I Got My Boogie on the Bayou

This weekend was the Bayou Boogaloo festival in Mid City along Bayou St. John.  This was my first year going.

For some reason, I’m usually working the weekend it’s being held.

However, I was free to go Friday so, that’s the day we headed out there.

I’m glad I went because, it’s a wonderful festival.

We got out there around 5:30p.m.  and there’s something a lil different about this festival.

I don’t know what it is but, this festival is more relaxed….

more enjoyable somehow.

It felt as though a bunch of New Orleanians  just happened to go hang out on the Bayou at the exact time a bunch of musicians decided to show up,

folks enjoying Bayou St. John at the Bayou Boogaloo Fest.

The weather was perfect!

A nice cool breeze was blowing off of the water, the sun was setting so, it wasn’t too hot,

yeah, I had a fabulous time out there.

The food was pretty good. Since it’s a relatively small festival they didn’t have as many vendors as I’m used to seeing but,

the few dishes we had were pretty tasty.

No, they didn’t burn the meat…it’s a blackened catfish po’boy and it was dee-lish!

militon with andouille and shrimp

Ok, I’m not gonna lie, when NavySeal brought this to me the first thing out of my mouth was,

“what the shit is this?”

I knew what I asked for but, the dish in my head looked different from the one that was in front of me.

When I tasted it though, it was all over.  This dish was soooo flavorful! It’s a keeper!

The ham and swiss crepes were just  so-so to me.

Not great, not bad…just so-so.

I think it would have been better if I had gotten the crepe filled with something else.

NavySeal and I found a great place under a tree and nested there for about 3 1/2 hours,

listening to the wonderful musicians and soaking up the atmosphere.

I see why they call it the family festival.  A lot of folks were out there with their kids,

the two legged and the four-legged kind.

They had a lot of people out there with their dogs.

And all of them were well-behaved.

Even the doggies were having fun.

Dog enjoying the festival!

They even had a tent for them with a water station, treats and bags for folks to clean up after their furry family members.

doggie tent

I really loved going to this festival.

I love the local vibe to it.

Family and friends getting together, hanging out on the Bayou,

eating awesome food,listening to fantastic music and having a good time.

Sounds like a regular ole’ day in the Big Easy.

And you know what….

IT IS.

This weekend is the Greek Festival and the Food and Wine Experience.

I’ll be at the Food and Wine Experience on Friday.

 I can’t handle the crowds at the Greek Fest.

Too many people in such a small location for me,

sure gonna miss that food though.

Birds

One of my most favorite things to do is gardening.

I’m pretty great with plants so, I often buy them when they’re small and nurse them into mature beautiful ones.

I purchased a Bird of Paradise plant about 5 years ago only to find out that,they take about 5 years to fully mature.

That lil plant taught me the art of patience because I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever see any real blooms from her.

Then one year, she bloomed for me and gave me hope.

Well, baby girl is all grown up now and is showing out,

Three birds have bloomed and I have about 6 more getting ready to bloom in a few days!

WhooHoo!

Looking at her it’s hard to believe that, I paid $4.oo for her. She was so small then.

A plant this size would cost a good chunk of money.

It seems that, in addition to gardening, I’ve picked up another thing to take up my time hobby.

BIRDS!

For about two months,I’ve been filling my bird feeder so the birds in the area could have some food.

Well, they must have put the word out because those lil buggers come around religiously now EXPECTING food from me!

Sparrows,Doves and I have one Blue Jay that comes around every single day.

I usually put food in the feeder twice a day and I’ll  put some on the ground for the Doves and Blue Jay…

I’m such a sucker for animals.

That Blue Jay was hard as hell to take a pic of because, he’ll fly at the slightest sound and I just have a regular ole’ camera so, I had to wait for him to get comfy,

now, I’m bird watching…lol

There’s also an owl around here. I haven’t seen him but, he’s pretty close. We think he’s in the church steeple.

I love to hear him hooting.

It’s relaxing.

A piece of country living in an urban city,

whod’a thunk it?

My brother (Oracle) has given me the best mother’s day gift ever…

A Wealth of Useless Information

Mother’s Day is a special day for all of us but especially for me because I have had the extremely good fortune of having 3 very special ladies, all mothers, in my life. Today, I’d like to introduce you to them and tell you why they are so very special to me.

