New Orleans was, despite the incident with the bikes, a fun
time and an interesting town. I had been twice before, for Laura it was her
first time. We did the usual, walked the French Quarter and the downtown area,
saw and enjoy the sights of the city. We also took our bikes for part of a day
and rode a bit wider circle around New Orleans. We were fortuitous in that we
did not know that what is billed as the ‘largest free music festival in the
south’ – the French Quarter Festival, was going on the weekend we were there.
This just added to the fun and excitement of our experience and the city.
Although the festival continued through Sunday, we decided
to head out on Saturday after a morning in the hotel catching up on ‘business’
on-line, cleaning up, and some re-organization. The plan was to head several
hours west towards, if not into Texas – our ultimate, for the time being,
destination.
Here comes the magic ….
As fans of Dave Matthews know, the Robert Randolph Family
Band is a good time and a show not to be missed. (The Robert Randolph Family
Band is a great, diverse band of siblings and cousins that often opens for and
at times plays with Dave.)
We left New Orleans around noon without much of a plan.
Baton Rouge is a bit more than an hour or so north and west of the city. We
decided to head there for a lunch stop. As we pulled into the downtown area,
right off Route 10, we heard music. Then we saw people in the streets. And we
realized we stumbled into another event and party.
As it turns out, we left New Orleans and the French Quarter
Music Festival only to land in the lap of the free, outdoor, Baton Rouge Blues
Festival. Headlined by no other than the Robert Randolph Family Band. Suffice
it to say we did not make it to Texas on Saturday night. The Robert Randolph show
was great. Among other songs, they did a great version of ‘Papa was a Rolling
Stone’ as well as several other covers, a bit of Black Water, I think, and
originals including an Audette favorite – ‘Hip Shake Jam’.
The festival was a great little festival right in the
downtown streets of Baton Rouge. It clearly was a point of pride for the city
as many community groups sponsored the event. The crowd was diverse, friendly,
and having a good time. We got to tour the historic capitol and learn more
about the history of Baton Rouge and Louisiana. There was a great exhibit in
the capitol focusing on the former governor and senator Huey Long, his rise to
power, assassination, and role in Louisiana politics. We also walked out to the
Mississippi that runs right through downtown and went onto a river boat that
served as a floating casino where we had a bit of lunch before heading back to
the festival.
We drove away happy for the stop and the many wonderful things
we have discovered in our travels on the road!
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