October 14th is Sher’s Birthday. She is the mother of my children, my wife and the love of my life. She is my soul mate, my lover, and my reason for living.
Feel free to share birthday greetings for Sher in the comments! Thanks!
We enjoyed great food and great music at The Maison on Frenchmen Street New Orleans
Sher and I visited New Orleans in January, 2018, the beginning of the 300th year anniversary of the Big Easy. On one of our evenings in town we found a great place to both have a great meal and to listen to some fabulous live jazz music. We had been to the Market and another live music bar and decided we wanted to get something to eat. I had seen The Maison on the web, so I recognized the sign.
Maison @508 Frenchmen
We were seated right away at a table just a few feet from the stage, which was already occupied with the Baby Giants Jazz Band! Doug, our waiter, appeared right away and showed us the drink menu. Sher ordered a “Dixie Revival” made with tequila and grapefruit juice and some other good stuff. Once I took a sip of hers, I had to have one myself. What a great drink!
The Giant Babies Jazz Band
Enjoying our “Dixie Revival” cocktails
We then ordered our dinners. Sher ordered the Penne Primavera, pasta with seasonal vegetables sautéed in a Creole garlic and butter sauce. I opted for the Cochon de Lait Poboy, a Cajun style slow roasted pulled pork dressed with coleslaw and drizzled with Barbeque sauce, and with a side of fries. It seemed like in no time our plates were brought to us. I actually declared “Wow” out-loud when I saw my Poboy and the huge pile of fries!
Check out that bowl of pasta and that huge Poboy and pile of fries!
The food was absolutely decadent. Sher said her vegetarian pasta was the best that she has ever had. The Poboy was my first, but I just loved the pork on that bed of coleslaw in the bun. And those fries came out almost too hot to touch, so they stayed hot and crisp throughout the meal. I don’t think either one of us could have been more pleased. Hats off to our waiter Doug who took care of us. Even when all of the tables in the room occupied he still was able to continue to serve us. We had a wonderful evening in true Big Easy style that day.
Austin’s Congress Avenue Bridge and 1.5 million bats
Back before the pandemic we were visiting our family in Austin. We all took a day trip to San Antonio one Sunday, and planned to see the bats of Austin that evening. This is a recap of that adventure.
Who would think that a winged visitor from Mexico would make such a splash in downtown Austin, Texas. Such is the story of the Free-tailed bat. These critters migrate to Austin in March and stay through November. The colony spends each day under the Congress Avenue Bridge and emerges en-mass at sunset. This daily event has become a famous local attraction in Austin.
View of the watercraft waiting for the bats
Mexican Free-tailed bat
We planned to see the bats after a day in San Antonio. Because it was a Sunday, free street parking was available if you could find it. A ten dollar garage was well worth the cost. When we got there I needed a restroom and found one at a great restaurant a block away. The restaurant staff where we had supper knew exactly what time the bats would emerge. After supper we walked the two blocks to the bridge. Because it was Sunday the crowds were not large and we walked right up to the bridge rail for a great view.
The bat colony takes flight
A viewing deck was on the river bank for a look up at the bridge. A wide variety of tour boats, canoes and kayaks were in place on the water of Lady Bird Lake waiting to see the show. And what a show it was! The first bats started to fly about 10 minutes before sunset. It didn’t take long for hundreds of thousands of bats to fly out from under the bridge. The sky was filled with masses of bats! It looked like they were flying along the river. Before the Congress Avenue Bridge was built where did the colony of bats spend daylight hours?
New Orleans’ famed above ground tombs in St Louis Cemetery No. 1
St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 was established via a Royal Spanish Land Grant in 1789. It was originally outside the city limits, and was at least twice its current size. The Archdiocese of New Orleans now has control of this cemetery. Currently the only way you can get into the cemetery is with a licensed tour guide. Unfortunately vandalism has forced this action. This cemetery was definitely on our list of things to “be sure to see” when we visited New Orleans in January, 2018.
Multiple designs for the tombs, some fancy and some plain
The famed above ground tombs and wall tombs are designed for use by generation after generation. Many of the tombs are owned by individual families. Some of the very large tombs are known as society tombs where several families or groups have combined resources. The laws dictate that a year and a day passes before an additional burial is permitted. As you would expect, there are many well-known, famous and infamous people whose tombs are located in the cemetery.
We are standing in front of the tomb of Marie Laveau, the famed Voodoo Queen. This is reportedly the most visited tomb in New Orleans.
