Take One More Quick Trip to Jefferson, Texas and Explore Room 104

Can you stand one more quick trip to Jefferson, Texas?  I know, I know, we were just there less than a month ago, but this was just a quick, overnight trip so we could see The Soulfish Blues Band play at Auntie Skinner's.  As a bonus, we had the good fortune to be able to stay in our favorite room at The Excelsior House hotel which is just beautiful.

I wrote about The Excelsior House last June when we last stayed there.  The hotel was built by riverboat captain William Perry in the 1850s and it has been in continuous operation ever since.  We first stayed there in 2011 and this weekend makes our fourth time to stay there.

Our favorite room is number 104: the Diamond Bess room.  I love it for the lovely private sun porch adjoining the room.  Both the sun room and the bed room have been redecorated since our last stay.

I love the old furniture; check out that marble topped dresser!  (Remember, click on the pictures to enlarge).

When we checked in we went straight to the sun room to watch the rest of the marathon, 18-inning Texas Rangers game (they lost).

The room is white with turquoise accents.

Lots of places to sit...

On that baker's rack you'll see books; you're welcome to take and leave a book as you wish when you stay.

I suspect the decorate furnished that Martha Stewart cookbook on the top shelf because it matches the color scheme of the room.  I was intrigued with the Caesar biography on the bottom shelf.

The bowl of books on this shelf held a copy of Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father which looked interesting.

All in all, it's a very relaxing spot to curl up and read, visit with friends, or take a nap!

We spent the evening at Auntie Skinner's listening to the fabulous Soulfish Blues Band.

We had a grand time and shut the place down.

This morning I explored the courtyard right outside our room at the hotel.

The fountain is filled with koi and turtle, both tiny and quite large.  Those windows are on another sun porch where you can sit and have breakfast (not usually an option on Sunday, sadly).

I love this salmon begonia growing in a planter outside my door; I'm on a mission now to find some that color:

All of the landscaping is pretty, actually...

I like it because it's a little wild and untended in a way.

There are plenty of nooks where you can sit and visit:

And the sound of the fountain is relaxing.

Now this spot gets a little tricky to sit in during the later part of the summer; that's a big ol' fig tree and when those figs get ripe there are wasps and bees buzzing all about.

There are figs on the tree now but they aren't ripe yet.

We checked out of the hotel, found some breakfast, and hit a couple of shops before heading home.  I love The Walnut Street Market because they have the coolest architectural salvage stuff.

How about a pink porcelain sink?

One of my goals this summer is to take down my storm door and put up an old fashioned screen door.  This one is close, but not quite it:

Need a scoreboard?

Tons of knobs, glass pulls, hinges, heater radiants, and back plates to dig through...

And outside there are multiple sections of cypress picket fencing.  Excellent!

How about a concrete chicken?

We poked around for a while, bought some fudge and chocolates from The Old Store, and headed home as rain was moving in.

We took a new route home, always back roads for us, via Karnack and Highway 9, and ended up on South Lakeshore Drive when the rain got so hard we couldn't see anything.  Since we were five minutes from The American Legion we just pulled in there and had a drink and a visit with friends while the storm passed.  Can you see the heron on the end of the pier?

See him now?

I guess he was waiting out the storm, too.

Now it's time to do laundry and unpack the little treasures I bought.

The SIGIS Take a Trip Series:

Take a Trip to the Cross Lake Flotilla 2013

Take a Spontaneous Mother's Day Trip to Jefferson, Texas

Take a Trip Along East Texas Back Roads

Take a Trip to the "Going Green on the Red River" Festival

Take a Springtime Drive Down the Cane River Heritage Trail

Take a Spring Break Trip to Arcadia Louisiana

Take a Trip to the 2012 Natchitoches Christmas Festival
Take a Trip to the 2012 Grand Cane Pioneer Day and Christmas Parade

