Crawfish Saturday

Saturday (April 19th) was the 5th annual Crawfish Cookoff in Slidell, benefitting the Hospice Foundation of the South .



The weather was perfect and the crawfish was plentiful and mostly delicious. There were fifty teams competing for the title of best crawfish. Here are a few shots my hubby took:
(click on pix for full-sized version)











One of the bands that played was Four Unplugged , who have played all of the Crawfish Fests and have come a long way since 2003.




they've added a sax player and an excellent female vocalist.





















the large-ish crowd enjoyed themselves and the music

Maybe more lemonade from lemons....

Almost three years ago the impact of Hurricane Katrina dealt a huge blow to many bridges in the Gulf Coast states. The I-10 Twin Spans, which connect the eastern side of north and south shores of Lake Pontchartrain were rendered unusable to commuters and emergency workers for over a month.



With the construction of the new Twin Spans coming along ahead of schedule, ideas about what to do with the old spans are surfacing.

One such idea is to use the rubble from the existing Twin Spans to create two artificial reefs that, in turn, would attract more fish to the area.

The Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana has presented its reef proposal to the state Department of Transportation and Development, which in recent weeks sought public input on how to use the old bridge once the new one opens.



Artificial reefs made from concrete would be a first in Louisiana, as the state now requires the reefs be created from a particular kind of limestone that must be imported from Kentucky and Missouri, Walther said. The pingpong-ball-sized limestone is expensive and hard to transport, so using the rubble from the spans, as has been done elsewhere in the country, would be a great benefit for the program, he said.

In a somewhat similar vein of recycling for the good of maritime life, hundreds of retired New York City subway cars are being dumped into Red Bird Reef in Delaware, continuing the transformation of a barren stretch of ocean floor into a bountiful oasis, carpeted in sea grasses, walled thick with blue mussels and sponges, and teeming with black sea bass and tautog.

Let's hope the impacts of the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway are short lived and - if this project is allowed to go forward - that Lake Pontchartrain will once again be a thriving ecosystem.

Jazz Fest Cubes

Jazz Fest starts next week.





Here's a link to a site that will allow you to print out the schedules by
stage/day.

Sights from 2008 French Quarter Fest

Saturday was a picture perfect day. We got to the Quarter around eleven a.m. and ate our way to the U.S. Mint and back. Good people watching too. Here are the pix:
(click on pictures for full-size versions)


Flour Power bakery's cakes were the last thing we ate that day. I think it put me over the top!!! Deliciously decadent.


Corky's BBQ Pork Sandwich was soooooooooooo good!


Ralph and Kacoo's jambalaya and exquisite bread pudding


Can't remember who did this fantastic meatball poboy.


The shrimp in this bbq shrimp poboy were a little too overcooked for us. But we ate it anyway!! Hope The Alibi gets it right next year .


The Mrs. Wheat Meat Pies were great, as usual.


We did Maspero's for a light lunch (heh, heh, as if we hadn't eaten enough). This is their seafood pistolette. Pretty good.


This Seafood Caprese Salad from Cafe Giovanni was quite yummy


Saw this cat-on-a-leash for the second year in a row.


In between eating we checked out all of the activity going on around the Quarter.
Here in the French Market area, which was set up with all kinds of activities for kids, we watched this Samba group perform. They were really great.


Just as we were passing by it, the steamboat Natchez blew its horns and almost blew out our eardrums!



The area in the front of St. Louis Cathedral was covered with artists and performers.




These 3 guys were fantastic "mimes". Of course mimes don't talk. These guys made small noises, but moved like animatrons.


Everywhere you turned there was music playing. It just don't get any better than FQ Fest for free entertainment!




Everytime I see a Lucky Dog vendor, I think of Ignatius J. Reilly.


This guy is a wee bit late for St. Paddy's day.


We love to people watch


The crowd was okay all day - up until about 4PM. That's when we decided to leave....too many people to allow one to move freely. We were full and tired by that time anyway.


All in all, another fantastic French Quarter Fest. Thanks to all who helped put this on!!

And remember................



Here are some reactions from other local bloggers:

Michael Homan discusses the disgusting show put on by Chris Owens

Prytania Waterline has some good pictures

New Orleans Daily Photo has a great picture of the riverfront at dusk

Coastal Photography

Photographer Matthew White has put together a collection of photograpy of Louisiana

from his website:
This project documents the unique landscape of south and coastal Louisiana, the very existence of which has been threatened by environmental factors, federal indifference, and the hurricane season of 2005. Since the summer of 2000 Matthew White has been working on a project of photographing rural and/or coastal communities in southern Louisiana, shot alternately on 35mm black-and-white film, and in large-scale color. He has compiled a sizable collection of documentary-style, often contemplative photographs of most remote locations in all the southern parishes. Nearly all of these communities were completely destroyed by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and face uncertain recovery; they may never be the same again, if they make it back at all. 

