The Last Trip

The River Road caravan is over and this is now the last trip for this motorhome.  After the caravan ended we stayed in New Orleans for two days then we went to Lafayette Louisiana for a Cajun music festival.  The festival was great- good music and good food.  For one of our favorite groups - the Red Stick Ramblers - this was their last performance: Red Stick Ramblers.  Seems that various band members have life commitments that now get in the way of performing as a group.

After leaving the festival we started our trip to Forest City to trade in our coach on a new model; an ITASCA Solei 34T - here are some pictures of the Demo Unit. So we have traveled for 3 days so far and covered 7 states to get to Tama Iowa.  On  the caravan it took at least 2 weeks to cover those 7 states.  Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will get to Forest City and with any luck get to see our new coach.  Our coach orientation is on Thursday (Oct 31) and we certainly hope that it will be a treat and not a trick.

After signing the sales papers we will need to transfer everything from this motorhome to the new one.  We will then spend a couple of days checking things out before actually heading home.

So we have two more days in this coach - the anticipation is peaking at this point.  Another update on Thursday with pictures of our new motorhome.

The End of a Caravan

It has finally happened.  Our caravan has ended. 

We had our farewell dinner on Monday and our last breakfast yesterday.  There were smiles as we remembered all the great times of the last 38 days.  And there were tears as we said good bye to our new friends.  We all had a great time.  But, it is time to head home. 

Some are traveling totheir winter homes.  Some are traveling to see family.  Some are in a hurry to get home so that they can start another vacation (like a European cruise).  Some are traveling slowly to enjoy the beautiful fall weather before they get to the winter home! And some are traveling to take delivery of a new motorhome.  That would be us! 

So, even though the caravan has ended and it is bittersweet, life goes on and there will be new adventures down the road.  We are ready for them!

Bourbon Street, New Orleans

My view of Bourbon Street is similar to my view of Beale Street.  Seeing it during the day exposes its worse characteristics. 

 In this case, smelling it was also most disturbing, as the stench of the partying the previous night was most obvious.  There can be a lot of people watching along Bourbon Street and some shopping.  But, the Bourbon Street of today is not what it used to be and the music has moved on, or so it seems. 

The shopping seems to have moved to the other streets of the French Quarter, Royal, St. Peter, even Decatur.  And the music is now on Frenchman Street. 

We found a little bar, The Spotted Cat.  In any other city it would be a dive bar.  But, here in New Orleans it is part of the center of live music.  We were able to hear a jazz/blues piano player that was quite good.  And, for the first time, we listened to Gypsy Jazz, a type of music that vacillates between jazz and Dixieland, with a distinct style and beat.  It was great.  So, the music is still in New Orleans, it has just found a new home.

The Mississippi River

About 39 days ago, we walked across the Mississippi in Bemidji, MN. 

Since then we have crossed in buses, cars and Rvs, for a total of about 50 or 60 times, depending on how many times we went out for groceries or dancing or whatever! We have slept on its banks. 

We have watches barges move up and down the river.  We have watched some barges move through the locks.  We have seen barges “parked” in the river, awaiting a tug or tow. 

We have cruised on her on a large tourist boat in Minnepolis, on a small tourist boat in Hannibal and on the last working steamboat, paddle-wheeler.  And now we have flown over her in a sea plane, landing and taking off from her delta. 

She is beautiful river and we have enjoyed her immensely.

Sunday in New Orleans

What a great day it was.  We left the campground early to get to Café du Monde.  We, of course, ordered coffee and beignets, a must while in New Orleans!  Hmm-hmm good!

Then it was off to Mass at St. Louis Cathedral.  It was an interesting liturgy with wonderful music from its large pipe organ.  One thing that stands out to me were the prayers, those request that are made usually for the sick and elderly and the clergy.  These seemed to be much more specific for a reduction in violence, and understanding of loss and misfortune that can only came after a city has been devastated by a catastrophic event.  Hurricane Katrina is still there under the surface.

After Mass we headed for the steamboat Natchez for a Jazz Brunch Cruise.  The day was perfect for a cruise down the Mississippi.  The jazz trio provided some great tunes to accompany the wonderful buffet.  We enjoyed to food, the music, the sights and sounds of the river.

What a great day!

NOLA – An Interesting City

Today, New Orleans is probably best known for Hurricane Katrina.  (The New Orlens Saints, Drew Brees and all their fans might disagree!). While other areas of the Gulf Coast were affected, some even worse, NOLA got all the publicity.  And some of that publicity showed some of the negative political and cultural aspects of living in this area.  I wonder if the people are getting tired of that prominence.  2005 seems to be a long time ago.  Let’s move on.  At least, that is what I think they are all saying.  However, that may not be true.  

