Bullets and BJ's

It's not a rap song, Just a Tuesday night in NOLA. We saw some amazing music and a great slice of New Orleans last night.  We started the evening at Bullets, an unassuming bar on the first floor of a house in the 7th Ward.  We arrived in between Kermit Ruffins sets and the mixed crowd (about 85% black ranging in age from 21 year old college kids to 80 year old black ladies) was having a great time dancing to the hip hop playing over the speakers.  Kermit came on a few minutes later and we worked our way up towards the front of the room (there was no stage he was just playing from the floor of the bar) to experience some awesome New Orleans jazz made even better by the crowds revelry.  At one point, Kermit handed the mic to a server who delivered a 5 minute long rap as an interlude to one of his songs before handing it back, picking up her tray and continuing with her duties.  After the show we filtered outside and shared a plate of ribs and baked beans (best i've ever had - sorry mom)  from the BBQ truck outside.  As we ate around the cable spindle turned table, the wife of the guy who ran the truck noticed that I didn't have a drink and brought me over a glass of freshly brewed iced green tea.

After bullets we headed to the Bywater for a few drinks at BJ's.  A little gem of a bar that you had to access by ringing a doorbell before being granted admittance by the tough as nails but very nice female bartender.  We listened to country music and aquired a healthy sheen courtesy of the un-airconditioned space which actually added to the ambiance.

This morning, Joey and I got up at 8 and walked to Parasol's in the Irish Channel to watch the US/Algeria soccer game.  When we arrived there were exactly two empty seats and a pile of McDonald's breakfast sandwhiches (courtesy of Sarah, the barkeep) waiting for us.  Michael joined us a little later, and we watched the game punctuated by frequent yelling at the TVs as the US failed to capitalize on several goal attempts.  We were rewarded in the 2nd minute of additional time, however, when the US scored a goal which won them their group for the first time since 1930 and sent them to the 2nd round of the tournament.

After Parasol's we ate Po' Boys at Mahoney's and went to the "tree of life"  (above) in Audubon park, tossed the frisbee, and had a few beers.  We got back to the house around 4:30 and have been resting ever since .  Tonight: Treme Brass band at the Candlelight.

Here are some pics from the day - i'll add captions later.