New Orleans Travelogue
Who What When Why How
From Monday, April 21 through Sunday, April 27, 2014, 19 members of the Jesuit High School of Sacramento's Jazz Band plus Jazz Band director Ron Cunha, Instrumental Music instructor John Cargile and chaperones Jeff and Sabrina Murphy made a trip to New Orleans and nearby areas for service work, performances, clinics, some local flavor and events and participation in a World Strides Heritage Festival competition. These web pages are a "travelogue" of that trip.
Use the tabs at the top to view things in various formats, from just the photos and videos, to annotated narratives, which, hopefully, will give you a good sense of what the boys experienced in their week-long adventure.
Travel to and from New Orleans was by air, with Amtrak and a shuttle bus between Sacramento and the Oakland Airport in each direction, and in rented vans in New Orleans, with all 4 adults as drivers.
Just below is a chronological summary of each day's general activities for overall context and a good starting point. More detailed accounts are to be found on the narratives tab.
Note: The phrasing on these pages may sound a little unnatural in places where stating the actual person would make more sense, but students' names have been left out on purpose even though they can sometimes be found through photos or videos. This is just to prevent web searches from finding them by name here. The adults are, however, afforded no such courtesy.
Summary
A bare outline of the trip:
- Day 1, Monday, 4/21
Sacramento Amtrak station to Oakland on the Capital Corridor run, then a shuttle bus to the Oakland airport, Southwest Airlines to Dallas with a stop in Albuquerque, a plane change in Dallas, then on to New Orleans, rental van pick up at the NO airport and a drive to the NOLA Mustard Seed Ministries Mission House for the first night's stay. Plus a quick trip to Walmart for some food and bedding for those needing either or both. Bedtime was bit late as all the boys watched an episode of Ken Burn's documentary "Jazz". - Day 2, Tuesday, 4/22
Breakfast (meals during our stay at the Ministries House were provided by a Mustard Seed worker who lives nearby), then sectional practices. Next, a representative arrived from the St. Bernard Project and spoke about the hurricane Katrina damage in the area, the current status of rebuilding and St. Bernard Project's role in New Orleans and other disaster areas, plus some of the specific work our group would be helping with and who the houses were being rebuilt for. After lunch, 1/3 of the group headed to one work site and the rest to another, both sites that day involved some plastering and lots of finish sanding of plastered drywall. After showers and dinner, there was an excursion to an area just a few blocks from the French Quarter, very similar but only one street a few blocks long with an open air art market and a street band that the boys really enjoyed. - Day 3, Wednesday, 4/23
Breakfast and sectionals again, after lunch, all of us went together to a new work site to hang drywall (on the ceilings!) which was challenging for most of our guys. Again, showers and dinner. Then a short birthday celebration for one of the freshman whose mother made a surprise appearance (being in town on business) with cake and a new trumpet. - Day 4, Thursday, 4/24
Breakfast, packing and giving the mission house a thorough cleaning. The band left Mustard Seed in dress attire for their performance at the Jesuit High School of New Orleans. After JHS NO, a quick Burger King stop for lunch (a few went across the street to Walgreens) and then to Loyola University. At Loyola, we all listened to their jazz band rehearse for about 45 minutes and then our band played our competition set for their director, who followed that with a clinic. Our next stop was Jackson Square (historic park in the French Quarter) for Poboys or other dinner fare, shopping and sightseeing. After that, we were finally off to our hotel: the Hampton Inn & Suites Elmwood. - Day 5, Friday, 4/25
Fun day! First, hotel breakfast. Then airboats and alligators (see the photos!), followed by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for food and music into the evening. Back at the hotel, groups of guys were allowed to patronize the food establishments across the street or visit Guitar Center and then they had non-instrument band practice (mouth pieces only, plus pencils and music) with Mr. Cunha. (One student's parents, not mentioned here yet, travelled on the same flights and mostly stayed at this hotel and joined us at JHS NO, Loyola and this day's events, etc. They were a great help with logistics, especially on the last day.) These parents and the trip's adults minus Mr. Cunha got to enjoy a meal independent of our charges for the first time. Upon our return from a sushi place a block away, we encountered the infamous Cunha v.s. Jazz Band Monopoly Battle of 2014 raging in the hotel lobby. - Day 6, Saturday, 4/26
Hotel breakfast. Dress attire and off to the competition. After listening to one of the competitors, it was warm up time and the competition performance. A very brief clinic followed (the competition was running behind schedule). Back to the hotel. After changing clothes and having lunch in the local establishments, it was back to the French Quarter, stopping at a cemetery which was unfortunately closed. One van's worth of boys left to visit a nearby cemetery to see the above ground crypts while the rest walked into the French Quarter so that anybody who wanted could buy masks for the evening's award dinner and dance. All regrouped at the hotel to dress for the evening. Off to the New Orleans Event & Film Studios Facility (a rental hall) for the dinner, awards and dance. After returning to the hotel, everyone was admonished to pack before crashing for the night. - Day 7, Sunday, 4/27
Mr. Cargile displayed his masochistic streak, revelling in the 4am wake up call for the boys. We picked up sack breakfasts prepared by the hotel and made the trip to the airport. A change of planes in Houston and then on to Oakland, where a few students were picked up while the rest finally took the shuttle bus and train back to Sacramento.