Nawlins and the South


April 8, 2018




Have you eaten “boudin”? Boudin looks like long sausages because it is put in casings. But the mixture put inside can be meat, rice, bread crumbs, chopped onions and other spices. Evidently early “boudin” was made with pork blood mixed with bread and onions and spices and then cooked. Now there is “blan” boudin without the blood, and “noir” boudin with the blood. It is advertised all around Louisiana and Texas and supposedly people make a hobby of going around tasting various homemade recipes. Sorry to disappoint you but we passed all opportunities to taste it and have no regrets.

 The South sometimes feels like another country. 75 MPH speed limits, no helmets on motoryclists, food we have never heard of- chayote squash? boudin?…. We were uneducated about “The South”. We started the week doing 4 states in one day. But because going from Florida through Alabama and Mississipi goes fast we were in Louisiana in no time. I had never been to New Orleans so Steve, who had been there before but was not overly impressed, humored me.  We parked the RV southeast of the city near Chalmette and Violet.

In some ways New Orleans is like Haiti: 1) There are homeless living in tents around the city, 2) there are piles of trash in some neighborhoods, and 3) the architecture of the oldest buildings is similar—the ornate and decorative metal and woodwork on the porches and verandas. We took a tour bus one day and did sightseeing. That included the 9th ward that had been devastated by Katrina. Tickets were all sold out for the music events we wanted to see so the only music we heard was from street musicians. One of Steve’s best friends, Jerry Hirsch, was in town for work and he treated us to a lovely dinner at Nola, an Emeril restaurant. It was fun to catch up with Jerry and eat great food.

Ornate balconies in New Orleans


Above ground crypts in "Nawlans"

We spent one night in a place near Beaumont, Texas and then came to San Antonio. We are parked here for a week to give ourselves time to see and do all we want to see. Yesterday we explored an antique mall in the German town of New Branfel. Today we bought a 3 day ticket that will allow us to see and do a variety of things in San Antonio. We took the Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour and walked a part of the River Walk which deserves more time.



Here's your education for the week about RV's: So have you heard about the gray and black tanks on RV’s? One holds water from sinks and showers and the other holds what comes from the toilets. We were sold a chemical that is supposed to “treat” these tanks. But in addition to completing our taxes this week, Steve has researched the best way to take care of these tanks. We have had no problems but who wants them? Guess what? The answer is to feed the tanks probiotics instead of chemicals. Oh my stars. Probiotics will arrive in two days.



Good night, world.

Tentative schedule:

April 13               Sanderson, TX

April 14-19         Big Bend TX
April 19-23         Carlsbad, NM
April 23-26         Alamogordo, NM
April 26- May 3 Alberquerque, NM
May 3-15            Santa Fe, NM
May 15- 19         Durango, CO
May 19- 23         Mesa Verde, CO
May 23- 25         Winslow, AZ
May 25- June 5 ???? Grand canyon?
June 5-18           Sedona, AZ



Comments

  1. Bill KinzieApril 8, 2018 at 6:36 PM

    Be sure to take a ride on the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge steam rail. Takes the better part of a day and is a real experience!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 8, 2018 at 8:12 PM

    We used to live in El Paso and Larry worked in New Mexico so we travelled throughout the desert southwest. Carlsbad Caverns are lovely and try to see the bats. Santa Fe’s architecture stepped right out of a history book for me and hiking around Mesa Verde and Sedona was so unique and beautiful in a way that’s hard for eastcoasters to imagine. Enjoy every day!

    ReplyDelete

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