We had a tour guide who was flooded out in the aftermath of Katrina.  He and his wife moved to San Diego and lived there, enjoying the wonderful weather, meeting new people and making a new life for themselves.  They were happy.  Or so they thought.  About 18 months after the devastation, they were listening to a news broadcast of the reopening of a prominent facility; maybe it was the Super Dome.  And his wife turned to him and said, “We need to go home.”  And so they did.  It took them 31 months to rebuild.  They were scammed by contractors at least twice; the total amount of money involved in the scams was about $35,000.  But, they came home and made a new life for themselves in their old neighbor.  And again they are happy.

His brother-in-law has a different story.  He also left to parts unknown to me and was happy.  But, he too decided to come back.  He just finished the rebuilding process 4 months ago.

So, Katrina was a long time ago.  But, the wounds and the damage to people, property and families are still there, just below the surface.  These two stories are the good ones, the positive ones.  There are many other stories – that you can image as you drive through the city and see the vacant lots (where houses were demolished), the houses that need to be demolished, the house that were once happy homes that are now abandoned – that remain to be written. 

This city is forever changed.  And I am not sure it will ever be what it used to be.  But, it will find its place and it will be a happy city again – someday.

Final Destination: New Orleans, LA

It has been over a year in the planning and now the end is in sight – quite bittersweet.  After we got everyone parked, we decided that we would head into the city for some more Cajun dancing.  We decided to go to Mulate’s.  They have a live band every night.  This one was no different.  We had a great time here, too.  Do you see a pattern developing?  We are getting in our share of dancing while we can!  More on NOLA in future posts!  Be well until I can get back and update this blog!

Rating Cajun Food

This is a most difficult task.  Usually, I only have Cajun food on rare occasions and at wide intervals.  Bur, here in Baton Rouge I had Crawfish Etoufee at three restaurants and Boudin Balls at two.  So, I am able to rate them. “Able” may be the wrong word.  I should be able to rate them, but, the decision is difficult.  But, much to my amazement, here is my selection:

1.       Chimes in Baton Rouge

2.       Randol’s in Lafayette

3.       Boutin's in Baton Rouge

This can’t be a complete comparison, but it is true for the dishes that I ate!

Free Day in Baton Rouge

Free days on a caravan are most interesting.  What do you do with your leisure time?  There is always laundry to do or RV cleaning.  But, neither is fun! We started the day waiting for a mobile RV repair person.  We had found a leak in the Jack system and wanted to have it fixed.  Thinking it would take most of the morning, I set about to catch up of this and that.  Well, Leo arrived looked at the leak and determined it merely a loose solenoid.  He pushed it in and was on his way.  Needless to say, this and that were put on hold.  We opted to head further into Cajun Country.  But, those that went back into Baton Rouge and visited the Old State House and the Louisiana museum were quite please with their selection.
First, we went to Avery Island, home to Tabasco Sauce.  We took a free tour of the plant, which was interest.  Then we spent some time in the gift shop.  Do you know how many different flavors of Tabasco sauce there are?  We didn’t!  And then there are the gallon bottles of sauce, with push down dispensers, belt holster for your Tabasco sauce bottle.  It was all most interesting and we did come away with several bottles of Tabasco.  The most interesting was Raspberry Chipotle Sauce.  Not sure what we will use it for, but it tasted quite interesting!

We then spent a little time in downtown New Iberia looking for a bank and a coffee shop.  The bank we found easily.  But, we had to walk up to the drive up teller.  Most banks in our area do not want you to walk up to the drive-up.  But, here it was no problem.  The coffee shop was more difficult.  Most places were either closed after lunch or were closed on Wednesday afternoon.  We left without a cup of coffee.

We then went to Lafayette and found Randol’s.  Randol’s is a Cajun Restaurant that has a separate room as a dance hall.  And they have nightly live Cajun music.  We had a great meal and had a great time dancing to the music.  While I can’t be sure, I believe that the accordionist and singer for the evening was a member of one of our favorite Cajun bands, the Grammy nominated Pine Leaf Boys.  Not sure, but that is my story and I am sticking to it!

So it was a great day and we had a great time!  Now it is off to our Final Destination, New Orleans, LA.

Red Stick

That is the translation of Baton Rouge

The meaning of Baton Rouge could be questions.  But, it is an interesting capitol city.  It is part of Acadiana, or Cajun Country, the capitol of Louisiana and the home of LSU.  We stayed at Farr Park, a city-owned park that is home to many horses.  As we arrived, we saw several mounted police.  Not to worry, they were exercising their horses.  The equestrian center had many horses that were being trained or exercised, throughout the day and evening.  We were not able to watch them often, as we were away much of the time.

