Jazz Fest, Day 1

That's right, I finally crossed a second thing off my 30 Before 30 list! Although it was kind of cheating, since we already had the tickets when I made the list...but still.

Travis and I were super excited to go on this trip not only because of the music and food and city, but because of the company. We went with two of our best friends, one of whom (Laura) is moving for good to Colorado this summer, and the other of whom (Brad) is moving to Houston for an internship. So he'll be close, but we'll probably be moving to Georgia soon after he gets back to CS.

After much checking and double-checking of lists, we left around 3 p.m. last Thursday to begin the 7-8 hour drive. For some reason, I drove the whole way. I was in the zone, I guess, and thought I should take advantage.

First picture of the trip: Jesus watching us in a Jason's Deli in Beaumont. 

Good sign, or creepy? You decide.

Even though all the hotels in New Orleans jack up their prices the weekends of Jazz Fest, we found a suite near the Convention Center for a pretty good price. It was too far to walk all the way to the Fairgrounds, but close enough to walk to a bus stop and pay $1.25 for a ride.

Our lovely view (ha).

Self-timer fail.

We got to the festival pretty early on the first day, just to look around and see everything. (The music pretty much runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day for 3 days).

There are at least 5 stages (maybe more) at Jazz Fest, along with several themed tents (Gospel, Blues, Jazz, etc.). But beyond all that music going on at all times, there are all kinds of crafts for sale, and so. much. food. All of which looked awesome. Poboys and alligator pie and all the rest of it. Oh, Laura and I also had some Vietnamese food for a break, which actually wasn't too shabby.

Inside the jazz tent.

Craft booth.

People enjoying their lunches.

We got to enjoy some traditional Native American dancing.

Travis dances a lot like this guy did, so at least now I know where it comes from...

Friday actually had the least "big name" bands we'd planned on seeing, so it was a good day to wander. We checked out the jazz tent for a while, then looked around at all the crafts. Around 2 p.m. or so, we finally parked it at the Gentilly stage to watch Gomez (and take naps).

Gomez.

Concentration.

This is what Laura and I were doing at the time...

Later that night, we came back to the same stage to watch Bon Iver. I think one of my favorite things about watching bands that I knew was that all of them were so excited to be at Jazz Fest.

Bon Iver.

Kids selling lemonade out of their fence on our way back to the bus.

After passing a random parade in which a bunch of older people were throwing out beads, we ended up eating dinner near our hotel at a place called Mulate's, then going back to our blessed shower and beds. We were so grimy, I was glad it wasn't a camping festival!

Stay tuned for Days 2 and 3. :)