Jazz Fest 2014

Ruby's first fest did not disappoint! We had AMAZING weather this year; far better than any year ever (and this was our 8th Jazz Fest with kids!). We arrived as the gates opened on Thursday. Between the early arrival and it being a weekday, the crowds were VERY minimal. I think the high was 72-degrees and there was an amazing breeze. (Seriously thought we were in San Diego for a minute.) Ruby napped on and off a few times, ate some red beans and rice, and posed for many pictures. We hit 4 or 5 stages that day, leaving fest somewhere around 430PM. The highlight was probably Stanton Moore, in the Jazz Tent. Eli and Lehr sat up front for that one, taking in all of the drum acrobatics.

We left fest to grab a quick dinner before an evening show. Lehr planned ahead and got us front row 'reserved' tickets at Preservation Hall for their 8:15 show. We walked past a line of about 75 people to go through the velvet rope and sit up close for the awesome performance. Ruby nodded off at the end, but I think she enjoyed it.

The next morning we got up early enough to get breakfast and still arrive at fest just as things were getting kicked off. We danced and did a few second lines in the Economy Hall tent, ate some delicious food, sang along with Cowboy Mouth, painted our faces, ate some more, met up with friends, danced some more, blew some bubbles, hula hooped....did I mention that we ate? I think we lasted until 5:30 this day. By that point, we'd done so much and the kids were itching to hit the pool at the hotel. (You'd think it was some great pool the way they built it up.... It's a very standard, indoor pool, but I guess they have so many memories of it that the excitement takes over.)

The underlying story here is Ruby's sickness. We left town Wednesday afternoon and she was a bit congested and was starting to cough a little. While she was happy and 'fine' throughout the day(s), each night got worse and worse for sleeping. By Friday night, Lehr and I traded off almost the entire night; she could not sleep if she was lying down, so we held her upright so she could doze off here and there. By the time the sun came up on Saturday morning, Lehr and I agreed that we needed to head home to get her to a doctor. Unfortunately that meant we missed out on a trolley ride, beignets, and a bang-up line up for Saturday's Jazz Fest. The kids were great sports about it though, never complaining at all.

2014NolaJazzFestWEB from Nicole Eliason on Vimeo.