Today Ernest took us on a tour of the Atchafalaya Basin, a swamp in Louisiana which was 200 miles long by 25 miles wide making up almost 25% of the state of Louisiana. Or at least that’s what I think he said! We decided that we probably understood about 30%, guessed 30% and completely missedContinue reading “Atchafalaya Basin”
Category Archives: USA
New Orleans
This stop on the trip was greatly anticipated by us. If you asked us both to name the top 3 places we must go to in America, New Orleans would have made it for both us. Tim managed to score us some really cheap accommodation just on the fringes of the French quarter. Staying inContinue reading “New Orleans”
Jambalaya!!
Coop’s Place in New Orleans had a huge line up outside it when we first passed it so we couldn’t help but try it, how lucky we were it was the best Jambalaya!! So rich in flavor it was great, coupled with the chefs smoking and drinking in the kitchen…maybe that’s the secret?!! ThrowContinue reading “Jambalaya!!”
Start of the Blues Highway 61
We left Louisiana thoroughly impressed and headed north into Mississippi. As with most parts of the trip we had renewed excitement as this part was also high on our bucket list- The drive up the Mississippi River listening to the Blues. We managed to score some amazing campsites over the next two days. One ofContinue reading “Start of the Blues Highway 61”
On the Road to Clarksdale
It was back into Mississippi and back onto the Blues Highway and as we drove through the cotton fields the area reminded us a bit of the Burdekin with the sparse population, the flatness of the land and field after field of crops. We were driving along listening to some blues and we started tryingContinue reading “On the Road to Clarksdale”
Fried Green Tomatoes
Absolutely fantastic!!! Last night we tried fried green tomatoes (crumbed) and they were just delicious. We also had some tamales which were a great too, mince wrapped in a corn pastry and then wrapped in a corn leaf.
Clarksdale, Home of the Blues
We were both very excited about listening to some live blues and after having sussed out the venues earlier in the day that excitement just grew! So off we went to start the evening at Ground Zero where we were introduced to fried green tomatoes and hot tamales, delicious. The band wasn’t bad but atContinue reading “Clarksdale, Home of the Blues”
Greenville Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival
We woke up to the sound of a brass band playing outside and ventured out of our motel to find a street parade marching by. Apparently it was homecoming weekend and all the local schools converge with their dance troops and marching bands for a street parade. It was very cool. The flyer for theContinue reading “Greenville Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival”
Chitlins and Hog Maw
I guess this was the equivalent of eating liver in the UK, certainly an authentic local dish from a time gone by. All the local guys were very excited that I was trying it. The hot sauce certainly helped but after all eating the intestines and stomach of a pig is always going to beContinue reading “Chitlins and Hog Maw”
Memphis
On our first day we visited Graceland, the home of Elvis. We tried to get ourselves out of the bluesy (music) feel we had and into the Elvis mood by listening to some of his songs. Maybe this didn’t help as I think we both realised that we weren’t after all huge fans but stillContinue reading “Memphis”