New Orleans, Louisiana. Sherry, Emily and I drove from Austin to a three bedroom apartment on Frenchmen Street in the Marigny district of New Orleans. The first night we ventured out to check out the town but didn't make it more than 3 blocks because there were so many great music clubs, we didn't need to go an further. We ate Japanese food at a restaurant where a 55 year old Japanese woman belted out classic tunes like My Funny Valentine accompanied by an older guy on keys. They were showing classic Japanese movies on one of the brick walls. Our good friend Robb, from Toronto, joined us for the next four days.. We went to some of the famous clubs like Snug Harbour and The Spotted Cat Music Club and others we hadn't heard of like The Maison and Vaso. One night we met up with friends Theo and Zoe, who now live in New Orleans and they took us out to a beautiful tapas place called Mimi's. We had a great time listening to a pick-up New Orleans jazz band and ate delicious food. We also had an epic meal at The Three Muses restaurant down the street and listened to a couple of sets by Luke Winslow-King. His music is really beautiful. Also, as you can see from the picthres, it has a beat you can dance to.....see Sherry cutting loose! Robb bought Winslow-King's entire catalogue. (2 CDs). Our apartment had an enormous balcony on the second floor overlooking all the action. We sat out there and listened to the music coming out of the clubs in comfort. In fact, the bass player's speaker at The Maison was anchored on Robb's bedroom wall so Robb could enjoy a nice base line while he was sleeping. There was also a big brass marching band that would play on the street every night and draw a huge crowd. Amazing. After five days we had to limp out of The Big Easy. Wonderful

View down Frenchmen Street from our second floor balcony

The Maison is a great music venue 3 feet down Frenchmen Street

Frenchmen Street

Lafayette Cemetery in the Garden District  

The Spotted Cat Music Club on Frenchmen Street

Theo and Zoe are settling down in New Orleans

We bought a Muffuletta sandwich here and it took three of us to eat the thing

St. Louis Cathedral

Sherry and Emily eating oysters and laughing at The Sonesta Hotel

The French Quarter

Dinner and Music at The Three Muses on Frenchmen

Two women at The Three Muses

The music was so good at dinner Sherry and her friend could not resist dancing

French Quarter

This man was trapped in an attic during Katrina and kept a diary on the wall

Sherry and her new biffles at The Three Muses

Street musician playing on Frenchmen Street

Robb bought Luke Winslow-King's new CD on a break at The Three Muses

Beadwork on Chief's costume at Treme's Backstreet Cultural Center

More hand beadwork

I was honoured to meet the Chief of the White Cloud Hunters

Robb and I looking down on Decatur and Frenchmen from our balcony