I finished my Junior year of college (scary!) on Wednesday. rounded out the year with some good grades! an A in scuba II, Bs in Marine Biology and Ecotourism, and a C in Genetics. witchaw! felt good to get back on track. feels even better to not be in (conventional) school for a little while. yeah- Dauphin Island classes are too fun to be considered real school.
I speed packed everything i thought i might need all summer after my final on Wednesday (for of those of you that know-i'm sure you can imagine how much crap i had packed in my truck. haha) and hit the road headed south for Fairhope. I got home around 5, and got to hang out with one of my favorite people in Fairhope, Jackson Rambo. seriously, he makes me laugh so much. love that kid. and then finally got started packing for our trip around 11pm....yeah. haha.
Thursday morning we all got up and headed out for New Orleans for the second weekend of Jazz Fest. we got to the fairgrounds around 2:30 and matt and i immediately hit up the food. hoooomygosh if you have never experienced jazz fest food you have never really eaten. holy lawd its amazing. matt and i spent way too much mula on foodz and decided that we are going to start a 10 day detox tomorrow (yeah- the food was THAT good).
i will now try to recall everything we ate. this list may get added on to as i recall more (we ate SO much. like, i almost considered taking pictures of everything we ate but then i thought that it might get excessive. yeah, that much food. so good). matt and i split almost everything. it gave us more chances to try different stuff. sooo gooooooodddd ahhhh :
ruben
spicy crawfish sushi
softshell crab po boy
stuffed mushrooms
crawfish monica
white chocolate bread pudding
rosemary mint tea
crawfish strudel
cuchon de lait (like one a day...)
duck po boy
fried eggplant in crawfish sauce
fried green tomatoes
boiled crawfish
crawfish bread
mango freeze
chocolate eclair
sweet potato pone
rum bread pudding
spinach artichoke salad
spicy jambalaya
spicy crawfish sausage po boy
...and so much more of mom and dad's that i got a bite of but never got a name. seriously. so good.
so now that i've gone on and on about the food...now to the music.
Thursday
it was a beautifuuuul day. in the high 70s. sunshine. perfect festival weather.
we got in, ate a little and walked around. we stumbled upon the Paulin Brothers Brass Band at the Jazz Heritage Stage. they were pretty awesome, so we watched them while we waited to head to see Galactic
and then the show i was SO excited for! Galactic! what a way to begin a weekend. they were great, they had a guest with them singing on some of the songs. they played "heart of steel" from their latest album, probably my favorite song from the album. i was a little upset that irma thomas didnt come out and sing the song. mom and i were discussing the show afterwards and we both prefer galactic more when its just the guys on stage jamming. but it was still a great show. stanton moore did a bit with one of his drum heads and a guitar and a cowbell...sounds awesome, right?! well, it was. awesome doesnt even begin to explain it.
---------EDIT on 5/12/11 at 8:33 AM:
---------YES! i found this on the great interwebz. so glad that someone captured this moment. so awesome
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my mind was blown, to say the least
it was so awesome that i forgot to take pictures.
heres a video that someone put on youtube though.
after galactic mom and matt and i went and caught the Iguanas and we met some of mom's college friends. the first thing they all say to me "oh my, you look exactly like your mom!", "carol, your kids look exactly like you!".
i've never heard that one before.
mom watching the Iguanas on Thursday afternoon.
Thursday night we got back to the hotel and.....PTFO. at like 8:30 pm. and slept for a good 12 hours. tired Revels, thats for sure.
Friday
we woke to a beautiful morning in the French Quarter and walked down the street to Camellia's cafe for breakfast. it was a traditional style diner that only employed greasy, kinda sleazy, temperamental white males as the servers. matt and i were the only ones in the family that picked up on this stereotype. it was funny. but the food was great, i had a veggie omelet. out waiter ended up being a nurse in his previous job, so i'm sure you know what him and dad talked about the whole time (boring hospital talk- haha)
dad took this picture of matt and i
I caught this cool picture of matt and mom while we were entering the fest on friday. matt was embarrassed cause i "looked like a tourist" buuuut, long hair dont care, i got a good photo there bro
Friday i saw:
the Original Pinettes Brass Band- an all girls brass band
Guitar Slim Jr in the Blues Tent
mom watching Guitar Slim Jr
Fleur de Bris in the Jazz Tent
Bonerama on the Acura Stage
Stanton Moore Trio on the Lagniappe Stage- awesome show. Stanton Moore is a boss
more food and then
New Orleans Klezmer Allstars on the Lagniappe Stage for their 20th Anniversary Celebration- Stanton Moore and Ben Ellman of Galactic are members of the Klezmer Allstars
we also ran into the Young Cherokee Mardi Gras Indians parade
Friday afternoon when we got back to our car there was a sweet brass band playing on the street corner. It ended up being TBC Band (to be continued) and they were gettin down. matt and i enjoyed it while we waited for dad to get situated in the car.
