Flying from Miami/Florida to Louisiana you pass miles and miles of bayou, the land largely submerged. A few impossibly placed buildings, seemingly surrounded by water. You have to wonder at what rate coastal areas are disappearing.
Landing in the wonderfully-named Louis Armstrong airport we immediately catch the New Orleans vibe
And then spot this sobering? helpful? sign:
Leaving C and L as advance guard to explore the city, T, M and K headed to Lafayette, Louisiana to meet M and K's long-lost first cousin, whom we'd not seen for years and years and years. While we regret not having made the effort sooner, for he is one of our very few cousins and a really interesting guy, the timing is good because he is in ill-health and not expected to be around very much longer. We found that he reminded us very much of our deceased brother.
We stayed two nights in Lafayette (he treated us to a hotel!) and had fabulous meals both evenings. This fellow greeted us at one restaurant where we enjoyed crawfish etouffe
We heard many great stories of Cousin Ed's life and our family, including the real story of the spelling of the name "Stroad". But first, verification that our grandmother was indeed full-blooded Native American--Lakota Sioux. Amazing. Wish we had known her, though the scowl she presents in photos is quite off-putting. How did our grandfather meet her, one wonders. Ed did not know.
The Stroad story is quite marvelous, and differs greatly from the one M and I were told as kids (= two great aunts simply thought Strode was boring and common, so they changed it). Apparently, our great grandfather, Elisha Stephen Strode, born 1845 in Kentucky and the youngest of 10 children, served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Poor dear, he suffered there from hemorrhoids, a common complaint at the time and attributed to the strain of moving dead bodies around to bury them... His were so bad that he left the army and began receiving disability checks. The first check had a spelling error, which he never bothered to try to correct, and hence Stroad was born.
Cousin Ed has four daughters, three of whom we met--so fun to know them and gracious of them to make time for us
Ed told us a bit about his life. He had many years with the US Air Force in VietNam in electronic warfare (jamming radar) and earning multiple medals. Here are two he found to show us
He then worked on offshore oil platforms in Louisiana, prospected for gold in Georgia and Nevada, and started a film production company. He also had bit parts in a number of films, including Lonesome Dove and Secretariat. Interesting, sweet guy.
Time to head back to New Orleans. Our visit had exhausted him in his frail health, but I think we were all glad we had the time together.
Spotted in a Lafayette restaurant, an unfortunate typo--making it the place to go to make ADA-related complaints
~
New Orleans' French and Garden Quarters are like what one imagines France wold have been like in the late 1800s. Lovely, grand houses with great charm.
So much good food to try!
 |
| Oysters! |
 |
| Po'Boys! |
 |
| Beignets! |
Raw oysters: T enjoying and S bravely trying
Crawfish anyone?
And there was plenty to drink
And great music!
 |
| Jeff Chaz--we bought a CD |
Well-sated in NOLA:
Christmas spirit was evident
K chickened out on a bronco ride but B gallantly stepped in
In the Oh dear in America department
A little rain didn't slow us down, though some live musicians had to turn off their amps
New Years Eve!
Managed to find an AWESOME spot to see fireworks--a loaded barge trundled down the Mississippi River, and stopped directly in front of us !
Among the best fireworks shows any of us had ever seen.
We also found time for some exploring. Here, an excursion across the river to Algiers Pt.
 |
| Looking excited to see Algier's Pt, |
Awww....
M found a statue in her honor
Just walking along...
and a fight breaks out
No apparent damage.
The perfect anniversary gift for K was found, in a jewelry store in the French Quarter. Two stunning pearls for the boys, and gold for T who holds everything together. And all were there to witness the discovery--a magical moment
Happy new year!!
