Kings of The Road
We are two friends who went on a road trip around the United States 20 years ago to serve churches. We kept a journal as we traveled and are reading through the journal and remembering our adventures. Listen and laugh with us as we go back in time and inspire others to go on an adventure.
Kings of The Road
Roadside Tunes to New Orleans Rhythms
Ever find yourself longing for the carefree days of spontaneous road trips and the comforting tunes of college rock? Join me, Scott Hawkins, as I share a personal tale of a missed REM concert with my dad, which taught me that life's real treasures are found in shared moments rather than destinations. As we traverse through nostalgic memories on this Election Day 2024, I offer a gentle reminder that the spirit of resilience will carry us through any uncertainties, soothing our souls much like the melodies of REM and Counting Crows.
Our adventure takes an unexpected turn to the vibrant streets of New Orleans, where the air is filled with the intoxicating smell of its culinary delights. Discover the genius behind Mardi Gras ladder seats and ponder their potential uses beyond parade season. Engage in our lighthearted debate over the best chicken sandwiches, where Popeyes' notorious mustard sauce and crispy offerings take center stage, all while savoring the unique rhythm and energy of this extraordinary city.
As the night unfolds, let me whisk you away on a whimsical evening in the French Quarter, where jazz melodies and dollar shots create an enchanting backdrop. This episode is an invitation to embrace the unpredictable journey of life with laughter, enriched by the captivating tales of musical memories and the flavors of adventure.
The sweet sounds of bass thumping guitar, doing a swift jazz lick. These are the sounds that bring you to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles podcast. The time you get to spend with me, Scott Hawkins, him and again, We'll talk about life in the lazy days, life on the road, serving churches, going to Walmarts. Follow us on Facebook, Download the podcast, Go on the whole journey with us. We've been doing this for 52 episodes, I think something like that, and we are continuing to go, so welcome on this election day 2024.
Speaker 2:That's right. Today, as we record is November 5th, november 5th, november 5th. We don't know who our next president is, yet we don't.
Speaker 1:But I will say as is said on the sign of my church I hate to ruin the ending, but everything will be okay, and it will so, wherever you are when you listen to this whoever won, don't worry, it's all going to be okay. Jesus is thrown, he's on the throne and the world will continue to spin. So yes, we all just might get to have a little quicker than we thought is. Well, you guys in the city of orange, you might? I like us.
Speaker 1:We're going to live on the water like water world, kevin Costner.
Speaker 2:I like to quote the psalmist who said it's the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine. Oh, I feel fine. Okay, that's the takeaway REM Michael Stipe, what a great poet. Psalm 151. The poem of REM.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but good music, I don't listen to them enough and then, like you do, you're like there's some solid tunes, yeah yeah, that was a time.
Speaker 2:That was an era of music where, like, what, what even genre would like, I wouldn't call that rock and roll. What, what is no?
Speaker 1:but everybody puts it like I've heard it said college rock. I don't know what that means. Is that what that is? It's like I think so. I think they're like the ep've heard it said college rock.
Speaker 2:I don't know what that means. Is that what that is? I?
Speaker 1:think so. I think they're like the epitome of a college rock band, Like this kind of funky guitar-driven that probably checks out.
Speaker 2:I went and saw Counting Crows over the summer.
Speaker 1:A little college rock-y, but they're more mainstream.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's like Toad the Wet Sprocket.
Speaker 1:They opened for them. That's yeah, there's like Toad the Wet Sprocket, they open for them and like all these sort of like they were played on the rock stations, but they're not like rock and roll.
Speaker 1:No, like Weezer has some of that. I have a memory and we'll have some memories of Scott today on the show of me and my dad driving out somewhere to like Riverside or somewhere to see REM. And it was a spontaneous thing, I was into them and my dad probably didn't make it because the freaking 91 was so bad. So it was like at some point.