Friday night Galactic was playing with the Funky Meters at the Maple Leaf, but it was $50 and i aint got that mula (dear old dad was paying for my jazzfest experience. the bonus of a music festival being your family vacation). I attempted to win sympathy from the band via twitter but i was not successful.
so we then all PTFO.
Saturday
so we didn't get mobilized as early on saturday morning (probably had something to do with me remembering to turn off my 7am alarm...) which resulted in us wandering around the French Quarter at 11 am with dad adamant on finding breakfast. after about 30 minutes (and me insisting that no one serves breakfast after 11) we finally found this touristy restaurant that serves breakfast all day. their bloody marys were awesome, probably thanks to our really nice server, LaKiesha. dad pulled out uncle windy's old line "i like my coffee black and rich...just like i like my women" on her. she thought it was funny. she therefore got a good tip.
dad isnt a complicated man.
we got to the fairgrounds still full from breakfast, so matt and mom and i headed straight to (well, after getting daiquiris) the Voice of the Wetlands Allstars at the Acura Stage. it was SO crowded!!!! i heard that they sold out of tickets for this day. i believe it.
Mom found her friends, and we hung out with them on their blanket spot in the crowd. it was a good show.
papa bear at Voice of the Wetlands Allstars
"Louisiana sunshine, shine on me. Aint no place that I'd rather be"
Matt and i then left to go see Kirk Joseph's Tuba Tuba at the Jazz Heritage Stage
It was a really pretty day
but really really hot
then we went to check out Trombone Shorty at Congo Square and finished off the day back at the Jazz Heritage Stage for New Birth Brass Band. i got to hoop at this show, a fellow hooper wasn't using her new collapsable hoop, so i got to check it out. :) it was fun- i really wish i had brought mine. matt says that as soon as i started hooping, photographers gathered around. keep an eye out for pictures of me hooping in my infamous tiedye dress. matt referred to my hooping as "exemplary". it was a good boost in my self esteem. haha.
Matt and i got back to the hotel with a plan to nap for an hour and then wake up in time to go swimming in the pool and then catch Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers at the Blue Nile on Frenchman, and then if we were feeling up for it, Galactic was playing a late night show at One Eyed Jacks, like 2 blocks from the hotel.
but.....yeah you guessed it....we PTFO. no Chris Thile/Galactic for us. i was kinda bummed. but oh well!
Sunday
Mother's Day!
we woke up, caught the a to the emh and then packed up all of our stuff and got ready for the last day of jazz fest 2011.
this is the sight we saw on the way to the fest on Sunday. a hippied-out cadillac hearse complete with bumper stickers and a leg hanging out.
we got to the fairgrounds just in time for Playing for Change. all very talented musicians, and a really fun show.
then a nap while listening to Papa Grows Funk on the Gentilly Stage, and then up for TBC Band on the Jazz Heritage Stage and Sonny Landreth in the Blues Tent.
I left Sonny early to get a good spot for Chris Thile at the Fais Do Do stage.
It was a FANTASTIC show. i thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
it totally helped that they were all attractive and talented musicians. really wished i had made it to their show it the Blue Nile the night before. such handsome men.
I then finished up Jazz Fest 2011 with Robert Randolph in the Blues Tent. Sonny Landreth came out on stage with him for a few numbers. I've always liked Robert Randolph but i've never gotten to see him live. it was a nice way to end a fantastic weekend.
this week is my "summer." I've got a few doctors appointments, a CPR class, and a haircut appointment! woah, go crazy.
but seriously, it will be nice to chill for a little bit. matt and i are starting our detox tomorrow, i'll make sure to let yall know how that goes (haha), and i move into DISL for May term to start my Biology and Conservation of Marine Turtles class this weekend.
SO EXCITED!!!
