Our trip to Texas had many benefits. One of the first was meeting interesting people on the train ride down. Austrailian Tamma was on her first trip trip to the United States, although she has travelled to many other countries over the years. She was our across-the-hall neighbor on the train and we got to spend lots of time visiting – and sharing meals. She said she is trying to ‘eat American’ but that it was hard. Americans eat such big portions, and so many carbs! she said. Even the famed Barbeees in Australia include lots of veggies. Here she is getting a photo of Lake Ponchatrain as we began our arrival into New Orleans.
So many good things happened on our trip, and we met so many wonderful people that we felt like Big Shots. However, we were official Big Shots for one night. My husband had arranged online for us to get two of the four Big Shot seats for a Preservation Hall jazz concert. This entitled us to a real chair as opposed to the other options. Thank you, Henry!
Of course, there is jazz everywhere in NO. We saw this lively group, Boulevard Park, on our way to Preservation Hall. People were dancing in the streets!
Half the audience at Preservation Hall sat on benches and the other half stood for the 45 minute concert, but we sat in chairs right near the ‘stage’. I thought Preservation Hall was a regular theater, but this performance space is not fancy and no bigger than a large classroom. When the staff at the door saw our Big Shot badges (we picked them up earlier) they stopped the line and ushered us in. All eyes were on the Big Shots.
The musicians entered and we enjoyed some energetic jazz! We also were reminded of a Preservation Hall concert we attened back in 1973 on the UMass lawn on a soft June evening. Children danced and we were all entranced – as we were again.
Then on to Gulfport to visit my Aunt Vera and Uncle Rudy. They fled Pass Christian just before Katrina hit for their son’s house in Orlando, but they are back in the area. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last year – so we brought our belated celebratory wishes. After Gulfport, on to Texas!
Isn’t it fun to meet people from other places. You get a whole new perspective on life as we know it.
Oh, I envy you the opportunity to travel to Texas on the train. I love train travel. I’m usually traveling alone on a long train trip and the best part is all the interesting people I’ve met by the time I get to my destination.
What a lovely time you are having! I so loved seeing your aunt and uncle. Lucky people.