The first is my mother. As anyone can tell you, the relationship between a black man and his mother is special. My Mom (and Dad) raised 7 children of which I was the last. You’d think that she’d have been worn out or at least jaded by the parenting experience by that point, but let me tell you, my childhood was fantastic. My mother had her moments for sure but she was my first best friend and the good memories I have of her outweigh any of the usual “My parents get on my nerves!” thoughts I would…

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Happy Mother’s Day

Throwback Thursday

And it’s heavy as all get out.

 

I still remember the phone number…282-0701.

And All That Jazz

The hubs and I hit the Jazz Fest yesterday!

Thanks to a wonderful nurse I work with, I was able to get a two for one hook up.

Man, was I ever grateful for that because, at $65 a person to get in at the gate and $20 for parking, I don’t know if I would have been there.

I like my festivals free!

Thursday was a great day to be out there.

It was a locals day with plenty of school kids and folks who played hooky from work.

This weekend is going to be a madhouse…way too many people for me.

We were able to walk around and really take in the food and music at our leisure.

Won’t be able to do that  this weekend with wall-to-wall people.

We hit the fest when the gates opened at  11 a.m. and I walked right on to the first dish I wanted to try,

That darned Crawfish Monica!  Everyone raves about this dish at the fest so, there was no way I was gonna go there and not sample it.

This dish is soooooo goooood!

It’s slap yo’ momma good!

NavySeal had a Cuban Sandwich which was da bomb!

Made with pulled pork, ham, cheese and mustard. It was put on flat bread and grilled.

Mercy!

We didn’t run across any bad food dishes at all.

Some of ’em we weren’t  able to take pics of because we were just too busy grubbing.

We did get to try the infamous Crawfish Bread though and get a pic before we devoured it!

The music out there was fabulous!

There’s about 7 or 8 different stages (maybe more I don’t remember) each with their own flavor of music,

Zydeco, Brass Band, Dixieland,Gospel,etc.,

We hit them all.

Something else you won’t be able to do this weekend….

move from stage to stage with ease.

The crowd will be 3 times worse than this over the weekend. And with Maze closing out one stage and Rockin’ Dopsie closing out another it’s gonna be really hectic.

thank goodness for jumbo trons!

Acura stage

Did I mention it was a sunny 85 degrees out there?

Make sure you have your sunscreen on before you head out there.

NavySeal turns  red as a crawfish if he doens’t use it so, I always bring it with me

just in case he forgets.

NavySeal trying to keep the sweating to a minimum.

folks getting their mist on!

The thing I love most about the festivals is watching people  have a great time.

Life is just too short to be always working and worried about bills and stuff.

Get out and ENJOY YOUR LIFE!

It doesn’t always require going on a vacation.

dancing in the economy hall tent

hula hoopin’ in the humidity

can you have TOO much fun?

Life is for the living!

I even got me a Jazz Fest flag!

jazz fest flag

I’d notice them at various houses around the city and made sure I got one when I went.

We spent about 5 hours out there and then left because, my sinuses just couldn’t take the grass, pollen and smoke anymore.

Last week, I went to the doctor for my yearly celestone shot for these horrible sinuses of mine and didn’t want a relapse so we left.

Also, we had plans to go to the midnight showing of  The Avengers.

We purchased our tickets Thursday at 4 p.m. and three of the four screens were already sold out!

We got to the theatre last night at 9:30 and folks were already lined up…wow.

By 10:30, all the seats were filled except the ones right in front of the screen…wayyy in the front.

Those poor folks who thought they were early by showing up at 11:00 p.m. were miffed cuz who wants to sit in those seats?

THE MOVIE IS FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!

 If you’re into Marvel Comics, you won’t be disappointed.

Just make sure you don’t leave when the credits starts rolling.

 There’s always something special after the first set of credits.

Navy Week was last week. I didn’t do a post on it but, I think I may backtrack and post one next week about it.

The Bayou Boogaloo Festival is in two weeks and The Food and Wine Experience is the week after.

I’ll be there…y’all know my mantra,

Get Busy Living!