It Ended with a Bang (Several Actually)

The day started off normally enough. I left New Orleans in the morning to ride down to Grande Isle, which is out in the Gulf of Mexico, east of where the Mississippi ends. It's bayou Cajun country, and I'd never been there, so that alone was enough reason to go. It turned out to be quite a pleasant ride, starting with the forested swamp land south of NO, and eventually changing to grassed marshes the further south I went. At Grande Isle, there's a small state park with decent beaches and camping. It would be a good place to spend a weekend. I also had one of the best meals of BBQ pork ribs I've ever had. It made me see that I'll have to raise the bar on the ribs I make myself.

I got back late in the afternoon, only to find that Kara and Ben's father had taken Ben to Houston for medical treatment. All I can say is that I wish Ben a speedy recovery.

Later in the evening, Hal and I went to the Banks Street Tavern, the same place we saw Walter "Wolfman" Washington sing. Hal and I were sitting outside, listening to the band, making a few phone calls, and enjoying the sultry evening when I saw and heard what I initially thought were firecrackers going off less than a half block away. The flashes didn't look like any sparklers or fireworks I'd ever seen, and the sounds had a resonance and depth also unfound in firecrackers. As you may have guessed by now, they were gunshots. I heard at least a half dozen in quick succession, about as fast as you can pull a trigger. We all went inside the bar, and the bartender called the police. MP's in Humvees arrived within a couple of minutes. It was comforting, but also a bit disconcerting to see the military arrive. The NO police arrived a few minutes after that. Pretty soon the area was swarming with police and MP's with guns drawn. The tavern patrons were essentially locked up inside the tavern until things cooled down a bit. The band started playing again, and opened with a couple jokes about their "captive audience." Hal and I hung around for about a half hour, and then walked the few blocks back to Kara's place. On one hand, we felt safe with all of the official firepower around, and on the other hand, we kept looking over our shoulders for suspicious looking characters. Needless to say, we made it back all right. I scanned the paper this morning, but there was no mention of the incident. I'll report back if I hear or read about what actually happened.

Ps. I know my mother doesn't surf the net, so the only way she'll find out is if someone tells her. This is something she doesn't need to know.