Friday, December 18, 2009

RAIN RAIN RAIN FOG,RAIN RAIN RAIN MIST,RAIN RAIN RAIN MISTIER,RAIN RAIN RAIN,sun,RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN .........

Shortly after our last update it became all hands to the pumps..quite litterally as the van started to leak due to the extreme amount of precipitation it had to deal with ( poor Chevy was sinking)..we bailed out, at a conservative guess, 30L of water using anything to hand. Leaving us one pan short of a full meal..cooking was tricky too. This was only the first sign of what was to come..RAIN!!!!!!!!
After going to the Park's bar the previous night. We needed to get some grub to soak up the booze so headed into town for the local delicacy Po' Boy's..Basically a massive sloppy sandwich. we elected the Meatball option..Hmmm messy! Oh was 22degrees and foggy..kinda like walking through the other specialtiy food.. Gumbo! .....Hmmm comfortable.

The French Quarter is well good innit..Bands in every bar and every street corner. If there isn't a band the buildings also emmit music..just to fill the void..
It's unlike any other place we've been..well there's history here for a start..and while there is tackiness it's of a different style..less corporate more grubby..we like it!!
To explain a little...While the bands still play for tips. You don't need to take out a mortgage to drink..everything is cheap..It has become our Mecca.
Stopped for a beer and to check out the below band..to find that Nicholas was on the drums...Little git said he didn't want to come..and if we knew he could play the drums like that.. Joss would have been out on his ear ages ago..Although he wasn't singing so don't kow weather we have a new Phil Collins on our hands or not.

Ok. So, for most people, the view from our van would not be all that attractive..but for the Clones it's Amaze-a-tron! Industry..and falling down industry at that.

New Orleans is a massive contradiction..The whole place was destroyed 5 years ago and the city centre has been completely rebuilt..Get a block out of this area and it's like stepping into the Rio slums..The roads are potholed and in parts not there at all. Entire neighbourhoods still boarded up with no roofs. Quite odd that the town has been hung out to dry by it's own country, to deal with it themselves..Oh it had flooded 14inches the previous night..again!
But due to the this and the resillience of the people is what gives this place it;'s charm, characterand care free vibe.
It was partly that and partly the fact that the rest of the USA is one gigantic ice block. That we decided to upgrade from van trash to trailer trash until at least boxingday..!!
Check out our new Gaff!
It has been a welcome relief to be warm, out of the weather and have some space to do some tunes and that.
We've also become part of the Ponchartrain Landing (RV park) community .. Meeting loads of locals who have recommended some great places to go..Unfortunately, the museum, like most of the city, was closed Monday so no pics.. so here's a couple of crazy bridges we have crossed.



So after a couple of days or so holed up escaping from the wetness making tunes, and from a recomendation from our new mate noal <> we decided to go check out some real new orleans nightlife. we headed for Vaughns bar , in bywater, for Kermit Ruffins weekly jazzy shindig. Complete with free red beans and rice and cheap beer...

As soon as we saw the sign we felt comfortable that we were finally free of the local feline trade!!!
This little shack in the middle of a packed residential area was a nice mix of locals and out of towners like ourselves grooving to the heady sounds of kermit and his b-b-q swingers. The more drunk they got the better it became.

Much hilarity ensued as we got into the spirit of things , making friends with crazy tash wearing
canadians, his wife included!
Whilst trying to communicate with a particularly hammered local lass we were both slapped in the face for use of extreme sarcasm in the presence of an american, we now are getting a handle on were the line is!!! always good to cross it though......
Still chucking it down when we left our journey was once again thwarted by a train driving through someones back yard.......no joke, no barriers either. the locals , having not seen the adverts, tended to ignore the flashing lights, the bell and the oncoming train, seemed to like playing chicken and cross regardless. mark on the other hand shat himself untill the tracks were clear and the lights had ceased. Got a good photo though....

Off out this evening to experience a friday night on the aptly named Bourbon st in the french quarter where every other building is a bar, restaurant or strip club!!! further updates when we sober up.

egg rating for the week: from a grumbling, soggy +2 at the start of the week. Improving to a socialable -5 last night.









2 comments:

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  2. Allright egg heads! So that be yur home for christmas, glad you be snug and dry. Glad see you still got yur bikes too, look cute parked up next to yur trailer. Glad you found better beer and culture too and more factories.
    So still got lots rain, while brightons had lots snow, weird.
    owkee be good boys!
    I sorted out blog me art too, ave a look. you can follow me, just me following myself
    http://icestationlixer.blogspot.com/

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