Saturday, May 26, 2012

Tropical Storm in May, Really??!!!

Yup, here we go again. Tropical storm Beryl is heading directly for northern Florida, more specifically Jacksonville. Looking at 40 to 50 mph winds and a ton of rain all week. Oh well, so much for a weekend on the water.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

New Orleans Jazz Fest


NO Jazz Fest 2012
Had a wonderful time at the Nawlins' Jazz Fest this weekend. I left Jacksonville on Tuesday night after work and made it to about Pensacola FL before getting a room for the night, about a 5 hour drive. From there, I started the Pascagoula run (you Parrotheads should know what I am talking about) through Alabama, Mississippi and then into Louisiana. It was very neat seeing the sunrise over the Gulf, my first time.
Pascgoula Run
I got to New Orleans early Wednesday and picked up Amy from the airport around 10am and from there, we went over to the hotel to drop off our stuff. A short cab ride later, and we were in the French Quarter walking though the narrow street taking in all of the delicious smells from the restaurants and admiring the architecture. I have never been, and Amy was there once for Martigras, so being the only ones on the streets at times was new for both of us.

Beignets at Cafe du Monde
After lunch, we headed over to Cafe du Monde for the famous Beignets and strong black coffee. Wow, they were delicious to say the least. Of course Jimmy's song, The Wino and I Know kept playing over in my head, where he goes for strong coffee and donuts too hot to touch, but I would expect nothing else. :)

Thursday morning was hot, real hot and humid, so we know the day to follow was going to be interesting. The festival grounds had 2 main stages and about 5 smaller ones where local and big named bands came from all over to play. I was there to see Jimmy Buffett on Thursday and the Zac Brown band on Friday but really enjoyed all the local sounds that was going on.
Good seats
I lucked out with Buffett being there at all. He wasn't supposed to be there this year as he just got off his 2012 tour and was on vacation. Eddie Vedder was the Thursday headliner but was hurt and couldn't play. That's when JB stepped in and saved the day, at least as far as I am concerned. :)  Because it was a last minute thing, he didn't have the band with him, only Mac Mcanally and a couple of local artist and put on an acoustic show. They had a lot of fun with it and it felt like we were in their living room watching an impromptu jam session. It wasn't crowded at all and we were quite close to the stage, my favorite show of his to date.

Zac doing his thing
Amy baking in the sun
On Friday, we waited for the Zac Brown and the boys to close the day and once again, it was an oven. But in the end, it was very worth it. It was my first ZBB concert and it was fantastic. They are such great performers, that even if you are not huge fans of the music, their talent just blows you away. They played their biggies and threw in a few new ones to a very happy crowd. This time though, I mean crowd...it was PACKED. Still got pretty close, but it was standing room only everywhere.

Bridge over the Mississippi

I had such a great time in New Orleans. I would highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been. There was so much we didn't get to do, but I was able to stand up on the banks of the Mississippi River and watch some tugs push their barges down river. That was very cool indeed. I hope to get back there someday soon.