Mississippi Blues Blast

Just to get you in the mood watch this video we took in Fred’s Lounge. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfR-PMTFIcg

After a few hours travel we made our next stop in Lafayette. We weren’t sure what we would see here but it is an important Louisiana city so here we are. From New Orleans to Lafayette we crossed bayou’s, rivers and bridges to get to Bayou Wilderness RV Park. It is an interesting park with a ‘mini-bayou’ at one end. We learnt something new and that is that pine trees grow ‘knees’ similar to the aerial roots of mangroves when ‘knee deep’ in water (pun intended). While there we also went to a National Park where a racoon was the only wildlife we saw until we started to drive home and while crossing a bayou Shane spotted a ‘gator from the car. Luckily there was no one behind us so I could stop for a quick pic.

One of our goals while in Lafayette was to visit Baton Rouge. We didn’t know what to expect and we didn’t get much. In fairness to BR if only we had more time…. Anyway we crossed the river and noticed the waterfront here. We then drove around town but because it was Memorial Day (& Sunday) little was open. Eventually all we found to stop and look at was a waterfront park with some military memorials. We were attracted by the sight of an A-17 Corsair jet mounted on a pole complete with full bomb armoury. Berthed alongside but up on blocks is the USS Kidd (http://www.usskidd.com/history.html). This Fletcher class destroyer has a long, heroic and sometimes funny history. It’s worth the read at the above hot link. Behind the Kidd was a Mississippi steamer but like everything else this day it also was closed. Following that there’s a few pictures of Baton Rouge city skyline from the waterfront before we headed back home. On the way we crossed more of the South East’s fantastic bridges. Keep in mind pretty much all of the S.E.USA/Gulf Coast is underwater so bridges and raised roadways are the norm. We battled on through the rain storm and at the point that this last pic was taken we were on about 10 miles of this raised road over the Louisiana swamplands. Not much I know but as I said (& as you can see) the weather was a shocker and Labour Day is one of America’s biggest holidays.

Out of sequence I know but the day before heading to BR we took a drive that was recommended in our Lonely Planet guide book. OMG, what a day. We had been told to take a drive up to Opolousas. It is part of the “Music Triangle” (Nashville to New Orleans to Memphis) which includes “The Mississippi Blues Trail”. (http://msbluestrail.org/pdfs/map.pdf) . Well we got away a bit later than we wanted. Our guide book told us the first stop (The Tivoli) was closed but as we shot past it at 70 MPH with no where to stop and turn around we noticed a heap of cars there so we missed the Saturday morning music session that happens there. (Even had we stopped it only went for another 30 minutes.) You need to understand we were cruising through cotton fields out in country Louisiana. With the thoughts of ‘Deliverence” going through the back of my mind we pushed on to the next stop, “Fred’s Lounge” at Mamou, not knowing what to expect.

The first problem was finding the place. As you can see in the first photo it isn’t the sparkliest building in the world. We thought it was closed as there was no sign of life anywhere around town. As we approached the address in the guide book we only really found it by the noise coming from inside. So I pushed the bland timber door and kapow the music hit me! Inside they were having the best time anyone can have on a Saturday morning before noon with your clothes on. Fred’s is a tiny space only about 15mtrs X 15 mtrs and that includes the bar, storeroom, band area and ladies loo (Gents is outside.) There are no windows, 1 door each at the front and back and a few seats around the wall. The two people behind the bar are frantically dishing out beers and bourbons and the patrons are rocking like there’s no tomorrow. All this happens from 9:00am – 1:30pm on a Saturday.

How good was this? Well it only took a short while and I had Shane up and dancing for the first time in nearly 30 years! It was that good. We both wished it would last for ever. Yeah I might be going overboard but this event deserves it. I just hope the video conveys the atmosphere a tiny bit.

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After the disappointment of Baton Rouge we took ourselves off to a famed haunted plantation known as The Myrtles Plantation (https://www.myrtlesplantation.com/). This is terrific antebellum plantation near St Francisville north of Baton Rouge. If you haven’t heard of this place before you can read about some of it’s ghosts here (https://www.myrtlesplantation.com/history-and-hauntings/the-legend-of-chloe). Our guide was pretty good with the tales from beyond and her stories were fascinating. You can see the alleged photo of Chloe at the end of this gallery. In particular look at photos 11, 12 & 13 of a mirror that has been re-silvered several times since it was first hung 120 years ago. That ‘smudge’ you can see on the right side, mid height on the mirror supposedly shows two faces (one black one white) and while not really that visible here, in real life they are there. These are reputed to be faces of the former mistress and one of her slaves. If, however you are a sceptic like me you would still enjoy the gorgeous antique relics readily available for your perusal during the tour. The detail work from the period prior to the American Civil War is pure craftsmanship at its best. Again I mention study the last 3 photos that show the ghost of Chloe along with the explanation of the photo.