Next stop... NOLA!
To our surprise, after a quick Uber to the hotel, we were allowed to check in early! By 10:00am, we had our luggage in the room and went to grab coffee and a bite to eat. The elevators were interesting… there is a keypad on the outside of the eight elevators. Also, one in front of each elevator. When your floor is selected, an elevator is assigned. It was very efficient. One might be assigned Elevator C, for example, it would go directly to the floor and then be assigned another pickup. Once inside the elevator, there is no way to pick a different floor… All of the elevators are glass, so one side has views of the hotel center and the other has views of the Stadium.
In the center of the open lobby… on the third floor, is a nice buffet. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served. Eggs, sausage, bacon, made to order omelets, pancakes, Beignet, salmon, cereal, yogurt with fresh fruit and oatmeal. Quite the spread!
As I mentioned, we were surprised to be offered a room so early… but there was a small catch. Our selected category was not going to be ready until 4pm, but for an extra $10/day, we could be upgraded… a corner room with a city view and walk in closet. Without hesitation, we took it. We figured we would spend 10 times that if we had to wander for the next eight hours!!!
First order of business? Door decorations! Our friend, Bill, is celebrating his 70th birthday in the Big Easy. Always loving to make things festive, I got their assigned room number and got to work. All of the items were packed well in advance.
Not sure what time our friends would arrive, we decided to stick close… so off to the lobby bar we went. Our thought was to order chicken wings and a cocktail so that if they arrived, we would still have an appetite. Even splitting the order filled us both up! If we were going to stay awake until they arrived, it would be necessary to switch gears… Espresso Martini was going to be my saving grace. A very delicious saving grace :-)
We finally heard from our friends and discovered they would not arrive until late. We went back to our room, enjoyed our view and prepared for a good night sleep. We would have a very full day ahead of us!
After a hot mocha and a snack, it was time to head to the Fairgrounds for a day of music. This was our view on the way out through the lobby. The four of us came prepared… we had our size acceptable 6x8 tarp, outdoor chairs with attached shade, cooler full of water and tickets! We planned to set up “camp” in front of the Festival stage and then wander at will until the last couple shows that we really wanted to see.
Initially, we had a plan to walk to the Sheraton and take the Jazz Fest shuttle. Because I was attempting to limit my walking, Uber seemed to best plan. Turned out we saved over $60 between the four of us, by taking an Uber from our hotel to the fairgrounds. It seemed like we were getting a late start but our territory was mapped out… our tarps created a boundary that no one attempted to infringe upon. However, by the end of the day, the entire area very much filled in!
My priority was to keep a line of defense for my foot. With the wave of people in attendance… and the amount of alcohol consumed, it seemed a potential disaster waiting to happen. Success! We had space to spare. Thankful for the shade and water, it was sooo festive! I guess that’s why it’s called a “festival”
As far as the eye could see… flags… it actually made it easier to navigate our seats when we wandered around. During mid-day, we visited the Blues Tent, which had some great music, seats… and was quite cool inside. Then we wandered off to my favorite… the Gospel Tent. We walked in to a high school choir performing… L.B. Landry High School Gospel Choir. WOW! They rocked the tent down! It was such a spiritual experience…and restored my faith in humanity! Seeing the kids worship with all of their hearts. Amazing!!!
My last visit to Jazz Fest was in the early 90’s… maybe 1994 or so. The food was my favorite part! This time, with my Lupus diet restrictions, I had a bit of a hard time finding appropriate food. Eventually, I came across corn tortilla tacos. Everything was fine but the tomatoes, which I easily picked off. Thankfully, there weren’t too many. Fresh tortillas made all the difference! So yummy! Pretending not to notice all of the other amazing food… was a bit of a challenge.
Everyone needs a “Beer Man” hahaha
Settled back in our space, we prepared for some great music. With the sun beating down, our chairs with "shade roof” saved us! Waves of people mapped out space to watch the far off bandstand.
The final two acts for the day… Buddy Guy and Carlos Santana! Buddy, now 86 years old, played his little heart out. He didn’t miss a beat. His son, also an accomplished guitarist, joined his on stage. The final act of the day at the Festival Stage was Carlos. Since we will be seeing him in Houston on Sunday night, we figured we could head out a little early and be first to secure a ride back to the hotel. One amazing song after another kept us there longer than expected. Turning to my friends, I said, “I hope he sings a sucky song so we can go”… It took many before we felt we could walk away…
With the help of a twenty minute power nap and an Espresso martini, we headed down the street to catch a streetcar. Adventures are my favorite. While awaiting our ride, I noticed that Joe Gatto would be playing next week! So funny, I would love to catch that… but we will be gone.
It was a fun ride. The driver loved our choice of restaurants… asked us what we planned to eat. He was very excited! We rode down Canal Street in our trolley type car… lots of laughs. I love my “peeps”…
We were dropped off very close to the restaurant and headed in for a cocktail. Great way to pass our short wait for a table. The epitome of New Orleans food, the menu had something for everyone. I was able to order a grilled catfish with string beans, hubby had Spaghetti with sausage AND meatballs.
Such a fun little restaurant. We had a great meal before heading off to a show. There seems to always something going on in NOLA! Tonight’s show should be a good one…
Hmmm… I guess it’s really a “what happens in NOLA stays in NOLA… beads in the tree? We noticed this while we were waiting for our Uber to arrive!
This is literally the only photo I could post… due to the flash, we could not take a great photo. After a few tries, we came up with the least embarrassing one…
On our drive to the venue, we saw lots of signs. The ones that caught my eye… “voodoo” but it was a liquor store, not the Rolling Stones album. And of course, I had to take “Willie”…
Uber dropped us off at Republic NOLA. Great venue for a concert. Due to my injured foot, we had to find a safe spot to view the show. Upstairs looking down on the state, seemed the best idea.
What a great show! Dead Feat was Jackie Greene, who plays at Crystal Bay Club… Anders Osborne (also CBC) and Fred Tackett from Little Feat. They rocked! It was an amazing show! We went upstairs on the second level and got ourselves a bird’s eye view!
Kind of loved the chandelier… pretty fancy. Well, our busy day came to an end. More to come!