Speaker 1:My dad's like, well, I don't think we're going to make it. I was like, and honestly I don't even feel that this is probably something that's good to remember. As a parent, like as a 42 year old, I honestly don't feel disappointed. It was just kind of cool. We tried, oh, that's cool, you know. Like I wasn't like and I don't look back at it and be like, oh, I wish we had actually seen it, but it's like that was kind of fun, like to try to jump in the car and make it out there. You know, and and maybe I knew on the way, like this is unrealistic. And Dad's like let's try Back in the day when you didn't really know things until newspaper. What REM is playing that Tonight, one night only. Let's go. Let's go. Doors at 7. And it's 5 545 after all. The 91 headed east Will surely made it jump in the LeBaron, exactly, lebaron, solid car took some promenades in the.
Speaker 1:LeBaron. Oh man, it was classy, it sure was. Is that a white leather? Interior it was definitely leather, it was like red, I don't know, I remember the outside was a maroon color, the outside was a dark maroon. Yeah, my dad had a Toyota Corolla and we got in the Toyota Corolla to go to Mongolian Barbecue, which don't eat enough. The more Mongolian Barbecue should be involved in our lives.
Speaker 2:right, the big walk up by Michael's off of Anza, where it ends going up we would go to the one on Hawthorne and Torrance Boulevard across from the Albertsons. Across from the Albertsons yes, that's like right where I live.
Speaker 1:Yes, right there, across you guys drove all the way down Anza. But yeah, right there, mandoly Bar, across you guys drove all the way down amza. But yet, right there, mcdonald barber to you and the on the drive there the seat broke my dad, the seat no longer set up, just straight back and so we put a two by four. We put a two by four in the seat so it would sit up and drove and at that we leave mcdonald barber to you. We walk next door to to the Chrysler dealership and that night my dad buys a Chrysler LeBaron convertible.
Speaker 2:No way.
Speaker 1:Yes, we're on the freeway driving and I'm sure, as an adult, I'm sure there were marriage conversations happening before they let this car start to go. This is bad.
Speaker 2:A last straw? Yeah, just like that. That's good we're leaving Tallahassee.
Speaker 1:The book. Hasn't Andrew stopped documenting? So now we're on to straight memories. We left our friends behind, our wonderful compound of love and Jesus-y time behind, and we headed straight to the city of sin. No, not Las.
Speaker 2:Vegas? That'd be too far.
Speaker 1:Drive the other way, the southern version of it, new Orleans, go on.
Speaker 2:See, I like how you say that I was going to, but I feel a little bit insecure about just like going for it and saying New Orleans, oh yeah. I feel like an imposter, so I just have to say it like a total tool and be like New. Orleans New.
Speaker 1:Orleans. That was a good radio list. New Orleans, the city that sometimes floods because it's below sea level. Ah, true facts. How many times have you been to New Orleans since that?
Speaker 2:Um, I don't know if I've been back since then, oh, really Okay, no, I don't know if I've been back since. Oh really, okay. No, I don't think I have.
Speaker 1:Oh bummer, it's a fun, it's a fun city, it's the same. I feel like it's a three, three day city where, like, if I'm there more than three days, I'm a little bit like itchy kind of advantage in that regards to me.
Speaker 2:But right, it's a cool city, it's a cool city yeah, it's one's one of those cities you should go there. Oh for sure, yeah for sure, no doubt, go see it before the levees break and it's gone.
Speaker 1:Again, again, yeah.
Speaker 2:Again.
Speaker 1:Below sea level.
Speaker 2:It's one of those I do think there was. At one point we were walking around some of the historical areas and you see like a ship going down the river. Yes and it walking around some of the historical areas and you see like a ship going down the river and it's above you and you're like yes, this is unusual.
Speaker 1:Yeah, unusual, yeah, thick all the time. So I went I want to say two, but it may have been three, but I would feel more confident saying two to a Mardi Gras and we would go. And if Mardi Gras, outside of like the French Quarter, is much more family friendly? And so I built these ladders and you have a seat. You have to put a seat on top of the ladder. It was kind of like the Mardi Gras thing and then the kids would sit in the ladder seat so it was like all around them and they'd have like a thing across their belly so they could sit on top of the ladder safely. And then people throw in beads and you would have your kid up there and you'd be standing behind them trying to catch all the beads off of the thing.