We decided to go on a St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and Voodoo tour put on by the Gray Line. Marcia, our tour guide, was a delightful host of our small group. As mentioned above, you must be with a licensed tour guide to gain entrance into the cemetery. Shop around, but we suggest going with the Gray Line Tour Company.
Plaque on the tomb of Marie Laveau, the most famous voodoo Priestess from New Orleans
Nicholas Cage had this tomb built in the cemetery. He says he wants to be buried here, and the IRS cannot touch a burial plot. We were told that Cage visited the tomb a year ago with his brother.
Not all tombs are as well maintained as others.
Multiple generations of the same family interred in a wall tomb.
Brilliant red tree in a cemetery
Another example of the gorgeous colors of the season.
Fort Lowell Park showcases 19th century military history of Tucson
Fort Lowell in Tucson takes you back to the days of the 19th century, primarily the military history of the Arizona Territory.
“The Chief Trumpeter”
Fort Lowell Park is now a large city park northeast of downtown Tucson. It is home to several ballparks and soccer fields. The ground is also the site of a former frontier Army fort. The original military post was opened in 1860 on the outskirts of the then tiny town of Tucson. This location was abandoned several years later and moved to the Fort Lowell site, seven miles northeast of downtown Tucson. The fort remained until it was decommissioned and abandoned in 1891.
The Fort was used as a staring point for several Army expeditions chasing down “renegade” Apache bands. Perhaps the most famous event that began at Fort Lowell was General Crook’s expedition that led to the “surrender” of Geronimo.
Today little remains of the original buildings. The old hospital building remains are the largest reminder of the original fort. The mud brick walls are now…
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Sunset Beach at Tarpon Springs offers free concerts
This is a recap of a delightful experience we had at a beach near Tarpon Springs, Florida a few years back. We had been selling our wares at shows and markets and took advantage of a break for some R&R.
The bandstand at sunset on the beach
Bonfire on the beach, doesn’t get any better
We had left the Sponge Docks shopping and attractions area and were headed towards one of the Tarpon Springs beaches. We wanted to see the sun set over the Gulf. We ended up at Sunset Beach and much to our surprise and delight we spotted signs for a free concert on the beach that evening.
When we first pulled up in our RV a nice lady stopped us and she thought we were one of the food vendors there to set up! Once she realized we were not the food truck she politely directed us to the other parking areas.
Sunset Beach is just beautiful. The covered stage was perfect for live music, and everyone of the many folks there enjoyed the music, the bonfire and the available refreshments.
Good food, reasonable prices!
The sunset was stunning: one of those cloudless events that brought a beautiful orange hue to the entire skyline. It was pretty windy, but folks just bundled up, brought their own chairs, and enjoyed the band. Free marshmallows and sticks were also provided for everyone who wanted a toasted marshmallow.
We checked the Tarpon Springs website, and in 2022 the free concerts are still being offered. This is the link to the concert information.
Check the dryer first
At the time, this was an aggravation, but in retrospect it was kind of funny. Glad it wasn’t raining…
Yes, those are leopard sheets…
There is something about coming off of a long weekend festival and heading to a campground for a little rest, relaxation and doing some laundry.
The campground was nice, great roads, only 15 bucks with the Passport America discount and the laundry was only about seven sites away. Ok, it was small, two washers and two dryers. One dryer had an “Out of order: does not spin” sign on the door with the coin slots taped shut. Ok, I got that. A couple of loads won’t be bad, waiting for the one dryer.
Two loads started, no sweat. First load into the dryer: coins in, heat level set for high, start buton pushed. Well, 30 minutes later the laundry is still wet. Long story short, this dryer had no trouble spining. It just didn’t provide any heat. The result was turning the Four Winds 22E…
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A colorful fall still life
Multicolor corn and nicely shaped pumpkin
Good timing at Mt. Rushmore National Memorial
One thing we have discovered about Roadtirement is that timing is sometimes everything. We hit perfect timing when we visited Mt. Rushmore a while back on one of our trips to Seattle. We were at Mt. Rushmore National Memorial on a Sunday in late August a week before Labor Day. The traffic was minimal, and we discovered a vehicle pull off on the Norbeck Parkway, Route 244, where you can see George Washington’s face in profile. The parking area was nearly void of cars and outside the Park grounds.
See George directly above the white truck?
Sure there were some vehicles that pulled in to the turn off, but very few stayed for any length of time. It seemed like we had that beautiful slice of Mt. Rushmore all to ourselves.
George’s big profile view
Some statistics: George’s face is 60 feet tall, his nose is 20 feet long and his mouth is 18 feet across. Oh, and don’t forget his eyes. They are 11 feet wide each. Glad we had a telephoto lens!
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