this past weekend…

i had the pleasure of making a trip to New Orleans for the first time.  thanks again to my recreate buddy Robert Comeaux and his family for hosting me.  also thanks to the band and team at fbno for a great time of worship and music.  also thanks to Randy Elrod for creating a community where worship leaders and creatives can have amazing community.

so i left Friday morning about 8:30 and arrived in NOLA at around 3:30.  met Robert at the church and we headed out on the town.  first stop, Snug Harbor for the Ellis Marsalis Trio.  i didn’t get any good pics at the show, but really it was an amazing, mesmerizing hour and a half of beautiful jazz.  what a great pleasure to hear such a legend.

after the show we headed out on the French Quarter.  i was amazed by the fact that New Orleans truly is a city that doesn’t sleep.  Robert told me the clubs in the French Quarter are open all night, he likened it to Vegas.  i was overwhelmed by the scope of the French Quarter.  it’s much bigger than i imagined.  there are stores, restaurants, clubs and bars in pretty much every building, and the architecture is beautiful.

we made a run by Bourbon Street on our way to Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playground.

then we went and had beignet’s at the landmark Cafe du Monde

it was here that i snapped two of my absolute favorite pictures of the trip.  i noticed the waiters and waitresses over taking a break and caught this picture.

then we stepped over to the top of the steps in front of Jackson Square, which in my opinion is the prettiest spot in all of New Orleans, and i got this pic.

we headed back to Robert’s house and headed out the next day to see more of the city.  Robert is a third generation New Orlean’s native, so his perspective on the city is amazing.  we drove all over looking at everything from colleges and churches to Katrina damage.  i got these pics in the lower ninth ward.

being able to see these spaces put the storm in great perspective for me.  Robert told me that this vast emptiness of overgrown lots was once all houses.  it saddened me to think of all of the life and memories lost in this great disaster.  the houses on the right are part of Brad Pitt’s Make It Right project.

we moved on through other parts of the different areas of the city.  had a great barbecue lunch at a place called the joint (a food post would be a completely different day, suffice to say i had gumbo, jambalya, fried pickles, pulled pork, baked mac and cheese,  po-boys and a snoball, so we ate it all)

we headed on into the warehouse district and the business district, then back to the French Quarter to see it during the day.

what a great and eye opening day.

we headed back to Robert’s house and worked on our song for Sunday.

we headed out to FBNO early the next morning and rehearsed with the band.

what an amazing service.  Robert is a great worship leader and his band and choir are top notch.  it was a great day remembering the 5th anniversary of Katrina.  Fred Luter Jr. , the pastor of Franklin Ave. Baptist Church spoke.  it was a pleasure to hear this great man of God talk about his questions of “Why?”.

Robert and i sang David Crowder’s “Never Let Go” as a feature song.  it was a pretty cool moment in the service.  i enjoyed being able to sing and worship without having to be in charge.  after the service, i stayed around and talked with Robert’s team.  amazing guys and gals.

we headed out to grab some lunch before the long drive back to TX.  we were headed to Parkway Bakery to get some po-boys, but somebody named Barack Obama beat us to there.

if you look really close you can see the Presidential Limo and the secret service agents.

so we went down to Parasol’s in the Irish Channel and got po-boys, then i headed back to TX.

i just want to say again a great thanks to Robert and his family and team.  it was great to see and experience the city.  i want to come back sometime.