2004 New Years Eve Trek to Lafay

2004 New Years Eve Trek to Lafayette

by Dane Griffin

I have to write about some of the things I still laugh about, because the trip was a lot more than just dancing and great music.

Remarkably, we all arrived at the La Quinta Inn in New Orleans within about thirty minutes of each other even though we were traveling in four different vehicles and David and JoLaine traveled by plane. We were all checked in to our rooms, and it was 2-3 hours before dinner. It was time to party.

I bought some beer and wine from a local grocery store. Sandy opened up her room. Leslie Greene was there We talked a lot about movies. Leslie and her boyfriend, Dennis, have seen a lot of movies and attend a film festival once a year in Sarasota. Apparently, Dennis has attended this film festival for several years, and other attendees know which theater seat is reserved for Dennis. You know, it's sort of like having a designated seat in church.

Back to Sandy's motel room. The time passed quickly. It was time to get ready for dinner. We had to keep the beer cold. There are no refrigerators in the rooms at La Quinta Inn. There is a refrigerator in Karin's RV. Yes! We had cold beer for the rest of the weekend. Except, no one was drinking the beer. Even though I didn't return to Gainesville in the RV, I bet the beer did. If Karin hasn't cleaned out her refrigerator, the beer is still there waiting for her next trip. My dear friends, Karin detests beer. Be a friend to Karin and help her drink the beer.

Karin is punctual. Her RV leaves on time. We didn't take a head count. We're driving the interstate between the La Quinta Inn and Ye Olde College Inn (our restaurant) when we missed Bill Kortier (he's from Lakeland). Karin and I were nice enough to call Bill. Bill figured out the bus system in New Orleans and met us later at the Rock and Bowl. The remainder of the weekend, you could observe people in the parking lot 15-20 minutes prior to the announced departure time of the RV. Karin may have had her hair in rollers. She may have been walking her dog. But some of us were in the parking lot ready to board the RV.

Unfortunately, Joyce fell and broke her arm while walking to Ye Olde College Inn. Joyce and her brother Neil retuned to Gainesville on Friday. Joyce, the whole weekend was great fun. I hope that you get another chance to join us.

When eating out, I have a couple of rules. One, is don't order Italian food unless you're eating in an Italian restaurant. At the Ye Olde College Inn, I had a brain cramp and broke the rule. I ordered veal parmesan. I sat next to Eve. She ordered eggplant parmesan. Eve instructed the waiter very plainly and very clearly that she wanted her eggplant parmesan cooked well done. Her eggplant parmesan was cooked as ordered. But so was my veal parmesan. It was tasteless. I have a new rule. If Eve wants her eggplant parmesan well done, order steak, order fish, order chicken, order anything that will not be cooked with the eggplant parmesan.

Friday morning, we all boarded Karin's RV and went to the French Quarter. We walked as a group along Canal Street to Cafe du Mond. I have probably misspelled the name of this famous restaurant which serves beignets. It's a delicate pastry covered with a sinful amount of sugar. The line to the restaurant was at least a block long. We all split in different directions.

Patricia, Don, and I split for Royal Street looking for art and gifts. There were some great shops. We also found a good cafe serving pastries, coffee, cappuccinos, lattes, etc. Later we found Bourbon Street and a bar with a live band playing Zydeco music. I handed Don a package holding a gift that I had bought and Patricia's purse. I may have asked Patricia to dance and maybe not. I dragged her to the dance floor. We danced. We returned to where Don was standing. He handed me the package, Patricia's purse, and his camera. Don and Patricia danced. I don't how Patricia felt about the dances, but Don and I had our Zydeco fix which would hold us until Friday evening.

Friday night we ate at Mulate's. The dinner was much better. I ordered grilled shrimp. The spices were mild. The shrimp was cooked just right. Mulate's has its own beer. It's a dark brew. I took one sip. Bill, who was seated next to me and drinking water or tea, was kind enough to give me his lemon. Now the beer tasted OK.

