The Louisiana Diaries

Introduction

It had been years of intrigue and wonder built up inside of me. The stories of city built on music, food, love and people seemed like something more of a Utopian dream scape than it did a destination for the flesh. I always knew I'd go, I promised myself years ago that I would; it was only a matter of time, how and why.

We sat on our couch one night, surfing through pages of travel information, looking for a deal or a last minute opportunity to satiate our longing for a getaway after the long winter months. So with her on her Mac and I on my PC, we felt slightly overwhelmed, even defeated by so many options, none of which truly exciting us to the point of raising our voice above a mere "hm". That, of course, was until the jazz festival came about.

New Orleans is reputed for many things, the most tourist of all being Mardi Gras. And while Fat Tuesday seems like something of a fun, debauchery-filled week that could very well satisfy most, for us it doesn't quite make the grade. The city itself, however, absolutely captivating. The southern hospitality: yes please! And now the knowledge of an international jazz festival! It would have been unforgivable not to book the tickets right then and there.

I've been to many destinations through the world, not a quarter of the terrain I'd like to cover, but enough to know that there is more out there than I could ever possibly hope to take in. France was beautiful for reasons only France could be. China was a cultural awakening I didn't see coming. Even great British Columbia has its stories to tell. Yes, the globe is a wonderful thing to traverse, and though I'm nowhere near completing my journey for knowledge and understanding, I can honestly say that our time in and around New Orleans, Louisiana, will be one of the greatest experiences to keep dear to my heart.

I'm going to take the next three or so weeks to document the experiences we had on our 9-day road trip into the Big Easy, as one entry simply wouldn't suffice or give justice to the people we encountered along our path. I know it seems like a lot to blog on only one topic but I can assure you that the story I'm going to share is more than just "We went to New Orleans. Stuff happened. It was fun. I got a tan. Sun was hot. We came home." No, from day one and our Diners, Drive-ins and Dives detour to the thug-life motel in Jackson, a friendly "mechanic" named Blue, Cindy Lauper sharing the stage with Arcade Fire and a bar-hopping party in Nashville, this whole experience is worth telling in it's own fair chapters.

My hope by the end of this is to excite people to the point of planning out their own route down, to experience the greatness that I put off for far too long and do what everyone in the country seems to agree on being worth doing. So, if I can say one thing before I even begin telling our story it's to start now! Book a flight, book a hotel, rent a car, call some friends, whatever you need to do to get yourself south, just go for it, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Now, I will do my best to move the process along quickly so that I can return to writing of some upcoming experiences in food and music, but, as mentioned in The World Yearns, I may only be able to promise one entry a week...there's just so much other fun to be had!

Looking forward to sharing it all.
-Phil

Chapter 1: coming soon...