the camera, she was pacing and making a very deep grunting noise which to me indicated that she would try her best to hurt me if I tried to get any closer to her eggs. Reminds me of a few Moms and Grandmas I know.
Our next destination was Blackwater River State Park just outside of Holt, Florida up in the panhandle. This stop had the added bonus of being the location that our good friends, Vern and Pat were at. We met them at Custer State Park in South Dakota a few years ago during a volunteer gig. They are currently doing maintenance there for the park. So our visit wasn’t just because it was a nice place to stay but one with lots of visiting, hot dogs over a fire, and a bit of stick hunting with Vern. Vern picked up making walking sticks also (I had something to do with that!) and has made and sold many interesting and unique carved and burned walking sticks but prefers to make canes.
While we were at Blackwater River State Park we took a short trip down to the National Gulf Coast Seashore. We were in need of some beach time and found some of the whitest sand beaches we had ever seen - sunglasses were required!
Ever since we knew we would be heading west on I-10 once we were done with the Everglades volunteer position we wanted to go to New Orleans (just say it like the locals “N’awlins” it’s quicker that way). We made reservations in the town of Slidell, north of Lake Pontchartrain and about 25 minutes from downtown N’awlins, not realizing that it was going to be carnival season and Mardi Gras while we were there. About a month before leaving the Everglades the realization hit me suddenly and I got so excited that I started speaking in Cajun tongues with Soc Au’ Lait (Sock-o-lay) being one of my favorites as we headed to carnival and the Gras!
Right after we got there and got set up we proceeded to make a game plan of what we would be able to see and do while we were there. It was kind of a hit the ground running scenario as we didn’t know the area or the event schedules. So with some help from the internet and some people from the RV park we laid out our plans and got busy.
Our first thing to do was to get to downtown N’awlins, take a guided tour of the city and get a feel of the place. So we went downtown, hopped on the tour bus (which by the way was excellent) and explored and learned about the downtown area, the Garden District, the French Quarter, the difference between Cajun and Creole, and the above ground St. Louis Cemetery Number 1 complete with the gravesite of Marie Laveaux (the Voodoo Queen). For those of you who don’t know of Marie, she lived from 1794 to 1881 and was considered a most beautiful woman of color and was the ultimate Voodoo Queen or Voodooienne. Folks of all races would go to her. She could keep anybody from harming you or she could do anything you wanted done to anybody. How she did it, no one ever knew. She used to say prayers and mix different things to give people to drink, to rub with, to throw over their shoulder, or to throw in the river. It was said she had a million different things to do but everything would happen just like she said it would. Marie Laveaux was a name that was respected and dreaded by everybody in N’awlins during her time. It is believed that you can still go to Marie's tomb and ask for something. She accepts money, cigars, white rum and candy as offerings. From the stack of stuff around her grave a lot of people do just that!
Once we got off the tour bus and wandered the streets for awhile we started to get a feeling for this place. We stopped for lunch at the “World Famous Gumbo Pot” and had our first taste of authentic Gumbo Ya Ya. Once I had a bit of it I decided to learn how to make this wonderful concoction. It’s not difficult, just a bit time consuming. The streets were already filled with people visiting the shops, restaurants and bars as the street corner bands were starting up with the jazz, blues and zydeco music coming from multiple directions and the interesting people started making their appearances. This is one of Marie Laveaux’s apprentices that we ran into in the French Quarter - Linda was strangely drawn to him and just had to have a pic. From there it was back to Slidell to get ready for the first parade of our stay. The Krewe of Selene (all female) held their parade in Slidell and was more of a family oriented parade with the maskers (people in costume on the floats) concentrating on the children and male persuasion for their gift throws (mainly beads but also included toys and lots of other stuff). We learned very quickly that they toss a lot of stuff off of these floats and you really do have to watch all of them. If you don’t you get whacked when you least expect it. We both got it with either large bundles of beads, or in my case, right between the eyes with a superball type of thing – that one left a mark! The streets were crowded and groups had set up their barbeques and generators with large stereo systems that blared out country, blues, jazz, zydeco and even some rap music, and this was on top of the bands and floats in the parade – quite the festive (and loud) setting.
