HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year, dear friends!
Just a couple of hours left in 2014, getting ready for a new and better year. The past one has been a tough one for us. Good travels, interesting times, but also – since September – hard times because of Peter’s cancer surgery and rehab afterwards.

We’ll start all over again soon, so, please, stay tuned: For February we are planning a trip to the Go West Summit in Colorado Springs and after the congress we will head south, towards the sun, through New Mexico - where we haven’t been for decades - to warm and sunny Arizona. With snow heaping up outside right now and frost for weeks, it’s a really enticing prospect!

We’ll celebrate peacefully and quietly at home tonight, possibly fall asleep before midnight…

We wish you all the very best for 2015 – good luck, good health, good wealth –, thanks for following us in 2014! We hope to see many of you soon again!

Back home

We were awake early tuesday morning and left in New Iberia at 7:45 am to drive the approximately 250 mi (400 km) to George Bush Intercontinental Airport at Houston. It’s become warmer and more humid again, a little overcast, temps rising from about 60 to 80 deg. F (27 C) at the Texas border and dropping again to 60 towards the airport. Truck traffic became heavy when approaching Houston and, in addition, it began to rain hard for an hour or so. Nevertheless, we made it in good time - four hours -, with one short pit stop, to the airport, returned our car and unterwent the usual procedure. Had to repack things in our luggage at the check-in counter, since we had a couple of extra pounds in the suitcase (54 instead of 50) and employees were in an accurate mood today. Eventually, we made it with 50 and 48 pounds, plus a fortunately not counting couple of pounds in the „hand luggage“. No lines and no waiting time, and, thanks to free WiFi, time until boarding at 4 pm past fast.

Our rental car - a Nissan Rogue - was the perfect car, right size (Midsize SUV), good gas mileage (29 mpg) and comfortable. At the end we had driven 2686 mi. (4322 km) in total. Considering that the distance from Houston to MUC is approximately 5800 mi. (9330 km) this is a considerable distance for not quite three weeks.

The weather was gorgeous everywhere from Texas through OK and KS to Louisiana, especially considering the time of the year. We wore our warm jackets only once in the Flint Hills and the only rain we got was on the way to the airport.

The plane, a B767-400 as usual, was only about half full, but each row taken by at least one person. Smooth flight, „chicken“ or „pasta“ – glad we still had Frank's satsumas –, no sleep. Had departed about 20 min. late and arrived half an hour early, at 9:20 local time on wednesday. Quick trip back home, arrived at 11:15 am.

Sugar cane and Poboys

We had a delicious shrimp & sausage gumbo - a mix between a soup and a stew, prepared with a roux and the holy trinity (onions, bell peppers, and celery) plus the "pope" (garlic) and served with rice – at Catherine's and Donald's new house on sunday evening.

On monday morning we went for a tour in the nearby sugar mill, which Donald, part-owner of the mill and sugar cane farmer, had arranged for us. It was something completely new to us: trucks and tractors bringing in sugar cane, being weighted and unloaded, then sugar cane being processed, pressed, boiled, crystallized etc. until raw sugar and molasses emerge. We went all the way up the mill to a good viewpoint, where we could see the whole operation. Boy, it was hot, it smelled strong and it was loud! This must be a tough job, working in such a mill! They work 24/7 from approximately October to January, during harvest, afterwards it's cleaning, upkeep of machinery and modernization. I was thinking how hard it must have been in the 19th century, when slaves on plantations around here processed sugar cane manually...

Sun was out again today and it warmed up during the day. We continued for Avery Island and the Tabasco factory, but since neither the Visitor Center/museum nor the tours had changed, as expected, we just inspected the store to get the latest invention of McIlhanny: raspberry chipotle sauce.


