Posted by Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle
, April 14, 2009 17:39
Three busses, no waiting! The first bus left with Stephen Rushmore Jr. leading the charge. We were on the second bus; that was Jane Stern’s. The last bus had Michael Stern at the helm. We left from Canal Street, just a couple of blocks from the Monteleone. And so began the Roadfood Shrimp and Crawfish Boil!
A word about Jane and Michael and these Roadfood trips: when more than one bus is necessary, Jane takes one bus and Michael the other. What generally happens is they talk about the plans for the day, the places we are about to visit, do some questions and answers, and generally make a fun event even more enjoyable. So which bus do you want to be on? They each have their own style. Michael is something of a Roadfood geek (we use the word geek in its most positive sense!), with an encyclopedic knowledge of things Roadfood. He displays genuine enthusiasm for the food, the places, the people of Roadfood. Jane is a witty and irreverent raconteur. You’ve heard how some of the great actors, like Laurence Olivier or Orson Welles, have been described as being able to read the phone book aloud and make it interesting? That’s Jane Stern. The choice is an impossible one. Our recommendation is to try to switch off; take Jane on one tour, Michael on the next…
This is New Orleans, good people, so Stephen added a Roadfood lagniappe to the trip: on the way, the buses stopped at Hansen’s Sno-Bliz! If we had known at the time that we’d be doing this report we’d have snapped some photos but we didn’t so we didn’t (these photos are from Hansen’s website); we were too busy enjoying ourselves. Bruce and Michael commented to each other, as they were fighting brain freeze, how impressive Hansen’s ice machinery was. “It would be a great picture. You going to take one?” “Probably not, why don’t you?” No picture! There were three flavors available for Roadfooders: Satsuma, Strawberry (?), and Nectar. Did we hear somebody say that Nectar was some sort of citrus/vanilla combo? Satsuma was a tart orange flavor that Sue and Bruce tried and found extremely refreshing. The others were said to be sweeter. You could have had yours with some sweetened condensed milk on top too, if you wished. We wished!
This was our first snoball. Where we come from they used to sell sno-cones, which were ground up ice doused with syrup, in a paper cone. The ice was coarse and crunchy, like sleet, so coarse in fact that it really couldn’t hold the syrup, which mostly pooled in the bottom of the cone. This stuff has the texture of snow or, dare we say it, sorbet. Much more sophisticated and enjoyable.
Everyone enjoyed themselves and each other while enjoying Sno-Bliz’s. We met the lovely Anne Ritchings, who has posted a number of reviews on Roadfood.com. We talked shop with the ayersians. Bruce and Wayne sang a couple of verses of “Shake, Rattle and Roll” (the original Big Joe Turner version, not the sanitized Bill Haley version):
Way you wear those dresses, the sun come shining through…
I’m like a one-eyed cat peepin’ in a seafood store…
We missed Jane’s bus to the Boil and hopped on Michael’s bus. And the driver got lost. And then unlost. And then we found ourselves at the Bayou Barn in Crown Point. Where there was lots of good food. And music. And dancing. And… what are those glowing dots in the water?
Alligators!
Coming up… Don’t Eat The Dead Ones and Roadfood Zydeco!