The next day being the Saturday of the weekend prior to Fat Tuesday it was expected to be one of the banner days for carnival. The weather forecast was predicting really bad weather for the Mardi Gras (on Tuesday) so the weekend prior seemed the best time to go - (so did a lot of other people). We headed down town early to find a parking spot (they are in really high demand!) and decided to cruise the streets and sights until the first of three parades for the day started up. We were early enough so we saw the cleanup crews in the French Quarter and specifically Bourbon Street. We learned that they really have quite the job cleaning up the “BUB” or Booze-Urine-Barf - each morning of carnival. They actually use skid-steers with front end buckets and street cleaners filled with disinfectant to clean the streets. We witnessed the disinfectant street cleaner in action as we walked down Bourbon Street and it really did look and smell much better after they had passed. Something like the smell you get just after cleaning your toilet bowl or putting in a urinal biscuit.
We wandered down Canal Street and Bourbon Street checking out the tourist shops, voodoo shops, bars, restaurants and artsy places along the way Рthere are lots of big name places in that area and some that are on the rather nasty side. Definitely a no-holds-barred party place! We found a place to watch the Krewe of Isis and the Krewe of Tuck parades over the afternoon and were entertained endlessly. They get progressively more risqu̩ as the day goes by and I think the parade participants had more to drink (or something) than the people watching. The maskers were all carrying drinks as they moved along tossing beads, parade sovereigns, decorated toilet paper rolls, plungers, and toilet cleaning brushes as well as many other throws or gifts. You really had to watch out for what was coming at you from the floats. Nothing like a happily sloshed Masker trying to get your attention! All along Canal Street there were outside bars set up every half block or so on both sides of the street and that was in addition to the regular establishments. The median (or no mans land) and both sides of the streets were packed. The collage above is just a very small example of what we saw and were part of. It was awesome!!!!!
As the evening approached the streets got more crowded and more and more of the interesting people appeared. We decided to avoid what we had heard to be a bit of an over-the-top sensory experience. So we headed back up Bourbon Street to pick up a few gifts we had promised and back through the streets to retrieve our truck, which we needed to get home. Even this time of day it was fascinating as the people were getting wound up for the night time party and parades. We saw some pretty interesting things and it was just getting started.
We made it through the French Quarter and headed back to our little RV park in Slidell and the only thought that came to mind as we left the area and festivities was Soc Au’ Lait !
This is an example of what happens when a pasty-old-fun- loving-white guy does N’awlins during carnival for the first time. And I didn’t even have to show off my B&B (Boobs or Booty).
Everyone should do this at least once during their lives.
Our stay in Slidell ended way too soon but we had committed to getting into Houston by a certain time so we needed to leave and head on down the road. We had a short stay in Iowa, LA which is a small town but had the added attraction of visiting with a long time friend, Jane, from Omaha, NE. It also had a large casino just short of the Texas border (they do love Texas money in Louisiana – it spends real good!) As a footnote - we left a donation also.
Then it was on to Tomball, (By God) Texas. I used to think it was just Texas but from what I heard from relatives, local people and the media, I think the name has changed over the years as the people there believe it’s some type of utopia. From what I saw it’s still in need of some serious work. We only had to lock up all ten wheels once going through Houston so I guess it was a good trip – but it was all worth it once we got settled and family started arriving. The reason we were there was that my elder brother, Gary, was getting married. So with such a prestigious occasion it attracted all of our family and we migrated to the Houston area from all corners of the States for the festivities. Below is a pic of our immediate family – together at the same time for the first time in almost 11 years. We are going to have to fix that little statistic!
From top left to bottom right: Lee, Linda, Zoe, Jocelyn, Angela, Bjorn, Adam, David and Penny, the wonder dog!
Our granddaughter, Jocelyn, gave us all an impromptu sax session one afternoon – we all enjoyed.