This sauce would e.g. gone well with the poboys (sandwiches), which we had for lunch afterwards, stuffed with fresh fried shrimps and catfish. They were just delicious and in this 1950ies diner incredibly inexpensive. We were then paying a visit to James Lee Burke or, to be correct, to a bookstore dedicated to him. Born in New Iberia, this famous mystery writer is one of the best-known personalities in New Iberia; another one is George Rodrigue, famous for the "Blue Dog" and (originally) for his Absolute Wodka ads.

After a pleasant afternoon on the patio, we spent our last evening with friends of D&C, Myrlene and Frank, including a night tour in Frank's huge, meticulously kept veggie garden and a healthy gourmet dinner.

Saturday night fever at "Death Valley"

Yesterday, first thing in the morning was to "re-introduce" our friends to their beautiful patio area, which we love dearly and they don't use frequently. Though it may be hot and humid in summer in this region, it's just beautiful at this time of the year and there are still so many shrubs and flowers in bloom! It cooled down the last two days to about 60 F, but on saturday we had sun again and just needed a sweater in the morning and evening.

We spent a brief visit to the Konriko rice factory and to the local Bayou Teche Museum, which is nicely done and gives a good overview of the history and traditions in the area: Cajun Country is a very special part of the U.S. and the best personification of a true Cajun is our friend Donald. He is the personalized example of a warm, hospitable and vibrant cajun and would also be a good example to teach students that English is not the same as English.

Then we got ready for the Big Game, LSU : Alabama, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capitol, and departed early afternoon for tailgating and people-watching. Traffic was still o.k. on our way to the stadium (considering it’s been about five hours before kick-off), but public parking was already full; fortunately, we had assigned parking because our friends are season ticket holders. The vibe was great, folks enthusiastic, purple and gold all over the place, big BBQ grills set up, gumbo cooking in big pots, people partying and playing. Just Mike the Tiger, who's living in a luxurious habitat closeby the stadium, was a no-show today.

We had our own tailgate party on the truck bed of Dave’s pickup, with delicious chicken, potato salad, deviled eggs, brownies and wine and sat in the sun and watched and chatted till 5 pm, when it was time to watch the marching band and cheerleaders parade into the stadium and to resume our seats, which were excellently situated behind south end zone.

With shows of the two large marching bands of LSU and Alabama, the cheerleaders and majorettes, it was entertaining until kick-off at 7 pm, prededed by fireworks. It’s not really been a top game - though Bama is one of the top-ranked teams in college football - but it was a tight game and 50 seconds before the end, with LSU leading by three points, I was ready to quit, to avoid the crowds, assuming it's over. But, on Peter's and Dave's request we stayed and first Bama tied and then, in overtime, won the game. Crowds in the stadium, called "Death Valley", were unbelievable, about 102.000 fans (the game was sold out and tickets very hard to get by) watching and making noise and cheering. A much more peaceful and enthusiastic atmosphere than in german soccer stadiums!


It took us forever to get out of the parking lot and out of town - in total about 2,5 hours (twice the usual driving time) and we got back home at 2 am in the morning, tired to the bones (no wonder Dave took a couple of naps today). But… it was fully worth the trip and an unbelievable and memorable event. Thank you Dave & Chris!

Goodbye to New Orleans and Welcome to Cajun Country

Our last day in New Orleans. After three days in town we had fully re-adapted to the pace and its special laissez-faire atmosphere and we were almost sad to have to leave, wouldn't we have looked forward so much to the visit at our friends’ place in New Iberia and the LSU football game on saturday.





After filling up with beignets and chicory coffee in the Café du Monde we walked along the Riverfront for the last time, said farewell to the „Natchez“ and noticed a statue of „Old Man River“ Mississippi we’ve never noticed before. Checked out at the hotel and drove out to Chalmette Battlefield, where the famous battle of New Orleans took place in 1815.