Speaker 1:What? Yes, there's a type in mardi gras ladder seat and you will see exactly what I'm talking about, because once you see it you'll know what I mean. And until I had seen it I had never thought about it. But boy is it cool. And so you put it on a six foot ladder and then your kids sit there and you stand behind them on the ladder and you're catching beads in the face. You know shots. Um. So yeah, it is, it was really fun and so we did that. Uh, I think twice, maybe three times.
Speaker 2:Oh, this guy put wheels on his, so he could wheel it. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:There's some people, they do it, they come, do it up, like we had to drive them from Birmingham. I built one for our friends too, because I was building them. I'm like, oh, mine's only two, and so I built one for our friends, so we had we had two of them and I think we gave them parade.
Speaker 2:If you're a kid, you're above everything I know I'm like this. This has a lot of applications right, why isn't this more of a thing? Yeah, rise above the crowd exactly. Bring your own stadium seating exactly. Oh my gosh, I feel like.
Speaker 1:I feel like this is an opportunity for a a business hustle here, scott did he put wheels on the top so you could just carry it from the back and then like yes it, I haven't seen some of those. Yeah, it's interesting. It's one of those things that's like where else could? We do this I mean, it's not like rose parade yeah, yeah rose parade uh veterans day parade down towards boulevard and it's probably not gonna let you take a.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're probably not gonna let you pull a ladder into disneyland. No, but that's probably out? Yeah, that would be oh man people that would catch on quick too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, people be like with the ladder ladders up all day. What the ladder, what that disney would mass produce them you need to try to buy children to be bad. You know that took a weird spiral.
Speaker 2:So, um, yeah, so so new orleans, let's talk about, tell us, let's, let's talk about it. Um, we've already established it's a delta, that's sinking down and they have to build up the levees.
Speaker 2:So that's that's something. But the buildings, the crypts are above ground. Because of that, you can't dig down because it'll just be watery. So that's why all the graves are above ground, right? Yep, this is sort of that quintessential old wrought iron and big oak trees with with the Spanish moss, similar to what we saw in Savannah. Savannah is kind of like a different version of New Orleans no, no, no.
Speaker 1:Orleans yeah, it has. It has an energy about it too. I feel there's a very particular New Orleans energy.
Speaker 1:The food is very good in New Orleans, Definitely a place that you'd want to go and get some delicious food, which we'll talk about in a sec. Again, we are now staying in hotels because we don't have a pubertank. We have gotten hotels by linda and she is, uh, getting us hotels in different cities. So we decide, hey, come in new orleans, let's stay a night there. I feel like it was one night, maybe it was two, I think it was one, I think it was just one night, but maybe we got there early because it's not that far drive.
Speaker 2:Yeah, probably wasn't that far of a drive from tallahassee, so we just went there, stayed the night at some hotel, but we um I was telling scott as we were thinking about this I think we first had lunch when we got there, at popeyes chicken, which, oh man, popeyes, I don't know what your go-to is, but mine. So there was a popeyes near where I used to work in pasadena, so I'd sneak up there anytime I drove in and not take the train and I would get like I think it was like three strips or five strips, but the the key for me was the mardi gras mustard dipping sauce. Oh, that's good it's so good.
Speaker 1:The cajun fries too. Right like those are. The cajun fries are good, but they also have like jambalaya which or basically like rice and beans not to bring up a super controversial topic on election day, but like what is your go to chicken sandwich?
Speaker 2:I never did end up trying the popeyes chicken sandwich. I've never had shut your, shut your mouth. No, I never did it. I think because it was such a hype.
Speaker 1:It's still around.
Speaker 2:I know so they just built one here in Orange, but I haven't been there.
Speaker 1:What are you doing Talking to me?
Speaker 2:They built one in Buena Park, which that's where we go to church and that's where my father-in-law and sister-in-law and brother-in-law live, and so I went there one day and I was so excited about it I was like Popeye's this is great, I was there by myself. So I'm like I can just get whatever I want and go. And man, it was the worst Popeye's experience I had ever had and they're like yeah, I don't know what it is.
