The End of the Road

It's taken quite a while to recover from this year's ride. That may have something to do with the 3 nights we spent celebrating the ride's end point, New Orleans. It may also have something to do with the 4 friends who met us there. And it may have to do with the multiple "victory laps" we did throughout the French quarter, enjoying the food and spirits that have made it famous (and by famous, I mean infamous). Here's the path we took, to the best of my memory:

THURSDAY

Brennan giggles at a horse. It was probably pissing or pooping in the street.

- Mother's Restaurant

• Soup Nazi-like ordering process
• a strict no-tipping policy
• killer po' boys

- Pat O'Brien's

• cocktails galore (Lighting, Hurricane, New Orleans Gin Fizz)
• random woman walks up to Brennan and says "I don't normally do this...but you are soooooo cute." She then walks away. She didn't even seem that drunk!
• excellent policy that allows you to return your souvenir glass to the bar and get $3 back!

- Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar

• came highly recommended by Mr. Basford
• apparently the oldest building to currently house a bar
• the site of Brennan's first modeling gig

Brennan Basford = the next Zoolander

- Old Absinthe House

• walls covered in business cards...
• ...which Aaron would randomly choose, call, leave a message asking for whatever service they provide, and ask them to call him back at 867-5309
• the first of many places we annoying took over the jukebox (hence Aaron's callback number)

Business cards on the wall? Now I've seen everything!

- some random bar

• can't recall the name, and we were only here for 1 round.....1 round of punching bag video game....which I dominated.....no big deal (it's actually a really big deal)

- Jimani's

• I really wish this place had a website, because it surely would have shown the bar's logo, and old woman flipping off the camera. The original photo is in the bar, which pans out to show the full context...the woman is on her deathbed.
• everyone seemed to have an unspoken agreement to only choose hip hop on the jukebox
• I went with Lupe Fiasco and Jurassic 5

**It's important to note that Jason ended his night by playing chess with street bums. He was unable to find Bobby Fischer, but is confident that they were able to solve world hunger, oppression, and the debt ceiling problem.

FRIDAY

Jason missed the "bad-ass" memo.

- Mother's Restaurant

•  yes, it was so good we went a 2nd time!

- Industry

• went here when Brennan's recommendation (an Irish pub across the street) was closed
• proceeded to hang here so long we had 2 meals (6 hour-long visit)
• the 2nd meal included 4 pitchers of freshly boiled crawfish (one of which bit Brennan's finger before it was boiled to its death...and if you'd heard Brennan complain about the pain, the crawfish went through less pain being boiled alive)

well worth the 6-hour visit

- Finnegan's Easy

• one of the many spots we chose because it was calm and quiet.
• yep. we're definitely 30.
• while enjoying the calm and quiet patio, we got to watch Brandon Phillips do this, after which we were no longer calm and quiet.

- Daquiri place

• Brennan insisted to treating us to frozen drinks...we insisted on singing Boyz II Men. 
• This is what inspired this blog entry's title:

- Harrah's Casino

• 1st ever male bartender at the craps table brought us good luck (and excellent facial hair grooming)

- Jimani's

• pumped more hip hop in the jukebox

SATURDAY

Look closely. Haley and Buzz are mutants!

- Huck Finn's

• I tried alligator...which did not taste like chicken...it tasted like sausage.
• We awaited the arrival of a girl (Brennan's gal Haley)
• The girl would prove to only made our hijinks more ridiculous.

- Napoleon's House

• won our server a contest being held by ordering 16 Abita SOS bottles, which raises money for the Gulf disaster areas.

- Huge Ass Beers

• the name says it all

- Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar

• our 2nd trip to the old joint
• inspired by a certain viral video, we karaoked the sax solo to "Careless Whisper"....twice in 10 minutes....we were not well-liked
• what would be a suitable third song choice? You guessed it: "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"

Buzz questions Ryan's fist-pumping technique.

After that, Jason and I headed back to the hotel, as we had a long drive back to the Midwest the next morning.

Needless to say, the trip was once again a rousing success on all accounts. The guys tore up the open road on their bikes. We met kind and unique people at every stop. And we were able to celebrate all of the idiocy with great friends.

Contemplating what to ask our Romanian waitress next.

Where will the ride take us next year? Stay tuned....

Day Five: The End Has No End (Brennan's Prophecy)

Start: Deauville Motel in Thibodaux, Louisiana
Lunch: none
Dinner: TBA
End: Hilton Garden Inn in New Orleans, Louisiana
Today's biking distance: 64 miles
Total biking distance: 440 miles



We made it! There were flat tires all day long, and we were greeted at the ferry station by a thunderstorm and an inability to get the car on the ferry. So we had an anticlimactic arrival on a traffic-jammed highway. Not what we envisioned, but hey! We're in the Big Easy!

A more thorough blog will be posted at some time. Until then, check out our Flickr photostream for pictures.

Support Vehicle Music:

The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls In America
The Elected - Sun, Sun, Sun
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Girl Talk - All Day
Van Halen - "Panama" (our traditional arrival-to-any-city-with-3-syllables-so-we-can-replace-the-word-'Panama' song)