Over the next couple of days more and more relatives arrived in the area and the visiting and eating seemed to go on non-stop. We had people from Maryland, Florida, Wisconsin, California, Washington and, of course, (By God) Texas.
We were treated to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo by Gary and Regina, granddaughter, Zoe, came along, too. After the rodeo and concert by Hunter Hayes we hit the midway and played games and rode the carnival rides until the tickets ran out. Zoe went home with quite the collection of stuffed things.
The wedding and all the associated gatherings over the next couple of days included all of my brother, Gary’s, and wife, Regina’s, relatives so we made quite the gathering. The wedding itself was a very pleasant and personable occasion - and our sister, Amy’s, husband, Pastor Daryl, presided. All the grandchildren & grand nieces and nephews stood with the Bride and Groom. The wedding was held at the Bernhardt Winery in Plantersville, (By God) Texas.
A very proud Mom and Dad with their closer to AARP membership than puberty children, Adam and Angela.
As fast as the gatherings started they ended and it was time to say the “see you laters”, hugs were abundant and even a few tears were spotted – time to start looking forward to the next visit!
Oreo - our 17 pound Tom Cat, who has lived and traveled with us for quite a few years, decided he likes being part of the Blog and will continue to provide a few purr-fect bits of wisdom and observations for all the blog readers out there as well as a few comments about the antics of his pride members and life on the road.
While we were in Slidell, Louisiana (nasty humid place– my fur gets all matted down there!) my pride members got all excited about this Mardi Gras thing and were gone all the time, but they did bring me back some treasures. They are really shiny and fun to play with. But they also mentioned something about Voodoo being practiced in the area. I wanted to find out about that stuff because there are a few dogs I would really like to stick a pin or two into. So I got on the kitty grapevine and got a hold of one of my really distant cousins in N’awlins, Thibodeaux. Now Thibodeaux is a Cajun Black Cat and well versed in N’awlins voodoo lore. According to him I can’t make a Voodoo dog doll to stick pins into but I can pass on what I learned.
Voodoo started in the N’awlins area because many slaves did not give up their religion/s easily, they found ways to combine the Catholic religion from their owners with their old beliefs and since N’awlins society permitted the existence of gens de couleur libres (free people of color) and they were able to get together more often than elsewhere in the states, they found a secret home in the city.
Madame Marie Laveaux and Dr. John (a dark-skinned, stately man with a tattooed face) were two of the more well known Voodoo practitioners and had clients and followers from all walks of life who asked them to bring them luck, to cure ailments, to get their desired lovers, and to hurt their enemies. These alleged powers brought them thousands of clients. There was always talk of spirit possessions and snake worship, zombies and animal sacrifices – none were ever proved!
Here are a couple of Thibodeaux’s favorite must have items:
Black Cat JuJu charm - a must for good luck; conjur bags containing wanga packets and talismans; and if you like casinos, the Black Cat Gambling gris gris.
If you want to stop a Voodoo spell being placed upon you, get some bristles from a pig cooked at a voodoo ritual, tie the bristles into a bundle and carry them on you at all times.
And if your just looking for something to do you can give someone a headache by taking and turning their picture upside down.
Today in N’awlins, the word “Voodoo” isn’t as scary as it once was - restaurants, sports teams, and concerts use the word as a marketing concept. Shops in the French Quarter, and in other neighborhoods, still sell Voodoo products, and a lot of them are geared to people who only see voodoo as an amusing diversion. But even in tourist Voodoo shops, today’s serious Voodoo artists can still find the oils, icons, and gris gris they need for their ongoing ceremonies and worship.
OREO, Voodoo Prince in Training
(Look into my eyes)
As we make our way west and north towards western Colorado we are constantly reminded with all the visiting of family and friends that, while we don’t have a huge house, a brand new car, or lots of money, what we do have is an amazing family, wonderful friends, and awesome memories that will last forever. Until next time.
Home is where we park it!
Lee & Linda
