Glory, Glory, Halle-Hot Dog

The world is a better place with Dat Dog.

A wise man once said, "The noblest of all dogs is the hot-dog, it feeds the hand that bites it." And I agree. Sometimes it really is the simple things, and one of those "simple" things, is the hot-dog. If you find yourself "way uptown," in my neck of the woods, come over to Freret Street and go to Dat Dog. It ain't your average hot-dog in-murky-water kind of place. They grill everything to order. They have a couple dozen different sausages, from plain ole beef, to turducken and back. I'm not kidding, I'm holding a turducken sausage in this very picture. ---> 
Add unlimited toppings, chili cheese fries, and a modest selection of beer on tap and you're gonna have yourself one hell of a meal, I know I did. Could Dat Dog exist somewhere else? Maybe, but if you took Dat Dog out of Nola, they wouldn't still carry Crawfish, Alligator, or even a regular Louisiana Hot Sausage. So Dat Dog is a home-grown NOLA kind of place.

The Wild Magnolias

Myself and Miss LeeAnn

This past weekend we celebrated something much nobler, yet somehow just as homey as the hot-dog, and that was the birthday of the late, great Louis Armstrong. (Not my best transition, Louis Armstrong is like a hot-dog??... Lord, help us.) In New Orleans style, there was a three day long festival, dubbed Satchmo Summerfest, including live music, seminars, and even "Some of that Old Time Religion." I joined the festivities on Saturday night, opening my Satchmo Summerfest with Big Chief Bo Dollis, Jr., and the Wild Magnolias. They're sort of a funk, jazz, and Indian chant fusion. If you don't know about the Mardi Gras Indians, then you should. And I promise I'll be talkin' about 'em from time to time. They were a good show, but to be honest, they wanted a lot from the audience. When someone yells at me, a few dozen times, "Make some noise," I stop wanting to make so much noise. (This is a great hint if you're ever trying to get me to shut up.) But besides the constant demands, I had a lot of fun, and if you've never seen a funky Mardi Gras Indian Jam, then your missing out.

This morning was my favorite part of Satchmo Summerfest, and one of my favorite things about New Orleans. We went to Church and second-lined from the Church down to the Festival itself, marching down Esplanade and having a hell of a time. Second lining, has become second nature, and right after Church itself, its the second best thing you can do for your soul on a sultry Sunday afternoon in New Orleans. And if you'll allow me a deeply Catholic moment, it was a Body of Christ moment, the diversity at that Church this morning was nothing short of stunning, and it gave me hope for the future and deep sense of peace. So, Mass, was beautiful, the Treme Brass Band played at the Historic St. Augustine Church in the Treme. This Church, which was dedicated in 1842, was one of the first integrated Churches, and was integrated while there was still slavery in the South. From the Church's website:

St. Augustine's Sans Second-Line

"A few months before the October 9, 1842 dedication of St. Augustine Church, the people of color began to purchase pews for their families to sit. Upon hearing of this, white people in the area started a campaign to buy more pews than the colored folks. Thus, The War of the Pews began and was ultimately won by the free people of color who bought three pews to every one purchased by the whites. In an unprecedented social, political and religious move, the colored members also bought all the pews of both side aisles. They gave those pews to the slaves as their exclusive place of worship, a first in the history of slavery in the United States."

We came out of Mass to a second-line parade, a walking parade, that was sponsored by the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club and danced our way down the street. Just a little down Henriette Delille Avenue, catty-corner from the Church is the Backstreet Museum, (which I will visit and write about later) and on the porch were some Mardi Gras Indians, ready to join the second line. We popped in line behind them and listened to the beats and the chants, and we danced.

Yeah You Right, Joe.