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Dan_Wheeler

MY TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS

by on ‎05-04-2017 01:40 PM

The term “Bucket List” refers to specific things we want to do before we die.  One of my bucket list items has been to attend the New Orleans Jazz Festival and I recently made that happen.

 

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I arrived in New Orleans on Thursday evening April 27th.  After checking into my hotel I walked across the street to the Palace Café and enjoyed some appetizers and the music of a longtime sax player.  This city is known for it’s music and it’s food and I enjoyed plenty of both over the weekend. 

 

I had beignets for breakfast every day.  A beignet is basically fried bread dough with powdered sugar.  It is delicious beyond compare with a cup of coffee.   After breakfast a good friend of mine and I headed to the grounds of the Jazz Festival on the outskirts of town. 

 

The Jazz festival started in April of 1970 with Mihalia Jackson and Duke Ellington and about 350 people in attendance.  Today is has grown to a three day weekend in late April and a four day weekend in early May with hundreds of musical acts appearing throughout the day and evening on a dozen different stages.  Attendance figures for this year are estimated at around 600,000!!!

 

Harry Connick, Jr., Maroon 5, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Johnny Lang were just a few of the headliners I was able to hear and see in concert over the weekend.  For three days we split our time between the Main stage and the Jazz, Blues and Gospel stages listening to some of the finest musicians on the planet.

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Inbetween the music we sampled various Louisiana dishes such as rice, beans and Andouille sausage, spinach and artichokes, fried chicken and breaded pudding.  The flavors were as delicious and satisfying as the music itself.  We even found a breakfast spot which featured an amazingly talented trio made up of a drummer, keyboard player and bass player.  Nothing like starting and ending your day with amazing music!

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All in all this was one bucket list that exceeded my expectations and I hope to go back next year.   If you ever get the chance to attend, I say “go for it!”