Hey, I'm Dutch! » Louisiana

NOLA Music

admin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:43:03 +0000

Jazz, blues, funk, soul, and good ol’ rock n’ roll. New Orleans is great for live music and you can hop from bar to bar checking out some really great acts. My favorite was the Big Soul Band featuring Darren Murphy at The Old Opera House. They had this badass sanga’. Yeah, I said sanga. Sista’ could sang. Even better, she brought her real sister on stage and she could blow too. You know she was serious if she could take on Aretha and Chaka. Ooweee! Unfortunately, everyone I asked at the bar didn’t know either of the sisters’ names ’cause it was the first time they had performed there. I’ll have to try calling the bar to find out.

Here are some of the other groups we checked out:

Hurricanes, Hand Grenades, and Big Ass Beers

admin — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:24:57 +0000

You gotta’ love Naw’lins. Ordering drinks called hurricanes and hand grenades and getting “big ass beers”? Where else could you bring 8 of your closest friends or total strangers to do a beer bong?

It was really hot and humid in New Orleans, y’all. See me sweatin’? So why am I standing right next to that torch? Hey, let the good times roll. Why no pictures of the famous beads? Those are for private viewing only, heheheheh.

Cajun Cooking

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:21:18 +0000

Been looking forward to some Cajun cooking all trip. Wasn’t sure what to start but finally settled on the jambalaya.

Delicious. Over the next few days I’ll stuff myself with etouffee, jambalaya, po’ boys, and shrimp ya-ya.

P seemed to enjoy his muffuletta sandwich.

Swamps and Bayous

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:12:00 +0000

After so much driving through farmlands, it was a bit strange–and wonderful–to see the swamps and bayous of Louisiana on our way to New Orleans.

Bible Belt

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:48:22 +0000

Hey, didn’t we pass that church earlier? Nope, that’s a different one. How about that one? I know we already passed that one. Nope, that’s a different church too. Let me save you some trouble. You’re going to see a lot of churches in this part of the country.

The term “Bible Belt” often refers to the southern states where conservative, evangelical, Protestantism is pre-dominant. This is a term oft-used by journalists and should in no way be taken to mean disrespect to the strong moral values and Christian faith of the South. I only include it here because it cannot be missed during this part of our trip. And for many who meet “godless, heathen, Americans,” they do not often get to experience this part of the country. They also miss out on the “Rosary Belt” of the southern tip of the US, the Mormon (Church of Latter Day Saints) corridor of Utah, Muslims in the Washington-Boston corridor, Jewish communities in New York and California, and the other faith-strong communities throughout the United States. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the earliest immigrants who came to this country were those seeking religious freedom. In difficult times it can be one of our most divisive issues, and in better times it gives us a chance to have important dialogue to better understand that we share far more things in common than we have things that differ and separate us.