"The very existence of the Louisiana coast is at issue here, and I feel that I can do my part for its preservation not by depicting its withering away, but by showing  what is still beautiful about it; that it is, and always has been, one of the most unique and spellbinding landscapes in the nation. I try to convey a sense of you are here in my photos; if the viewer can for one second sense the peace, solitude, and wonder I feel standing in these landscapes, then there would be no question about whether or not Louisiana should be rebuilt."

Scuzzbucket of the week

From b.rox website, a
comment from a real open minded citizen from Ohio:

Ilove NO and would like to live there someday but the mentality of a large part of the minority population is that they are owed something. Since Katerna, there has been Taco and Mexican restaurants popping up every where. That is great because the people rebuilding NO need to eat. It is sad the lazy locals have no energy to rebuild there town. I was in NO 3 times in the last 2 monthes and see alot of sitting around. There are parts where I can’t tell what ghetoo was pre or post Katrena. I send my money to the MS Gulf Coast where the real damage occurred.

Joe Gallagher Worthington, Oh

Finding those who will listen

Taken from the Colby College (Maine) magazine, "Pulling Nails Is Not Yet the Beginning: Telling the Katrina Story"
This is Nico Porot's reflection on a month spent working with a reconstruction team in New Orleans this year. The work is still going on; the stories are innumerable and all are compelling


......The United States at large must remain informed on the progress that is not happening. For as much as is being done, I (and I think I speak for a lot of people) really had no idea how many years of work remained for New Orleans before I saw it this month. The hands-on work and even the donations to organizations like Helping Hands, Common Ground, Make It Right, Mustard Seed and others, cannot do the job alone. It is difficult to point a finger at any one organization, since corruption, mismanagement, maladministration, and general negligence have plagued and continue to plague New Orleans at the city, state, and even federal levels.

Through the education and empathy of those in the United States furthest removed from the issue, we ought to feel an obligation to force politicians to bring the tragedy of Southern Louisiana and the entire Gulf Coast back into the spotlight. And now, as I prepare to head back to central Maine, and eventually Idaho and Southern California, this is the task I will take on—even if it is in the smallest gesture of mentioning it to those around me. What is most important now is that I have encountered the Katrina Story, or at least a few pieces of it. My interest now is in finding those who will listen



thank you, Nico.

Louisiana Springtime

A few pictures from our springtime.

all photos taken by my husband. Click on photos for full-sized versions.







Hard to believe something this pretty comes from something that looks like this:

More on bridges

Although it's been open a few months now, I'm finally getting around to posting about the opening of the new Rigolets Bridge.

click on pictures for full sized versions







The old bridge - built in 1930 - was very narrow and I used to hold my breath as I crossed it until I got used to it. This bridge was not damaged by Katrina (like its cousin, the Highway 11 Bridge to the west).


Image from southeastroads.com

There is a wonderful view from the top of the new bridge, absolutely stunning!


About ten miles to the south is the Chef Pass Bridge, built in 1929.



The Chef Pass Bridge was closed for about a year after Katrina due to issues with soil erosion.

This bridge takes one into the community of Venetian Isles in far east New Orleans.

Another bridge on the road to completion is the I10 Twin Spans.
Decimated by Katrina, the new spans were begun in July 2006. The new westbound span is scheduled to open in 2009 with the eastbound span to follow in 2011. The old bridges will then be dismantled.

This view was taken from Highway 11 as it crosses I-10.


Taken last month (March '08), this photo shows the progress being made.


This shot shows how much higher the eastbound span will be from the current bridge


Another bridge being constructed in this area will serve people and horses. It's the long-awaited bridge that crosses Bayou Lacombe on the Tammany Trace. It will be 80 feet long with an eight foot wide pedestrian walkway.



Once this span is complete, the Tammany Trace will offer 36 miles of bike path thru the backroads of St. Tammany Parish. From Slidell to downtown Covingtonm each leg of the trip provides a unique experience far from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.



Bayou Liberty is also getting a new bridge. With a price tag of $6.8 million dollars the bridge will take the place of one that's been in use for many many decades.

Here's a great you tube video on the construction.