This trip did not end up being a bike trip.  Even though I really wanted to take the new bike on a long trip to New Orleans, the temperatures from Ohio through Tennessee were going to be in the upper 20’s with highs reaching only into the low 50’s.  The wind-chill at 65 MPH was going to be intolerable for long distance.  Note that I did not get a bike with heated seats and hand-grips (yes, they do make these but far outside my needs and price range).  You can also view the pictures from this trip.

So, I flew to New Orleans instead.  The advantage, besides staying warm, was that I could spend more time in Louisiana (3 days on both ends of the trip).

My hosts from 2012, Dusty and Matt, were also hosting my Texas friends, Mike and Paul, and some friends from Scotland.  Other friends from my bike trips, Karl from New York, and Ken from Mississippi, were also going to be in New Orleans for the week.

This was a very relaxing trip, spending several days enjoying Louisiana’s 80F temperatures and sun, reading books and venturing out occasionally to see the French Quarter and other sites.  We spent one day at a three-day music festival, as well.

Our hosts have a home in the Bywater district, an area that flooded during Katrina, and their home was a “needs lots of” fixer-upper.  After the tragedy suffered by this neighborhood, a greater sense of community has thrived.  There is a welcoming tone in the city, and it was easy to walk into a bar or restaurant and meet people.

Most evenings, our hosts cooked dinner for us, with meals ranging from deep-fried turkey, to regional favorites.  Mike, Paul, and myself explored restaurants for lunch.  It is difficult to find a mediocre restaurant in New Orleans.  There a few chains in the city, probably since they simply could not compete with the great variety and flavors available most everywhere.

For Halloween, all of us had costumes.  I went as one (any) of the guys from Duck Dynasty, wearing a camo hat that I had attached a light-up rubber duck on top.  The Texas guys went dressed for Dia de la Morte (day of the dead), and our hosts and the Scots went dressed up as bumble bees with zombie makeup (zom-bees).  For fans of the TV series ‘Breaking Bad’, Karl and Ken dressed in Hazmat suits with ‘Vamanos Pest Control’ on the back, carrying a large black bag full of fake money, and little baggies filled with blue-crystal (raspberry sugar candy).

The French Quarter was quite busy for Halloween, despite the light rain.  There were many imaginative costumes, and there was much fun.

Voodoo Fest is a three-day rock music festival, with several stages featuring many well-known and upcoming music acts.  We were able to get tickets for one day, Saturday, when Nine-Inch-Nails was the headline act.  We arrived in time for the first act of the day, and saw more than a half-dozen performances.

The most impressive act of the day was by an upcoming act, Reignwolf.  His act starts standing solo on the stage, playing an electric guitar, beating a bass drum with his foot, and singing with an incredible voice for blues and rock.  His energy is contagious, and the crowd gives him an enthusiastic round of applause.

He showed his appreciation with another energetic song, ‘Electric Love’, at one point jumping from the stage onto one of the large speakers in front, not skipping a note on the guitar or in his singing.  The crowd cheered wildly!  Climbing back on stage, he took a seat behind the full drumset, and resumed playing the bass drum with his foot.  Then, remarkably, he picked up the drumstick in his right hand and played the drums and cymbals, while STILL playing the guitar with his left hand!! A video of the song can be found here, on YouTube.  His entire set was great music, fun, and the crowd completely enjoyed his performance.  Look for his name to catch on!

[Added January 21  Reignwolf is one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s 10 New Artists You Need to Know for January 2014.  I have also learned that he is touring across Canada in April with Black Sabbath, and he will be in Columbus, Ohio this summer at Rock on the Range.  MUST SEE.]

There were several more great bands during the day, but none impressed me as much as Reignwolf.

Nine-Inch-Nails was the closing act, and they had a great non-stop show.  Trent Reznor took a short break to acknowledge the audience and New Orleans, “the city that was my salvation”, referring to his addiction problems of the past.  Excellent show!

Had I ridden the bike to New Orleans this time, I would not have been able to stay for Voodoo Fest.  It was a highlight of the trip.