Speaker 2:There's no, there's never anybody here and they got and it was like not, it was not good, but yeah.
Speaker 1:Go to your Popeye's close by. The chicken sandwich is so good, is it better?
Speaker 2:Is it better than Chick-fil-A I?
Speaker 1:feel like it's better. I know Really Some people mad at me for saying that right now, but it's so now. I haven't had it probably in a year. But it is so good and it's like juicy and it's the right kind of breading and it's just they nailed it, they nailed it?
Speaker 2:Does it have a pickle on it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, two, three yeah.
Speaker 2:The thing that irritates me about these conversations is.
Speaker 1:I feel like all of them are good Right?
Speaker 2:Oh, I thought you meant this conversation.
Speaker 1:I'm like are you, but are we?
Speaker 2:going? Are you saying that the this whole thing, this whole podcast, all these conversations over the last year have irritated you? Okay, the chicken sandwich conversation.
Speaker 1:No, got it. I look forward to these conversations. No, thank goodness, the chicken sandwich, because it's like saying, like whoa, what's your favorite donut Like? Let Like, whoa, what's your favorite donut Like? Let's start already that donuts are delicious, right? So, like the floor of donuts is above Brussels sprouts, right, most vegetables.
Speaker 2:Well, here's the thing, though. Yes, tell me, I hear you, but in the mix is also like the McDonaldald's chicken sandwich and the wendy's chicken sandwich now, which I I'm not gonna like they're fine that's what I mean.
Speaker 1:They're fine. You're not like, oh, bummer, I had a mcdonald's chicken sandwich, like, okay, it was fine, I'm full, I didn't hate it. But we're not talking about like a bad food. There's not. You know what I mean. There's not like a horrible version where you're like, bummed, that that was what you had for lunch. You could say, oh, I wish we had a Popeye's sandwich, I wish that Chick-fil-A didn't sandwich agreed, but still, you're already in the world of like chicken sandwiches. What about the? Have you seen the commercials? Or is this just a Redondo thing for the? The chicken Big Mac, chicken, big mac. Oh, I have seen that that looks horrendous.
Speaker 2:That's a must try you have. No, no, I would.
Speaker 1:I can't wait to hear what you think of it, but I will chicken patties yes, I saw a picture that was like oh no, no way I agree with you. Even the McDonald's advertisement pictures don't look great, which is not good for the actual sandwich, right? Because if you can't pull that off you're already in trouble.
Speaker 2:I'm like who's asking for?
Speaker 1:this. That's a good question. Who is asking for?
Speaker 2:that? Are they getting all the requests?
Speaker 1:Boy, if you just made a chicken, big Mac, they're like we can't deny it anymore guys, the Big Mac has been going great for a long time. Okay, so Popeyes.
Speaker 2:So we're at Popeyes.
Speaker 1:I want to say something else about Popeyes Moving into Birmingham. Our first stop was Popeyes Chicken when I moved to Birmingham On our way in.
Speaker 2:We're like on the outsk.
Speaker 1:Birmingham On our way in. Really it was like, oh, here's a Popeye's. So I go up to the Popeye's order Emily's at the booth and I'm like, okay, what do we want? And I go to order and the person takes my order and then repeats something back to me that I have absolutely no idea what they're saying. And I said what was that? Oh, that I have absolutely no idea what they're saying. And she goes Spice and Red. And I said, uh-huh, what was that man? Oh, yep, Uh-huh. And she goes Spice and Red. And I said, oh, and I haven't had enough Popeyes to even know the context. So I'm just looking at her and she's looking at me like what's your answer? And the person behind, oh, regular. And I go back to the table and I look at emily and I'm like we're not gonna make it we're not gonna make it in the south.
Speaker 2:This was a bad, this is bad choice.
Speaker 1:We're, oh, we don't understand them and they don't understand us from california. This is bad. I'm not. I can't even order popeye's chicken at the store. Oh, no how am I gonna get? The person had such a thick southern accent and they just balled these words into this cobbler of phrasing and I was like, oh, we're dead meat, emily, and she was splashing, so that is still a special memory of Popeye's oh, and I just don't know. I'm like yes, yes, everything.