After we arrived, we decided that we would take advantage of being in Acadiana and find some good Cajun food.  We tried Chimes.  The name is certainly not Cajun!  It is on the edge of the LSU campus and is on the corner of Highland and Chimes.  So the name seems to be explained.  However, we first got out of the car, we heard the carillon on the LSU campus.  This explains the name!  It is bar with a four page beer menu.  But, the food is quite good.  The best hushpuppies I have ever had.  I was tempted to try Boudin Balls for the first time and crawfish etouffee.  Both were great.  If not the best I have had, right up there in the top few.

The next day, we visited the Governor’s Mansion built by Huey Long.  He was such a colorful part of Louisiana history.  He had a great influence on the history of the area.  And it is a wonderful story  Our next stop was at Nottoway Plantation.  This is not a cotton plantation, but a former cane plantation.  The tour was interesting and the house was an interesting look at past life.  The lunch that we had here was good.  All in all, it was a fun day in Baton Rouge.

At night we wanted to go out for some Cajun music.  For some reason, I had a great deal of trouble finding any music.  I finally found Boutin’s, a Cajun restaurant that has live music.  So, we decided to go and were able to take 16 of our caravan friends.  We had fun with the group and dancing to the music.  We have had little or no music for so long that it was great fun for us. I think everyone else enjoyed the experience, as well.

Vidalia, LA

So I left you as we approached Louisiana!  Things have gotten busy and I just haven’t had the time to post.  So, let me try give you some more details.

Saturday was our first day in Vidalia.  And it was the first glitch of our caravan.  The bus was late.  It had not happened yet.  And it is something that is always a possibility out of anyone’s control!  Once it was all worked out, we juggled some things around and were able to do lunch at the Eola Hotel in Natchez, MS and visit several antebellum estates.  The tour of Frogmoor Plantation was re-scheduled for the next day.

Lunch at the Eola was a buffet that had a good selection of vegetables and entrees, as well as salad and dessert.  We do eat well on caravans – much to my dismay!

The historic homes ranged from one that remains unfinished to this modern day and one that had a fantastic view of the Mississippi.  It Is impressive that all of this architecture and history has endured for over 100 years.  Natchez mansions were nearly untouched by Civil War devastation.  All this is a good thing. 

Frogmoor plantation is a working cotton plantation, as well as a historic site recreating some of life on a cotton plantation during the slavery era.  It was a wonderful tour of a great plantation.  The rain of the day before left the grounds with rivers of water and lots of mushy ground.  But, the owner and tour guide was able to find the slightly raised walkways that were dry and walkable! This was a most interesting look into plantation life of the past and plantation life of the present.  While we have all had our history lessons about slavery, mine were clouded by the history as seen through the eyes of the north.  The eyes of the south saw it differently.  And now I question all of the “facts” that I was taught.  Whatever your perspective Frogmoor is not to be missed.

The remainder of our free day was spent driving through the National Cemetery in Natchez and walking the downtown.  The cemetery is a small one, not at all to the scale of Arlington.  But, still it saddens me to see all the markers, so straight and so staunch, as they mark the graves of so many, many soldiers of all wars.  There was even a memorial area, recognizing a few of the many soldiers that were missing in action, buried at sea or otherwise not able to return to their home.  It was a sobering experience.

A drive through downtown on Sunday afternoon did not yield much.  Most stores were closed.  But, we were able to walk through Darby’s Fudge shop – an eclectic store with a little of everything from fudge to furniture.  And an interesting bookstore.  At the end of the day, we were ready to travel on to our nex stop Baton Rouge.

Mr. D’s Heavenly Chicken

Located on our route from Vicksburg, MS to Vidalia, LA is the Old Country Store Restaurant.  If you are even in Lorman, MS, consider a stop here.  First, you have to be able to recognize it!  Does not look like much of a store.  And certainly does not look at all like a restaurant.  But, the food was very good.  It is served buffet style and includes fried chicken, chicken fried pork chops, chicken and gravy and pork and gravy.  There was a small salad buffet and those southern sides – peas, corn, beans, okra and potatoes.  Mr D. even serenaded us while we ate.  He is a pleasant man, a former accountant, who came to Mississippi for the weekend – 15 years ago!  His restaurant gets great reviews from many of the food rating organizations.  And he is quick to let you know that! 

The “store” part has many interesting items to look at.  Depression glass, old butter churns, and other kitchen items.  Most everything was for sale, but minus a price tag.  When we asked one of the waitresses about the price of an item, she told is to ask Mr. D “he will tell you the price”.  The items that we priced were quite high!