Take a Trip to the 2012 Highland Jazz and Blues Festival

Take a Trip to the 2012 Vets for Vets Event

Take a Trip to the Norton Art Gallery and the Photographs of the Vietnam War Exhibit

Take a Trip to Octoberfest 2012 at Barksdale Air Force Base

Take a Picnic Trip to the Lock and Dam and a Detour to Lake Bistineau

Take a Dinner Ride Through East Texas

Take a Trip to an End of Summer Party and Listen to Soulfish Blues Band

Take a Summer Trip to Jefferson, Texas and Meet New Friends

Take a Trip to Dallas, Texas and The West End

Take a Stocking the Freezer Trip to Ed Lester Farms and Find a Cool Truck!

Take a Trip to Coushatta Down Louisiana Backroads

Take a Trip to the 2012 Cross Lake Floatilla

Take a Sunday Drive in North Caddo Parish

Take a Trip to Minden's First Annual Cinco de Mayo Festival

Take a Trip to the 2012 Defenders of Liberty Air Show at BAFB
Take a Springtime Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden, LA
Take a Trip to Logansport, Louisiana
Take a Trip to the Lock and Dam on Red River
Take a Trip to the 2012 Barkus and Meoux Parade
Take a Christmas Shopping Trip to Second Hand Rose in Minden
Take a Trip to the Fourth Annual Barksdale AFB Oktoberfest 
Take a Trip to Grand Cane's Fifth Annual Pioneer Trade Day
Take a Trip to the 2011 Highland Jazz & Blues Festival
Take an Autumn Trip to Jefferson, Texas
Take a Fall Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden
Take a Trip to the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale Air Force Base
Take a Summertime Trip to Grand Cane
Take a Trip to Desoto Parish
Take a Summer Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden
Take a Trip to Natchitoches and Melrose Plantation 
Take a Trip to Ed Lester Farms and a Random Antique Stop
Take a Trip to the Norton Art Gallery and the Masters of Cuban Art Exhibit
Take a Trip to Natchitoches to See the Christmas Lights
Take a Trip to the Third Annual BAFB Oktoberfest 
Take a Trip to Natchitoches and Oakland Plantation
Take a Trip to Jefferson, Texas
Oktoberfest at BAFB

The Soulfish Blues Band at Auntie Skinner's Saturday

Looking for something to do Saturday night?

Drive over to Jefferson, Texas and catch The Soulfish Blues Band at Auntie Skinner's!

In fact, if you go early you can hit some of the antique shops, and maybe visit The Cork Yard for a glass of wine or a cold beer!  Friday is Prime Rib night at The Cork Yard.

Then you can head over to Auntie Skinner's to hear Soulfish!

Good times!

Take a Trip to the "Going Green on the Red River" Festival

COUSHATTA:  Steve and I headed down to Coushatta today, daring the rain, for the third annual Going Green on the Red River festival at the Coushatta fairgrounds.  You know you're in rural Louisiana when you can stop and buy raccoon meat at the market.

As I understand it, this is the third year for the festival and it's still growing.  The guy selling boudin told us that this was the best attendance he's seen in the three years he's been there.  The organizers at the Red River Chamber of Commerce worked hard to pull everything together this year and it turned out to be a really nice little festival.

Alas, not everything was perfect!  We knew the day was in trouble when we went by Bailey's for our favorite greasy hamburgers and it was closed.  The sign said they were closed due to a family emergency so I'm going to pray hard that everything is okay.  They are nice people there and serve a great burger!  This is what I wanted for lunch:

We were meeting friends Gary and Kay for lunch there before the festival so we had to scramble for an alternate plan, finally deciding just to go on to the fairgrounds and eat at the festival.

That  turned out to be a good plan.  We ended up getting BBQ from Jackson's Bend BBQ at the festival grounds.  I got a sausage plate (so much for the diet) and Steve got a rib plate.  Excellent!

Yes, that's Chicken Feet on the menu.  I took a pass on that.

