Trip to Cuba and New Orleans

Mike and Judy Henderson
January 25 to February 8, 2016

2/6/2016  Judy and I returned to the Willa Jean for a light breakfast because we were meeting my family for lunch.

At about 11:30 we met the family at Boucherie Restaurant.  First we have my aunt Patsy and Judy.

And Kevin, Cindy and Phil.

After lunch we went with Phil and Cindy to a Mardi Gras block party.  This party has been a neighborhood tradition for many years, and involves pulling a permit to block the street, a police car at one end, hiring a band and stage crew, plus contributions of food and drink.  It's supported by many people, and enjoyed by all.

Deacon John and his band provided the entertainment, as he has for many years.  He's getting up in age, I think he's around 80, but he still keeps going.

And here's a singer with Deacon John.

As we were leaving, Deacon John was singing "Stagger Lee".  I don't know if that was a national hit or just a local hit.  Here's a recording,  not very good, but it's an old recording.

That evening we went to Commander's Palace for dinner.  Across from Commander's is Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 where my family crypt is located, and we had planned to visit it.  But the cemetery was closed so we went to dinner early.

Commander's is very well known, both locally and nationally, and their service is impeccable.  Those balloons you see on the table are because Don told the waiter it was my birthday (it's actually a little later in February).  There was a group of four women at the next table and they were celebrating birthdays for three of them.  And, surprise!, they were from southern California.

I ordered the shrimp in a curry sauce but I could not eat it.  Don ordered the same thing and enjoyed it.

After dinner we visited the kitchen.

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2/7/2016 Today we're going to cousin Phil's house to see the Thoth parade.  It forms up a block from his house.

On the way we stopped at Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and this time I was able to show Don and Ronna the family crypt.

There are ten to twelve names on the crypt, so you may ask how that many caskets can be fitted into a crypt.  Here's an empty crypt that will help explain.  The top section is where the current coffin is placed.  If another burial is to be held - a least one year later - the current "resident" is removed from the crypt and the bones are removed from the coffin and placed in the "basement", and the new coffin goes into the top section.  A crypt can hold many, many remains that way.

Then we went to Phil's house and watch as the Thoth floats were brought up.

Don and Ronna behind one of the floats.

And the group waiting for the parade to start.

And start it did!  You can see a "throw" in the air in this picture. It's probably a small football, which is one item they were throwing.  You can also see a young girl on someone's shoulders reaching for a "hand down".

Ronna caught a Mardi Gras bra, which she put on. 

And here's Judy with some of her swag.  The hat and t-shirt were things she got from the floats.

The gang with some of the things they caught.  They caught so much stuff that they had a shopping bag FULL.  We'll all have to pay extra baggage charges to take it home!

That evening we had dinner at Ralph's on the Park.

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2/8/2016  Today we head home.  Don and Ronna met us about 8:30 and went to a beignet shop on St. Charles for coffee and beignets.  The "big dog" of coffee and beignet is Cafe Du Monde, located at the end of the French Market across from Jackson Square.  But at Mardi Gras you would have to wait a long time to get a table.

Here's Judy enjoying a beignet.  The beignets were good, as least as good as Cafe Du Monde.

Ronna and Don each try a beignet while Judy takes a picture.

We saw that Touro Synagogue (named for Judah Touro) was almost across the street so we walked over to see it when we finished the beignets.  The Synagogue was founded in 1828, and the present sanctuary was completed in 1908. Prior to moving to the present location on St. Charles street the synagogue had several locations in other parts of the city, including Carondelet Street.  At least one of the buildings on St. Charles had a date in the 1990's so I assume it was an recent addition.

People had left their ladders out - there were more parades that would pass on St. Charles - and here is one of them.  The child (or two) would be placed in the seat and buckled in.  An adult would stand on the steps of the ladder to support and control the child.  Note the wheels.  They make for easy transport to and from home.  New Orleanians have found many ways to enjoy parades. 

We returned to the hotel, packed our bags and checked out.  One last visit to my brother-in-law Donald's place to pick up some andouille for us to bring home.  LaPlace is known for its andouille and the two major sellers are Jacobs and Bailey's.  Don had the bought the andouille, had it vacuum packed, and froze it for us so it would keep in our baggage.  I found a note in my bag that the TSA had inspected my bag - I guess the drug sniffing dog was hungry!

Judy wanted to see the Mississippi river behind the levee so we stopped and walked behind the levee.   This is a view from the top of the levee, just a few blocks from Donald's house.

We could see boats and barges passing in the river.

Judy at the bottom of the levee.  You can see water just about at the levee, which we used to consider high water.  It had been higher earlier this year but has receded.

By the way, the land between the levee and the river is known as the batture (pronounced "batch er", or "batch ah").  During low water, sand hauling companies would take river sand from the batture, creating ponds about six to ten feet deep.  We young boys would go swimming in those ponds in the summer (it was much too dangerous to swim in the river itself).  The next time the river was high, those ponds would be refilled with river sand. 

The Mississippi hauls an enormous amount of silt downriver, the top soil of the Midwest, and it has created the rich soil of south Louisiana by overflowing its banks and dumping that soil along the river.  Since the river doesn't overflow its banks in Louisiana any more, all that top soil now goes into the Gulf of Mexico.

On the way to the airport we stopped in a local restaurant and had lunch, our last meal in New Orleans.  Judy had a hamburger and I had red beans and rice.  I couldn't go to New Orleans and not have red beans and rice.

Everything at the airport was fine, the plane was on time, and when we got to LAX the driver was waiting for us.  It was about 5:30 and we headed out into LA rush hour.  But we made it home in a decent amount of time.

While the trip was wonderful, we were glad to be home.

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2/9/2016 No trip is completed until we pickup Skipper and Bernie.  Here's Skipper at the kennel when we picked him up.

And that's the end of this adventure.  Stay tuned for our trip through the Panama Canal in April.

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