But, all in all it was a fun stop and well worth the time.

Vicksburg, MS

Our stay in Vicksburg was only a day.  We had a bus tour of the city, lunch at Walnut Hills restaurant.  We visited the Corp of Engineers museum and the Old Court House Museum.  We also decided to take a Walking Ghost Tour of the city.  It was fun!  The guide was a great story teller and were able to see some of the homes that we had driven by earlier in the day.  I am always fascinated by the stories that accompany the site of “haunting”.  Unfortunately, we had no unexpected guests on the tour! 

Memphis is Just A Memory

But a fond one at that!

We left Memphis yesterday; our destination was Vicksburg, MS.  Along the way we were able to see the cotton fields of the Mississippi delta area.  It brought to life some of the information that we learned at the Cotton Museum! Some of the plants were in full bloom, some were ready to be plowed over and some were just beginning to bloom.  We actually stopped at one field to get a better look and take some pictures.  Cotton blooms look like several cotton balls on a stem.  And they feel as soft as them, too!  I guess we are never too old to learn something new! 

With a bit more knowledge, I can say that the cotton plant does bloom with a flower. It starts as a white flower and then turns pink and then darker pink, all within a few days. Then the boll grows at that site. The boll, with a brown and hard exterior, is where the cotton begins to grow. When the boll "pops", it opens with the bright white "cotton balls" that look so soft and make the field look so beautiful.

The Rest of the Memphis Story

Graceland was Monday’s destination.  Although we are Elvis fans, we are more fans of the music of his era and some of “his” songs.  We have never been very knowledgeable fans or devoted fans, just maybe passing fans who enjoy a good song or two that he did.  Seeing Graceland was fun.  It is quite a nice house, very unassuming from the outside.  The inside is a different story.  However, one has to remember that much of it was done at a time whose fashionable trends of the day are no longer as acceptable.  After all I had a lime green kitchen for many years.  It was decorated with what he liked most; not my taste, but it was his.  I would have loved to see the upstairs to see if Priscilla had her hand at decorating those rooms.

I have walked by the Cotton Museum many times, never giving it much thought.  This was our destination one afternoon.  It is a small, 2 room museum and the 44 of us overwhelmed its capacity!  But, it was an interesting museum.  I had no idea that Memphis had a large role, or any role, in the cotton trade.  And I learned a lot about cotton and how it grows and how it is sold.  Most interesting!

Mud Island sits in the Mississippi.  And the museum there is really neat - Lots of information about the history and culture of the lower Mississippi.  I enjoyed it a lot.  The outdoor river walk is a scale model of the River.  It shows the River and its tributaries as it flows from the Kentucky/Tennessee/Missouri area to the Gulf of the coast of Mew Orleans.  It is a very well done exhibit.  It helped that it was a beautiful fall day, sunny, bright and not too warm.  It was fun to walk to New Orleans and back!

Other activities of note were Lunch at Central BBQ and Gus’s Famous Fried Chicken, a walk through the Peabody lobby to see the ducks swimming in the fountain, and a chance to get a much needed hair cut at the day spa in the Peabody. 

But, the best of all is the RV Park, Tom Sawyer’s, on the banks of the Mississippi.  It is just a nice quiet park, with spectacular views of the river and its barge traffic.  Great sunrises and a few interesting moonrises while we were there.

Saturday and Sunday in Memphis

After we left Cape Girardeau, we stopped at Lambert’s Restaurant in Sikeston, MO.  Lambert’s is the home of the “throwed roll” and extremely large portions!  The food was good and the leftovers will be even better!  Then we arrived in West Memphis AR.  Not quite TN, but close enough that I could see it across the Mississippi and it felt like we were home, at least for a while.

(A side note about the Mississippi:  Our travels for the last few days has led us away from the river:  Once because of construction and other times because the interstate was the chosen route.  I never thought I would miss the River.  But, I did!  It felt good to be back on its banks!)

What do you do when you are in Memphis?  Our answer is “Beale Street”. While we have an afternoon scheduled on Beale Street, we chose to go in right after we arrived.  Beale Street at mid-day is not the Beale Street that we like.  In the light of day all of the low points of “the street”, its foibles, frailties and flaws are more than obvious.  At night, the lights, the frenzy and all of the music hide it all.  It looks and feels so much better at night!  So, both Saturday and Sunday nights we have visited Beale Street.  And listened and danced to a great blues guitarist and a fantastic Jerry Lee Lewis tribute band. 