Steve and Gary clowning around waiting on our food:

I was pretty thrilled to get to hear Micki Fuhrman Milom singing as we walked up to the bandstand today.  I've always loved her voice and she is a sweet, sweet lady.

She was sitting in with Airhart for "Red River Valley":

The art contest winners were announced and there were some happy winners!

One of the bands, Twang Darkly, had some unusual instruments, including a handmade electric gourd:

After lunch and a little music I had to walk around a little.  There was a Kids Zone with a bounce house and other activities to keep them entertained:

This cute fellow was flying his kite:

The rain was holding off so we felt pretty lucky.

This was a popular booth for the kids, too:

Of course I had to shop at the jewelry booth:

Some pretty cool birdhouses caught my eye:

The crowd came and went through the day; this picture made me laugh because the first thing I noticed when I looked at it was all the folks pecking on their cell phones.  This is especially ironic because cell service there was minimal at best.

The day started off with a car contest, a karaoke contest, and a treasure hunt before we got there.

I thought this kid was cute with his little friend perched on the edge of his table:

The Matthew Davidson Band played about 6:00:

Matthew Davidson is a wonderful guitar player, especially for his age, and will go far.   He's a very polite and personable young man, too.  There's a lot to be said for good manners these days!

We were holding out for the headliner Soulfish Blues Band to come on at 9:00 but as luck would have it, storm winds blew in and they had to call the festival before the last two bands came on stage.  Nobody was interested in getting hit by lightning out there.

That lovely blue sky in that picture is nice but to my back was a bank of black, ugly clouds and lots of lightning so we all packed up and moved out.

Storm or not, it was a nice day in Coushatta and we enjoyed the festival.  We will go back next year and watch it grow!  It's a nice, family friendly event that seems to be getting better each year.

The SIGIS Take a Trip Series:

Take a Springtime Drive Down the Cane River Heritage Trail

Take a Spring Break Trip to Arcadia Louisiana

Take a Trip to the 2012 Natchitoches Christmas Festival
Take a Trip to the 2012 Grand Cane Pioneer Day and Christmas Parade

Take a Trip to the 2012 Highland Jazz and Blues Festival

Take a Trip to the 2012 Vets for Vets Event

Take a Trip to the Norton Art Gallery and the Photographs of the Vietnam War Exhibit

Take a Trip to Octoberfest 2012 at Barksdale Air Force Base

Take a Picnic Trip to the Lock and Dam and a Detour to Lake Bistineau

Take a Dinner Ride Through East Texas

Take a Trip to an End of Summer Party and Listen to Soulfish Blues Band

Take a Summer Trip to Jefferson, Texas and Meet New Friends

Take a Trip to Dallas, Texas and The West End

Take a Stocking the Freezer Trip to Ed Lester Farms and Find a Cool Truck!

Take a Trip to Coushatta Down Louisiana Backroads

Take a Sunday Drive in North Caddo Parish

Take a Trip to Minden's First Annual Cinco de Mayo Festival

Take a Trip to the 2012 Defenders of Liberty Air Show at BAFB
Take a Springtime Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden, LA
Take a Trip to Logansport, Louisiana
Take a Trip to the Lock and Dam on Red River
Take a Trip to the 2012 Barkus and Meoux Parade
Take a Christmas Shopping Trip to Second Hand Rose in Minden
Take a Trip to the Fourth Annual Barksdale AFB Oktoberfest 
Take a Trip to Grand Cane's Fifth Annual Pioneer Trade Day
Take a Trip to the 2011 Highland Jazz & Blues Festival
Take an Autumn Trip to Jefferson, Texas
Take a Fall Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden
Take a Trip to the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale Air Force Base
Take a Summertime Trip to Grand Cane
Take a Trip to Desoto Parish
Take a Summer Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden
Take a Trip to Natchitoches and Melrose Plantation 
Take a Trip to Ed Lester Farms and a Random Antique Stop
Take a Trip to the Norton Art Gallery and the Masters of Cuban Art Exhibit
Take a Trip to Natchitoches to See the Christmas Lights
Take a Trip to the Third Annual BAFB Oktoberfest 
Take a Trip to Natchitoches and Oakland Plantation
Take a Trip to Jefferson, Texas
Oktoberfest at BAFB

Maybe The Best Band in Shreveport Right Now Is...