When we arrived at Mulate's, there were at least ten of us. Sandy and Bart Dancing I didn't count. The band was just beginning to set up. The waitress took our drink order. The band began to play. Within a few moments, half the table is on the dance floor. The waitress will be back any moment with our drinks and ready to take our food orders. I'm hungry. In case you don't know, managing our group is like herding cats. This last analogy comes from Mike from Birmingham who joined us on most of our RV excursions. What a nice gentleman. I hope that all of you enjoyed his company as much as I did.

Jolaine and Dave Leslie and Dennis

Somehow, we all ordered our food and ate. And yes, we all danced. There were more guys than girls at Mulate's. I don't know how the girls finished their meal. The band was Lee Benoit. He played more Cajun than Zydeco. At least that was what Sandy and Karin said. How would I know? I had a great time. If my dance partner said it was Zydeco, I danced Zydeco. If my dance partner said it was Cajun, I did my best.

Sandy and Karin

It was after 8 when we left Mulate's in Karin's RV. We were headed for Whiskey River. Don was driving. Karin was navigating. If any of you have watched a Roadhouse movie or a Porky's movie, you can already visualize Whiskey River. We were headed out of town. We turned off the main highway and headed out in to the country. There were no street lights and very few signs. Finally, there was a sign with an arrow that read Whiskey River. We turned left. Don drove over a hill and there was Whiskey River with a 100 vehicles parked in the grass around the building. Don took forever to park. He didn't want to get stuck in the mud. Thank you Don.

Whiskey River is a big, rectangular, frame building on blocks. Inside it's a couple of bars, a platform for the band, and a plywood dance floor. The floor is smooth; it doesn't bounce; and the locals know that you don't spill beer or liquor on the dance floor.

I was pleasantly surprised that the band was Geno Delafose and French Rocking Boogie. It's my favorite band. I first heard the band at the St. Petersburg Crawfish Festival last March. Geno started at 9 and played to 1 without any breaks. The band is professional. Geno sings well. He makes it look effortless. When Geno completed a song, he talked briefly with his lead guitar player. It allowed us time to find a new dance partner. And then he played again.

I've observed Geno at St. Pete and at Whiskey River. He's very comfortable with people. If you didn't recognize him, you would never know that he is the star of a great Zydeco band. Bart knows Geno, and the band has played at Vortex. The band played even though Geno had to evacuate his family due to a hurricane from his home in Louisiana prior to driving to Alabama to play at Vortex.

Geno Delafose and French Rocking Boogie play traditional Zydeco songs. Some are sung in English, and some are sung in Cajun. They have also adopted some rock 'n roll and country songs to Zydeco.

I'm going to make some of you cringe with this next statement. My favorite Zydeco song is Wabash Cannonball when performed by Geno Delafose and French Rocking Boogie. Who would have thunk that a song sung by Dizzy Dean on Saturday afternoon TV and by Roy Acup on Saturday evening at the Grand Old Opry could be a Zydeco song. You haven't heard Dizzy Dean or Roy Acup sing Wabash Cannonball? There's nothing wrong with you. It just means that you're not a guy, you weren't raised in the South, and/or you're too young.

Could you tell that I had a good time at Whiskey River? We left Whiskey River about 12:30 in Karin's RV. Bart and Sandy stayed behind and danced. The question was asked, "What are we doing tomorrow?" Some said, "I don't know." I said that I was going to Fred's Lounge, and anyone that wanted to go could join me. If I remember correctly, no one in the RV had heard of Fred's Lounge.

I was leaving at 9. Karin said she would go. Patricia made me promise to call her to make sure that she wasn't left behind, IF SHE WAS UP. Sandy was going to sleep in, but apparently woke up early. For some reason she did not knock on the door adjoining her room to Karin's. Instead she called Bart's room to find out if Karin had left. Don answered. This was 7AM. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall in Don's motel room. Don and 7AM aren't a compatible combination. Now we had five going to Fred's Lounge.

Remember Bill? La Qunita Inn serves a continental breakfast. Bill had made arrangements to ride to Fred's Lounge with Bart. When we departed for Fred's Lounge, Bill was seated by Bart's truck and eating waffles. Bart and Bill arrived at Fred's Lounge shortly after we did. Before 11, we were joined by Dave and JoLaine, Michael and Marilyn, and Bob (from Lutz) and Courtney (from Largo). Also, we were joined by Jane, Joel, and a couple of others from Birmingham. More on them later.