On the way back, we checked out the 9th Ward, the neighborhood where Hurricane Katrina hit worst and where the broken levees caused tremendous damage in 2005. We’ve driven through in spring 2006 and it was desastrous and a very sad sight, unpopulated and completely ruined. It is still not back to full swing again, roads are in bad condition and there are many houses standing empty, but there is hope and development going on. In one section they started to build new houses, each of them unique, in a different style and color (see pic). It’s based on a project initiated by actor Brad Pitt under the name „Make it Right“, and it seems to be a good start.

Across town on I-10 and on US 90, the Spanish Trail, across the Mississippi we drove east towards Cajun Country, passing beautiful plantation homes (e.g. in Franklin) and sugar cane fields and factories in full operation, since sugar cane harvest just started. Arrived to New Iberia at around 3 pm and were warmly welcomed by our friends Dave and Chris and Cocoa (their toy poodle). It’s good to have a comfortable, homey place like this one after almost three weeks of travel and living out of the suitcase! We probably have more friends in this town than at home and already in the evening we met a couple of them at dinner in a small, livingroom-like seafood restaurant in St. Martinville and enjoyed crabcakes and „swamp platter“ with alligator, froglegs and catfish, perfectly paired with a local brew.

Off the beaten path

Today was our day of new and "off the beaten path" explorations. Though, we started pretty traditionally: with Emma and Bertha, the founders of the Court of Two Sisters. one of the traditional legends in the French Quarter. We've had it before, but the jazz brunch buffet is always overwhelming, with everything from grits and gumbo to crawfish and grits to Banana Foster and breadpudding.


Well fed, we waited for the #11 bus to take us uptown (as usually, you have to be patient when doing so, but on the other hand it's still amazingly cheap: $ 3 for a day pass!) and checked out a couple of shops and restaurants along Magazine Street for the book update. We found cool stores, one of them was "Bootsy's Funrock'n", and noticed again, that this is the place for "serious shoppers". Here the locals shop and dine and here you won't find your typical T-Shirts, masks and other New Orleans souvenirs, but ecclectic merchandise like authentic New Orleans T-Shirts made in the USA (at "Storyville") or vintage clothing at POP City; same for the restaurant scene. This Uptown neighborhood is really picking up and getting more and more attractive.

Same for Central City's Faubourg Lafayette. After having walked parts of Magazine and the Garden District (see pic), we took the streetcar to get to the new Southern Food and Beverage Museum in the historic Dryades Market building. It's a work-in-progress still, but the museum, library & archives are open already and there will soon be a restaurant and bar with regional southern delicacies. It's all about Southern food and beverages and, soon, cocktails as well. We'll certainly check out again next time.

We noticed that there is more going on in the neighborhood: The new Irving Mayfield's Jazz Market is right now under construction in the same market building complex, across the street and, also in the vicinity, a couple of "fancy" places came up, e.g. Church Alley Coffeebar & Zeitgeist or Café Reconcile. The coffeebar would well fit into Williamsburg/Brooklyn with its ecclectic choice of trash furniture and it's concert venue in the backroom.

The golden-shimmering Mercedez Benz Superdome - a shelter for many people during Hurricane Katrina and later renovated – and the "Smoothie King Center" - the renamed home of the N.O. Pelicans, the professional basketball team – are impressive, but the neighboring former New Orleans shopping center was never re-opened again after Katrina. Same for one of the skyscrapers there, shut down and dilapidating, similar to the former World Trade Center on the riverfront, where we had our very first cocktails, Sazeracs and Hurricanes, in New Orleans in the top floor bar thanks to coupons we always got. Now it's standing there empty for many years. What a pity in this location! We also took a look at the Amtrak railroad station: that was where we arrived by train at least twice and schlepped our luggage to a cheap hotel.

In the meantime we were getting used to waiting for the public transport again and took the green streetcar all the way to Harrah's Casino to change to the red train along the waterfront to the French Market. There were another couple of places we still had to check out before we headed in the direction of our hotel and enjoyed Happy Hour at one of the bars closeby. Surprisingly, the barkeeper was a lady from Wuerzburg/Germany (the place we studied for a year) and the crowds were pretty mixed: from San Francisco, New Jersey, New Zealand... discussing football - funny! We got a flight of beer and gator sausage for $ 5 each and afterwards headed "home" to our "traveling office".