Steve and I popped over to the Elks club last night to catch a couple of sets by the Soulfish Blues Band; I wrote about them last summer, if you recall.  Almost a year later, they are in fine form, fine voice, and ready to take on the Shreveport music scene.

Shreveport has a long, long history of great music and musicians and there are a lot of great local bands currently playing around town.  We enjoy several of them and catch them when we can.

Let me just say that Soulfish Blues Band is probably one of the best bands playing in Shreveport these days.  If you get an opportunity to see them, go.  You won't be sorry.

Gary Huntsman on lead guitar used to play with Percy Sledge; he's fabulous.  He can play anything.  Bruce Procell on drums is great, Bill Allen on bass guitar (and some vocals) is entertaining with his dry wit as well as his musical skill.  And lead vocalist Julia Dunning will take your breath away.  Her sultry voice and rhythmic dance moves are captivating.

The band clearly has a good time on stage together and work well together.  Between Julia's dance moves, Bill's jokes, and the occasional paternal eye roll by Gary, the band puts on a great show.  I looked up once last night and saw Julia playing with Bill's hair and patting him on the head as he sang.  They have a good time, put on a great show, but are consummate professionals.

They don't play the same old songs everyone else does.  Don't expect to hear "Mustang Sally."  A typical set might include the True Blood theme song, "You and I" by Lady Gaga, "Hear Me" by Sena Ehrhardt (and Julia just CAN'T be still on that one!), "Paris" by Grace Potter, "Start it Up" by Robben Ford, a Bill Allen medley that includes "Wipe Out" and an unimaginable mixture of other hits (but it works!), and of course "Piece of My Heart" by Joplin which Julia just totally owns.

You can catch Soulfish at the Rumble Rally at Festival Plaza on Friday, April 26, and at the Going Green festival in Coushatta Saturday the 27th; they'll be at Sams Town May 9 and  they'll be playing at the American Legion on May 31 the night before the Floatilla and that event is open to the public.

Their website is here.  Facebook page is here.

Here's Grace Potter doing "Paris";  You need to see Soulfish do this one!

Take a Trip to the 2012 Vets for Vets Event

Just over 1,000 people turned out today for the 2012 Vets for Vets Biker Event at Riverpark Church in Shreveport.  It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and a crisp wind keeping the heat and humidity at bay.

The event is hosted by the non-profit Vets for Vets organization and raises money for local hospitalized veterans.  This was the eighth year for the rally and it seems to be growing every year we are told; this was our first time to attend.

The rally began at 9 but it was closer to 10 by the time we got there.  Riverpark Church is located on the Red River and is the site of the old Hamel's Amusement Park.  Signs of the old amusement park days remain.

Steve and I could still see parts of the old train track that went around the park and several of the old buildings are still there like the kiddie barn, the bumper car area, the skee ball building, and even part of the old log ride.

Through the morning the bikes started filling the parking lot:

As soon as we entered the park we bought t-shirts and then Steve ran into his old Army Reserve buddy, La. Representative Henry Burns:

We visited for a bit, they told old Army stories, and then we moved on to check out the vendors.  The Krewe of Elders was there serving food:

There were lots of vendors selling biker related merchandise: leather, boots, jewelry, and so on.

There was a Wounded Warriors tent - a charity I proudly support:

We checked out the silent auction - I bid on a couple of things and didn't win.  There was a neat old Bel Air on display:

It was beautifully restored:

A World War II veteran spoke briefly about how the world was back then.  There was three types of government he said: communism (Russia), socialism (Germany), and capitalism (United States); he said it was free market capitalism that won the war and helped recovery after the war.