Speaker 2:That sounds good, thank you, you, I'll take one of each. Yeah, what's the soup of the day? Oh, the soup du jour sounds good, I'll have that yes, please, yeah, okay. So we're at popeyes and duo, so so we're at popeyes, we're just eating our lunch going oh, louisiana fresh.
Speaker 2:This is good you know and uh, all of a sudden it must it must have been like school got out, because all of a sudden there was like a rush of kids and I think I was thinking like, oh no, they're gonna come into this popeyes, and it's, there's gonna be a ruckus just all these kids, you know, but all of a sudden they're like oh running a lot of them.
Speaker 2:I'm like what is happening? And then a rumble breaks out. Rumble, a rumble Between the jets and the sharks. Yes, just like that Started like walking around with their switchblades and snapping at each other.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no.
Speaker 2:No, just a street fight amongst local New Orleans kids and I thought don't feel comfortable.
Speaker 1:So what did Scott Andrew do when the rumble happened?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we just continued nope, we stayed solidly in the safety of the Popeye's chicken and hoped that it would go away. Oh look, oh look, a rumble. But I felt out of place. Yes, I felt uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:I would say. You and I are not rumblers. I have wrestled for high school, but that's the closest I've ever gotten to being in a fight. I'm a lover, not a fighter. That's not even, no, some people. That's to be disputed.
Speaker 2:Have you ever gotten in a fight as a kid?
Speaker 1:No, that's what I mean. The closest I got was Well, there's a really nice one neighbor kid. I jumped on his back one time and I was like I was like you know eight or nine and me and my friend once on the same block decided to just like box, bare knuckle box for fun, because this is a great idea as a 11 year old, right. So we put our football mouthpieces in and just went to town. Oh, but we weren't mad, it wasn't like. It was like hey, you're bought, you know. Yeah, my jaw hurt for like three days. He was like two years older than me, I think. Oh dude, I just got like tattooed across the face yeah so that was the like.
Speaker 1:That's the extent of the fight I've been. What about you?
Speaker 2:I think in middle school maybe it was elementary school it was me. Yep, I don't know if you could really call it that, let me. Let me paint a little picture though for you. Paint a word picture for the listener who doesn't know me or didn't know me as a child? Not a big guy. No, not a big guy.
Speaker 1:No, you're put it this way class picture.
Speaker 2:I'm always in the front row.
Speaker 1:You're 4, 11, 95 pounds in high school, like you're showing up dripping wet. Yeah, as a sophomore, as a sophomore yeah, like love it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, uh, freshman year I walked into high school at 78 pounds. This is great, no joke. So this is much before that. So I I was I think it was probably, I don't know, middle school, fifth grade, something like that. So I was. I was little, always number two in sports because number two is the smallest jersey. Right, like that, that's me. Well, there was another guy who was like we were competing for the smallest guy award and I must have made him mad or something, because we're like walking out of school at the end and he came running up and like tried to tackle me or something, oh, oh, and I think he was mad at me and I don't remember if I fell to the ground or shoved him or like we kind of like went around and then people were like no, no, no, little guys, stop it. And like that was pretty much it and they lifted you up and held you in the air by.
Speaker 1:They both kicked us up by the backs of our shirts.
Speaker 2:Let me down. Let me at him. I'll hurt you, come on.
Speaker 1:I'll hurt you. I will, I'll hit you One day. Put up your tubes. Come on, mighty Mouse, go after each other.
Speaker 2:And they probably forced us, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Let's say Ryanyan, okay, that sounds like a right, though we had a lot of right, I don't know.
Speaker 2:They probably they probably like, forced us to hug each other afterwards you know work it out, and we should have plotted together too. Let's get those big guys let's get our guys.
Speaker 1:That's exact revenge together. We will wait one half of one of them.
