Blues Road Trip 2011 Wrap-Up

There are many thoughts, photos and stories from our trip that didn't make it into any of our posts during the trip so I thought I would share some of them now. Well... those that Hoov will let me share anyway!

New Orleans
We had only been in New Orleans a couple hours when we hailed a cab and headed to Frenchmen Street. I scraped my knee getting out of the cab but thought nothing of it until we got inside the very tiny, very cool Apple Barrel. When I sat down at one of the two tables (this place is really tiny) I realized that my knee was bleeding. I got some napkins to wipe up the blood and a woman at the other table looked at me and said "Honey, this is New Orleans!" as she handed me a small bottle of disinfectant. I guess they take infections seriously in New Orleans!

Upstairs from the Apple Barrel is Adolfo's. The waitress was spot on with her recommendations and the Creole-Italian dinner was great.

With the exception of Bourbon Street I loved the French Quarter. The architecture in the French Quarter reminded me a lot of Paris. I loved roaming the streets and stopping to listening to the street musicians.

Bourbon Street was a big disappointment. Crowded with people, which I don't like but expected, and inundated with loud, thumping dance music. Ugh.

Memphis

Our timing and the weather were bad for Memphis. Beale Street was a big downer after the French Quarter and Frenchmen Street in NOLA. Complementary Gibson guitars during our stay helped. The tour of the Gibson Guitar factory and the Stax museum were pretty cool and there was some fun street music.

The highlight however was the band we discovered at Club 152: Big Mack Johnson. We simply could not get enough of these guys. We heard them three nights straight and I'm still jonesing for more!

Nashville

Nashville was the big surprise of the trip for me. We weren't there long but I loved it. Gruhn's Guitars baby! We heard a Scottish guitar player playing country music! We stopped by the Ryman Auditorium, both of us wishing we had seen our friend Jim Bazini play there.

And the best part was that half a block from our hotel was the Bourbon Street Blues and Boogie Bar! We did indeed find blues music in Nashville. Great place, great music and great bartenders!

Good food, fantastic music and great friendship. What a trip! Hey Hoov, when can we do it again?