One of the highlights of the morning was the demonstration by the Security Forces with their dogs:

The dog, a Belgian Malinois was absolutely beautiful:

 

They went through an obedience demo and then one guy put on "the bite suit" and the dog, Rufus, I think, started drooling.  It was amazing to see the training and discipline of the dog.  And when he finally got to "bite" he did not let go until directed:

At one point in the demo the dog was in mid-jump about to bite when the handler called him off and he immediately closed his mouth and sat down as directed.

Meanwhile, the music was getting started and a line dance got started:

These are actually some of our American Legion friends and they do love to dance!

All of the bands today donated their time for the Vets for Vets.  Dickie T and his group, the Bone Dancers, and our favorite: Soulfish Blues Band.

Here is Steve with Ron Chatelain, one of our highly decorated veterans and a heck of a nice guy:

When it was time to eat I had a hamburger and Steve had fried fish. About that time Gary and Kay Huntsman arrived (Gary is with Soulfish) and we staked out a good bench from which to view the band's performance:

The bikers left to do their parade past the War Veteran's Home on the Parkway and past the VA hospital.  It was quite a site to see them all.

Finally it was time for Soulfish to take the stage.  We just love this band: nice, good people and wonderful musicians.  Julia Dunning continues to impress with her vocals.  Several people came up to her to tell her how much they enjoyed her singing.

The event ended with the playing of Taps:

...and we departed.

Steve and I then turned the Jeep south and headed to the Pioneer Pub in Natchitoches for dinner.  Why not?

After dinner we walked along Front Street and admired the shop windows.  They are getting ready for their big Christmas festival:  we especially liked this window:

Now that'll put you in the Christmas spirit!

More Veterans Day events to come this week, but for now, we close.

The rally raised over $8,000 for the vets and that's a good day.

The SIGIS Take a Trip Series:

Take a Trip to the Norton Art Gallery and the Photographs of the Vietnam War Exhibit

Take a Trip to Octoberfest 2012 at Barksdale Air Force Base

Take a Picnic Trip to the Lock and Dam and a Detour to Lake Bistineau

Take a Dinner Ride Through East Texas

Take a Trip to an End of Summer Party and Listen to Soulfish Blues Band

Take a Summer Trip to Jefferson, Texas and Meet New Friends

Take a Trip to Dallas, Texas and The West End

Take a Stocking the Freezer Trip to Ed Lester Farms and Find a Cool Truck!

Take a Trip to Coushatta Down Louisiana Backroads

Take a Sunday Drive in North Caddo Parish

Take a Trip to Minden's First Annual Cinco de Mayo Festival

Take a Trip to the 2012 Defenders of Liberty Air Show at BAFB
Take a Springtime Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden, LA
Take a Trip to Logansport, Louisiana
Take a Trip to the Lock and Dam on Red River
Take a Trip to the 2012 Barkus and Meoux Parade
Take a Christmas Shopping Trip to Second Hand Rose in Minden
Take a Trip to the Fourth Annual Barksdale AFB Oktoberfest
Take a Trip to Grand Cane's Fifth Annual Pioneer Trade Day
Take a Trip to the 2011 Highland Jazz & Blues Festival
Take an Autumn Trip to Jefferson, Texas
Take a Fall Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden
Take a Trip to the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale Air Force Base
Take a Summertime Trip to Grand Cane
Take a Trip to Desoto Parish
Take a Summer Trip to Second Hand Rose Antiques in Minden
Take a Trip to Natchitoches and Melrose Plantation 
Take a Trip to Ed Lester Farms and a Random Antique Stop
Take a Trip to the Norton Art Gallery and the Masters of Cuban Art Exhibit
Take a Trip to Natchitoches to See the Christmas Lights
Take a Trip to the Third Annual BAFB Oktoberfest
Take a Trip to Natchitoches and Oakland Plantation
Take a Trip to Jefferson, Texas
Oktoberfest at BAFB