Speaker 2:That'll work out well I don't know what happened to that guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah ryan, the absolutely elusive ryan I don't know. I don't know what happened to that guy? Yeah, ryan, the absolutely elusive Ryan, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1:So anyways, that happened.
Speaker 2:That happened, but then we went on to other things. Then we go yes, where did we go after that?
Speaker 1:So after that we went downtown or not downtown, but to the French Quarter where there is much music, like legitimately good place called preservation hall, where you pay 10 bucks and you just sit and you listen to these jazz players just rip and, like you know, the drums are going, the piano's going and you're just sitting and listening for as long as you want. I don't even think there's a bar there, it's just, it's just you and enjoying music. It's like old cool room, yeah, and it feels like where jazz was born, right, it feels like this is how I'm supposed to be listening to this music.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and for the record, I'm not a fan of jazz. I don't really care for it much. My you know I say that my grandfather was in a jazz band, my great uncle and stuff, so like I can appreciate it, but generally speaking, like I'm not gonna listen to jazz on the radio but being there in that city where jazz feels like the fabric of it, like right. I felt like we could have sat there all day, and we probably sat there for a long time.
Speaker 1:Marveling at the skill of these musicians.
Speaker 2:And it's. It's one of these things too, where it's like on the street, there will be street musicians and you're like you were the best person I've ever heard play that ever?
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, like that kind of thing. So a place, pats, pats Malo, pats McCoy I don't remember the name and it's where the hurricane was invented. Hurricane is a very fruity drink that New Orleans is famous for. So we're like, hey, let's get some hurricanes. Sure, of course we are. So we got some hurricanes. Then we're walking around the um, walking around New Orleans, and as we're walking around New Orleans we uh see a sign that says dollar Jägermeister shots. And we're like, sure For a buck.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're having fun. You know we're in Bourbon Street, new Orleans at night. We're a couple of young guys, we're like sure, let's Okay. I remember also there was we'd be walking around and there would be like a building and then another building and a gap that was maybe four feet wide between the buildings, and shoved in between the buildings there would be just like a little stand that would sell these test tubes of stuff. And I want to say it was like jet fuel for like a dollar.
Speaker 2:We're like well, let's try what jet fuel tastes like.
Speaker 1:And we're like whatever, try what jet fuel tastes like and we're like sure, like it's just a little test tube. We're just walking around new orleans, yeah, enjoying listening to music, uh, having fun and trying jet fuel, jadermeister shots. Then we sit down at this other bar and there is just this incredible guitar player, another jazz band, and they're just going. Well, it was really fun and we're listening this guy was.
Speaker 2:He was a big fella, I do remember that huge man it was like going into country bear jamboree back in the day at disneyland. It was the big bear that's sitting and you're like that bear hasn't moved for 30 years and he's, and that guy, I think just lived in that chair, just like I don't know if there was a chair under him or what he was on, but like he was a fixture, like an animatronic bear exactly sitting on this tiny stage.
Speaker 1:But my gosh, he just ripped, shredding the guitar just, and it's like that thing where you're just saying of, like I heard jimmy hendrix would put on this guitar before he put his pants on every day. That's why it was so good, but he would just constantly have his guitar on and he was just noodling around. It's like this guy just always had a guitar in his lap just playing. Well, they want to break at some point and then there's a sign a little above them Dollar shots while band is on the break. So everyone doesn, and so we're like a buck. So notice the theme here Everything's a dollar. Probably now, after inflation, it's probably $5 now, but then a dollar, a dollar, a dollar. We're like dollar, dollar, dollar. We're sitting, we're enjoying the music and then I don't remember which one of us it is. First I kind of think it was you, but maybe it was me.
Speaker 2:Yes, I distinctly remember this we stand up.
Speaker 1:To the bathroom and we're like uh-oh, Dollar shots make it hard to walk in a straight line to the bathroom.
Speaker 2:Yeah so.
Speaker 1:I remember where I was standing or sitting.
Speaker 2:We were like directly in front of the band. Let's say that the band and where we were sitting was like on the left side and the door to the bathroom was more on the right side. And I remember getting up and we must have been sitting there for a while. So we felt totally fine and I got up and I started. I saw where the door was to the bathroom and I just kept turning my head further and further to the right, as my body kept going further and further to the left.