Exploring N'Awlins

Another warm day, and first thing we did in the morning was to check out St. Louis Cemetery 1 and the Welcome Center before we went to breakfast in the Café Beignet, a nice courtyard café with live music. In the morning the city always looks kind of clean and refreshed, store and restaurant owners hose down the walkways, garbage cans are emptied, streets are empty, delivery trucks block the streets, not many tourists around yet. We love this time of the day in New Orleans, when the "Old Lady" just awakes. First music groups are getting ready at around 10 am, psychics set up their tables in front of the cathedral, "night owls" are struggling to find their way home (where ever that may be), first tourists slowly crawl out of their hotels...



The New Orleans Collection, to which we orginally went for the Andrew Jackson exhibition, was a good first stop, since we always ignored the 2nd floor historic exhibition, which is really instructive, with very knowledgeable docents in each section. With our guidebook and camera in hand we walked all over the French Quarter to check out shops, restaurants and sights and stopped at the Presbytere to see the fantastic Hurricane Katherina exhibition again. On to Marigny, the nightlife and gay neighborhood of town with many music venues, which partly look pretty shabby from the outside (see pic), but offer excellent music for free or for decent prices in the evening.

Passed by the Frenchmen Hotel, which was the very first hotel we ever stayed in, thanks to Christine, in the 1990ies, and it's still in good shape. Headed on for the Music Factory, our favorite music store, which recently moved from the French Quarter to this neighborhood. Good thing is, that it's less cramped now, that they do have A/C and a larger stage (for free! concerts), it's roomier and brighter than before, on the other hand it lost some of its shabby atmosphere and its convenient location. Of course, we couldn't restrain to buy two CDs, this shop which is focused on local music (New Orleans, Cajun, Zydeco, Brass Bands, Jazz, Blues etc.)is just a paradise for music lovers and prizes are very decent.

Next stop: The Mint, where unfortunately the great Jazz Collection never was brought back, on to the French Market and the newly introduced Farmers' Market, taking place on wednesday afternoons. Seems like New Orleans is getting more "creative" and chic, with some pretty fancy producers mingled in. It's good to see something new and fresh coming up. No concert this afternoon in the Jazz Historical Park building,unfortunately, another good spot to experience N.O. music for free.

Having walked a couple of miles on concrete, we came back to the hotel around 5 pm with tired feet to freshen up and get dressed for our 7 pm dinner in Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse. It was so much fun to meet Christine again, who was the first tourism rep ever who assisted us in trip planning in the 1990ies and who sort of "introduced" us to the business. At the time we did research for our very first guidebooks: one on the U.S. South in total and one on New Orleans. The three of us had a good evening and besides enjoying crabcakes, steaks, shrimps and desserts, we discussed everything from tourism to "old school" work ethics to politics to football and best quarterbacks. Fortunately, here in New Orleans even the speed in serving and clearing up is much slower than in other places!

Love it or hate it: The Big Easy

It's been an easy 200+mi-drive from Alexandria to New Orleans this morning, with a stop at Tanger Outlets and Cabela’s (a fabulous outdoors store) in Gonzales, about 45 min. away from New Orleans. When we approached Baton Rouge it became obvious what the main industry in this area is: oil. And, also, landscape (with swamps and bayous) changed and „culture“ became different. Hard to explain.

Though drivers in the New Orleans metro area are apparently a bit more aggressive and crazier than in other parts of the country, we made it in good time and checked into our hotel in the French Quarter, the Maison Dupuy, at 2:30 pm. Unfortunately, we didn’t get one of the exclusive rooms with a balcony towards the nice courtyard, but nevertheless, rooms are large and comfortable and they offer free internet and Food Network, History and Travel Chanel, our favorite TV stations. Only drawback: windows can't be opened, though we are only on the 2nd floor with a courtyard view.