On Sunday, we wanted to find a brunch with some music.  It was harder than I thought to find a non-buffet brunch at a reasonable cost with music.  But, I did find it, at Bosco Squared.  The blues were great and the omelets were, too!  As were the mimosas!  We also had a chance to attend church at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, cathedral of the diocese of Memphis, home parish to Priscilla Presley when she first moved to Memphis and the location of Danny Thomas’ funeral.  It is a spectacular church.  I can’t quite describe how it moved me.  It was not of the grand scale of the large cathedrals in St. Paul, MN and St. Louis, MO.  It was not the spectacular craftsmanship of the St. Louis mosaics.  But, it was such a large open altar area, one that draws you in the moment you enter the doors.  It has a great mural of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin.  It just seemed so comforting, welcoming and calming.  I was enthralled with it and its beauty.

The afternoon was spent at the campground listening to a group of bluegrass musicians.  They were invited in to the campground especially on the weekend that our group was visiting.  Great way to spend a pleasant afternoon sitting on the banks of the Mississippi watching the barges and tow boats go by and listening to music, while sitting in the sun and enjoying the spectacular fall day. 

All in all Memphis delivered the music we wanted!

As always, there will be more to come sometime soon!

Reflected Sunset

A perfect view of a sunset as seen in the Gateway Arch from Busch Stadium, October 3, 2013. 

Small Gestures

Can Have far-reaching Effects!

After the game, we decided to let the traffic decongest itself!  So, we stopped into Clark Street Grille, just across from the Stadium. Here, too, we sat amidst a sea of red! Shortly after we were seated a Mom and her son were seated near us.  They, too, with their Pittsburg black and gold, were adrift in a sea of Cardinal Red!  The young man, probably about 12 or 13, seemed deflated that his team had lost.  It is a feeling that I know well, but, I did not share that night.  We had no emotional investment in the game.  But, he did!

As he started to eat his French fries, a man was walking by their table.  He slowed his pace and said, “Hey, thanks for coming, we appreciate it”.  He was a member of the Pittsburg Pirates  (and the boy knew it immediately) and he took the time to thank a young fan.  I know this boy will always remember the game and the loss.  But, he will cherish the words spoken by that player.  His shoulders were squared back, he sat straight up and his head was high.  His eyes were shining and the smile on his face was not quite a mile wide.  I think he tempered his smile, not wanting to show that it was a big deal. But, his eyes could not lie!

To that player, thank you for taking the time to chat with this young fan.  He will be a Pirates fan for the rest of his life.

Decision Made

With the Help of a Daughter

Thursday was our last day in the St. Charles/St. Louis area.  We awoke to join all of the caravan participants for a stop at the zoo (the replacement for the forced closing of the Gateway Arch), lunch at Sassafras, and a tour of the Botanical Gardens.  These all seems like good stops – we love to take photos of animals and flowers.  What more could we ask.  We had enjoyed St. Louis; we had visited the Gateway Arch the day before, just to ensure that we could see it up close and personal, and touch it.  So, we were ready for the day.  Until we got an email message from our daughter!

She was responding to an earlier blog entry about our dilemma of going to the Cardinals/Pirates Game 1 of the National League Division Series.  She said:

I know the arch is famous, I've been there, it's all right…And you've been baseball fans your whole life. You go to the playoff game!!

Wise words!  So we decide to go to the game.  What a wonderful decision!  It was a glorious day for a base ball game.  We got to Busch Stadium early and were able to people watch and see the activities setup just across the street.  St. Louis is a passionate baseball town, a lot like Boston.  Cardinal red was everywhere you looked, clothing, hats, backpacks, jewelry, towels.  You name it and it appeared as we watch.  There was even a Dixieland band playing just outside of the gate we chose to use. 

And then there were the Clydesdales, such magnificent animals.  We saw them at the brewery, so it was like seeing old friends.  As we watched just across from the stadium the horses were waiting calmly and patiently in the trucks, while the large crew was preparing all the paraphernalia that they have to use.  All that brass and it gets polished each time it is put into service and each time it is taken out of service.  That’s a lot of brass polish. 

Once inside the stadium, we walked around and were captivated by the sheer joy that seemed to be in the air – it was October and this was a playoff game.  During the ceremonies before the game, we saw the Clydesdales again as they prance, ever so elegantly around the ball park to a magical song.  I think they all knew the song, as they were keeping perfect time to it as the pulled the wagon around.  The horses were so proud; they held their heads high and just tried to work at their peak of perfection.  It was such a wonderful sight to watch and experience.

The weather was just perfect for the game.  Just a great day at the ball park!  And the decision was made so much easier thanks to the wisdom of our daughter!  Thanks, J!