Speaker 2:I'm like oh no, the floor is tilted. I can't stop myself, but I'm just going in this diagonal line away from the place that I want to be and I'm like something has happened to my body that I cannot control.
Speaker 1:And I am not in the place that I intended to be and I'm like I am going, Meanwhile the band who is on break.
Speaker 1:The guy did not leave, he just stopped playing, but he's sitting in his chair and I'm like looking at him as I'm getting closer to him, like I might run into you and I have no control over this. First, you would not be the first, sir. Yep, this is any white kid from the city. Yeah, he's seen many of us no, but it definitely. It surprised both of us so much, I think, because I it was just like a little here, a little there, a little here, a little there, and then we sat down enjoying this music and it was like everything was just percolating right in our bodies and we're like oh, I think both of us were.
Speaker 1:We're like, yeah, we, we should probably go back to the hotel now. Oh man, we, we stayed out a little bit longer but then we went back to the hotel and I remember the same thing. We had to drive or go on a little like trolley and we were kind of like I don't think our hotel is in the best neighborhood as we got closer and it was like late. We're like, huh, well, let's just get inside and we'll probably be okay.
Speaker 2:We'll probably be okay and we'll probably be fine. I another thing that I remember about that night is it wasn't it wasn't mardi gras or anything, so the crowds weren't huge, but there were people around and there were people like throwing the beads off of the, the top floors or whatever. Um, you know, pg, don't worry everybody we didn't see anything. But um, I remember there's like this one building and they were throwing the beads off, probably to try to get people in, and we're like, oh cool, they're throwing necklaces. This is a traditional thing, let's see if we could.
Speaker 2:And I remember there was a guy who's like hey, I got like 10 necklaces and he and I look over at him and his face is just bleeding because he's just like sitting there getting pelted with these beads from above and they're just smacking him in the face because he's not like catching him, like yeah, it's time to go.
Speaker 1:We gotta get out of here after a certain time, like it is just getting sloppy down there.
Speaker 2:So yeah, that was I kind of remember that too.
Speaker 1:And that was the time like we started going. We, yeah, got on our little train and we're like, okay, okay, let's get back. And we got back, but that was a really it was fun. It was really fun, it was a great way to, I think, be in the city and, yeah, just have a really good time. So when did that have been December? So we're like, yeah, we're not during Mardi Gras season or anything, but it was really fun.
Speaker 2:No, it was cool. I mean just to see those buildings. Like we said, it's definitely one of those cities you got to put on your map.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and we had Cafe Du Monde.
Speaker 2:Yeah, cafe Du Monde which is home of the beignets and the chicory coffee. So I think we got some of that to take back. I don't know if somebody won that state, if we were still doing that at the time, because I feel like we brought a lot of.
Speaker 1:We definitely yeah, I made them at home yeah, for my parents, and that was kind of fun. Um yeah, chicory coffee is good. The beignets are delicious, just you know, fried dough ball with with powdered sugar, again, like, of course, it's going to be good. That that's well. How can you, how can you miss that? They serve. They're open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, though. That's their thing, right.
Speaker 2:Oh, is that their thing? Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's their thing. They're always there.
Speaker 2:And it was just like a nice outdoor sort of cafe. Get your thing, you sit outside and there's music all around in this old square and yeah, just a very charming place to be, yeah absolutely, it's a wonderful city, wonderful city, wonderful place to be.
Speaker 1:We had a good time there, but only one night, only one night in New Orleans. And then our trip had to continue, and continue into the great state of Texas. There we go, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what else T-X's? There we go.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know what else Never mind. No, well, okay.
Speaker 1:Now, I've already spilled the beans.
Speaker 2:As we're driving. One thing I remember about New Orleans is the road in and out. Of. It is mostly a bridge over just water and swamp Fascinating. It's called the Boy. I think it's called Okay. Oh yeah, all right, one little tidbit and an extra for the road. Take it to go. You are fast, yeah, bye, see ya.