Out again at 4 pm to explore the city, to see what’s new and what has changed since spring 2013. Good thing in New Orleans is, that 1. it’s walkable and 2. changes are not too extensive. Around 80 F (27 C) today, with a few clouds, we first fortifyed ourselved with a muffuletta from the Central Grocery, then explored one of the brandnew innovations in town: The Outlet Collection at Riverwalk, an outlet shopping mall in the middle of downtown New Orleans. Walked along the Riverwalk and strolled through French Quarter streets to end up in the Crescent City Brewhouse in the evening. Good brews there!



This is a truly unique and crazy city, either you love it or hate it. Frankly, we are still undecided, even after 12 or 13 visits in town. It smells/stinks, it’s dirty, there are lots of bums and young "hobos" on the streets and in the parks (we saw more in one hour than we’ve seen all over TX/OK/KS), but nevertheless, it’s colorful and laid-back and different. Eccentric characters, a unique laissez-faire lifestyle (to which you have to get used to), all is sort of slow motion, musicians and artists at every street corner, strange people, many black people, dropouts, drunk people and tourists - you’ve got it all here.

It seems to be a paradise for many American visitors, since here you can dance on the streets, openly carry a beer, go to dubious clubs, look at half-naked ladies, behave shrill and eccentric, get drunk by enjoying Sazeracs, Mint Juleps and Hurricanes – nobody cares. Also, many tourists adjust optically (clothing-wise) and sometimes we were wondering what their neighbors in the backcountry would say, seeing them like that. It’s sort of a "gomorrah" for many (religious) Americans on the other side, with apparently few moral, belief and rules - though catholizism is traditionally predominant in N.O. What a city - no wonder they call it „The Big Easy“!

In the mountains - Farewell to Oklahoma

It was pitchdark at night in our lodge room in the state park and we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise in the morning before the clouds came in. We packed and explored the surroundings and Lake Carlton some more, with its swimming beach (unfortunately it was too cold to dip in), playgrounds, marina etc.


We left the park for the Ouachita Mountains and drove on Talimena National Scenic Byway - a curvy, steep, narrow road, very popular with motorcyclists - through wooded, hilly area. It reminded us more of the (narrower) Blue Ridge Mountains than of anything else we’ve seen in KS/OK before. Slow drive, beautiful vistas, unfortunately cloudy today. Stopped many times to enjoy the views before we reached the border to Arkansas and - for lack of other options before - had a late breakfast in Mena, AK, in a small coffeeshop with home-baked cakes.

Arkansas is one of the very few states left we haven’t „been“, meaning, haven’t stayed there for a night (our qualification), though we (again) drove through parts of this state today. But this was not the only one we crossed, next was Texas, going South, and it became warmer mile by mile. Texas has more liberal speed limits and even on some state highways the limit was 75 mph, at least 70 mph. Gas prizes droped again from about an average of $ 2,90 in KS/OK to $ 2,70 in TX, but in general , we were really fortunate to get gas that cheap this year, though our Nissan Rogue had a great gas milage of over 29 miles per gallon. Payed over $ 4 for a gallon in spring on the West Coast.

At the Louisiana border, close to Shreveport, we had a break at the Welcome Center and did what we did in the „good old times“ when we traveled as students, just for fun, when money was tight: We looked through coupon magazines to find a good hotel deal. Now, with internet available, it has become much easier, and we checked for locations and ratings first, before we drove on to Alexandria/LA and after 430 mi (almost 700 km) driven, we checked into a Rodeway Inn for $ 54 tax included as well as free wifi and breakfast. Nothing spectacular, but a large room, clean and with microwave and fridge, though a bit noisy thanks to an old-fashioned A/C nearby. Bought a couple of things in a supermarket "nearby" and didn’t leave the room anymore; instead we tried to catch up with work, since there hasn’t been internet in the lodge the day before.