Marilyn and Michael Don and Marilyn

Bartman worked hard at preparing all of us to navigate around Louisiana. He prepared maps, which he e-mailed prior to leaving Florida, with driving directions for every venue that we might wish to visit. He brought copies of the maps to Louisiana. There was at least one copy for every vehicle.

On Saturday morning, I saw Bart in the parking lot and asked for directions to Fred's Lounge. He said go north on the interstate to Opellousa and turn left on Highway ???. Go to Eunice and turn north on Highway 13. Go to Mamou. Find Fred's Lounge. Look at your map. That was the extent of the directions.

I had lost Bart's map. Karin's map was in the RV. Karin, Sandy, Patricia, Don and I are headed north on the interstate in my SUV, and the first question is, "How long is it going to take us to get to Fred's Lounge?" I didn't know. I told them it would take about a hour. I'm a lucky guy. It took about an hour. I missed the first road to downtown Mamou. I found the second road. We pulled up to a stop sign. Sandy looked to the left and saw a bunch of cars. We turned left. It was Fred's Lounge.

Bart outside Fred's

What is Fred's Lounge? It's a bar that is only open on Saturday mornings from 9 to 1. It hosts a radio show on a station that plays Zydeco and Cajun music all the time. Yes, there are radio stations in Louisiana with a Zydeco/Cajun format. A band is brought in to play. The band was Howard Noel, Jr. When the band played, we danced. When the radio announcer talked (he spoke Cajun), I went to the bar for a Bloody Mary and a beer for Sandy.

Believe it or not the band played from 9 to 1 without any breaks. Well, almost no breaks. The band paused for the radio show announcements which was over at 11 and paused when the drummer and accordion player had to take a bathroom break. If my assumption is correct, free Bud Light's were a part of the compensation for the band. The drummer and the accordion player were well paid. However, the music never suffered. At least, I didn't notice. I was dancing.

Let me tell you a little bit more than Sandy did about the dance floor, the triangle player and Tante Sue. I was told that Tante is Cajun or French for Aunt. As Sandy wrote, the dance floor is linoleum, and we danced on three sides of the band. Imagine a backward letter C. For Zydeco, you find a spot on the floor between the band and the bar patrons, and you dance Not much different from most bars, just less room. For waltzing, you started at the bottom of the backward letter C. You waltzed to the corner of the bar and turned left. You waltzed up to the top of the backward letter C (between the patrons on bar stools and the patrons standing near the band) if there was room. At the top of the C, you turned left and waltzed to the round table and turned around. Then you retraced your steps to the bottom of the backward letter C, waltzed to the door of the girl's bathroom, and then danced the same path all over again. With good friends, it was lots of fun and lots of laughs.

My recollection of the triangle player is slightly different than what Sandy has written. The triangle player is Dave. He's a fixture of the bar and plays with all the bands. Dave is mentally handicapped. He plays the triangle with a "special" triangle stick. I don't know what a triangle stick is called. It's the thing that you bang the triangle with. Dave's triangle stick is wrapped in white athletic tape, lots of white athletic tape. It doesn't matter whether Dave keeps time. His triangle doesn't make a sound.

Another fixture of the bar is Tante Sue. She's 80. I didn't notice her until the radio announcer introduced her to sing a song. Apparently she sings one or two songs on Saturday mornings with all the bands. She sings well. Around her waist was strapped a belt with a holster. There was no gun in the holster. There was a bottle of hot cinnamon schnapps. She took a sip and offered a sip to anyone who wished to partake. Some did.

Paul Stern was sick when he arrived in Louisiana. He spent most of the time inside the motel rooms at two La Quinta Inns and inside the RV. Paul may have contaminated some others who didn't get sick until they returned to Gainesville. Paul, it wasn't you. Tante Sue shared her bottles with everyone from Portland, OR to Portland, ME. By now, she has to be immune from any virus known to man.

Jane tasted the schnapps and thought it would be an appropriate gift for a friend in Birmingham who couldn't make the trip. Jane was unaware of the customs of Fred's Lounge. When you buy a bottle of hot cinnamon schnapps from Tante Sue, she opens the bottle, takes a sip, and then hands you the bottle that you have just purchased. It was no longer an appropriate gift. So Jane passed it around to all who wished to partake. We finished the bottle at a restaurant in Eunice later that day.

Bob from AL, and the infamous Jane, with Sandy drinking schnapps.

The band finished playing at Fred's Lounge at 1 or shortly thereafter. We were all hungry. By 1:30 (remember that we're a herd of cats), we were all following Bart to a restaurant in Eunice. Unlike the trip to Fred's Lounge, I was relaxed and could enjoy the conversation

In my SUV, Karin, Sandy, Patricia, and Don all thanked me for getting them up and going on Saturday morning. I didn't get them up. I just announced that I was going to Fred's Lounge. I wasn't going to sit in a motel room. Someone asked how I heard about Fred's Lounge. I told the truth. I advised that Jane had told me. It was concluded by a majority of 4 to 1 that I had gone to Fred's Lounge to see Jane. I took a few gentle barbs I would have gone to Fred's Lounge even if Jane had changed her plans.

The next question was, "If someone told you five years ago that you would spend New Year's weekend dancing in Louisiana, what would you have said?" To my surprise, none of us in the SUV were dancing five years ago. I was still feeling giddy about the experience at Fred's Lounge and couldn't recall what was happening five years ago. I remember now.

The last question before we arrived at the restaurant was, "What is your New Year's resolution?" None of us had made a resolution. Therefore, I made up one. It's a guy thing. It's shallow. It goes like this.

If you can't dance with the girl you love, then love the girl with whom your dancing.

I took a few more gentle barbs. The barbs were deserved. But it does express how we guys should feel about all you girls who are nice enough to dance with us.

We arrived at the restaurant in Eunice about 2. It was closed. It was January 1st. A half block away was DC's Sports Bar & Grill. Karin wanted to sample some Cajun food. Most of us were really hungry. It didn't matter what DC's served. Luckily, half the items on the menu were Cajun. That's probably true of every establishment in Eunice that serves food.

There were 11 of us. Soon we were joined by our friends from Birmingham. We were now 16. We ordered drinks. It takes a while for one waitress to pour and deliver 16 drinks. Someone asked what the specials were. Jane with the help of Michael retrieved the board on which the specials were written. Nobody was paying attention. She started raising her denim skirt and "stripping off" her denim jacket. Everyone laughed. She now had everyone's attention. Patricia got my attention and said, "I now see why you guys like Jane."

Sandy's correct. It did take a long time for our food to be served. In addition to our table of 16, there was another table of 6 or 8 from Fred's Lounge plus a couple of tables of 4 from who knows where. At 2 Pm on January 1st, I'm sure the staff thought they had the afternoon off with the exception of a couple of guys who might want to watch a New Year's Day bowl game.

However, the time passed quickly. All the ladies were drinking water, tea, or a soft drink. The drinks were served in large glasses with straws. Jane made a comment. I didn't hear the beginning of the comment, but it ended with Jane saying in a Southern accent that a lady doesn't drink through a straw. If anyone was offended, I couldn't tell. For several minutes, Jane entertained us all with comments about proper etiquette (Southern style) that she had learned from her mother.

I could write about Roy Carrier's Offshore Lounge and Hamilton's, too. Sandy's comments are right on. Saturday evening was great fun.

I left Sunday. The 700 mile ride from Lafayette to Ocala took 12 hours. It wasn't tiring. I listened to Zydeco music, to part of an NFL game, and to the second half of the Florida/FSU basketball game. However, I mostly remembered what a good time that I had enjoyed with everyone on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

I've really enjoyed writing down some of what I remember about our trip. I hope that you have enjoyed reading it.

I'll miss all of you at Fat Tuesdays for a couple of weeks. I'll be watching Gator basketball.

Love and best wishes to all of you,

Dane Griffin