Cyclerides.com Weekly Update
7/5/17

Greetings Riders,

I would like to wish everyone a belated Happy 4th of July and hope everyone had a great time enjoying celebrating the birth of this great country. We were able to have all 4 grandkids over swimming for 2 days in a row. After having to endure the ridiculous news cycles that we have these days, it was truly refreshing enjoying the innocence of children for a couple of afternoons. They could care less about politics or who is president. All they want is to soak up love and attention from the G-Parents and top it off with some watermelon and strawberries. As I spent this time with them and saw what was important to them, it didn't escape me that life sure was a lot less complicated back then. God Bless our children.

If you missed the newsletter last week, I started the recap of our recent trip East of the Mississippi. First stop was New Orleans and a visit to the World War 2 National Museum. If you missed the letter, Click Here to Read. I had my 92 year old Father over to the house yesterday, who is a WW2 Veteran, to show him pictures and video that I taken of the museum. Every time I talk with him about the war I learn something new about what he did.

One thing I am continually amazed about with him, is the incredible detail that he remembers from over 70 years ago. He was a medic on a tanker ship in 1943 and remembered exactly how many gallons of each the oil, diesel and aviation fuel that they carried on the ship. Truly amazes me what the mind can and cannot remember sometimes. I guess it had that much of an impact on him.

Although our main reason for going to New Orleans was to go to the WW2 museum, you can't be in Nawlins without taking in some of the local history and craziness that goes along with that. Even though I have lived the last 36 years in Arizona, I am still a kid from a small town in Kansas that is nothing like New Orleans. So this experience was still an eye opener for the both of us. If you ever decide to ride the Natchez Trace Pkwy. in Mississippi you will not be far from New Orleans.

Other than the Museum, the top thing on our list as total tourists was to experience Bourbon Street at midnight on a Friday or Saturday night, and walking the French Quarter to see the historic buildings and see the lifestyle of southern living in New Orleans. Well, in short, we did just that and it was interesting to say the least. Bourbon Street on a Saturday night is extremely packed with people and you can buy a drink out of just about any bar and walk the streets with it. As the night progresses and the more alcohol consumed, the more vibrant it tends to get and the beads start to fly off of the balconies to the ladies who want to make their mark on Bourbon Street. There is no shortage of girls who are willing to trade a peak of the girls for a string of beads. Cheap entertainment to say the least and no one gets hurt.

One other by product of this amount of people and drinking is that later in the night the street gets pretty trashed, wet and grimy for the most part. My best recommendation is not to wear sandals or thongs while visiting Bourbon Street on a busy night. You could see just about anything on the ground that you might walk through. Besides that, it was a good time hearing all of the live music coming out of almost every bar, seeing all of the tourists like us taking it in and watching everyone have a good time. I don't feel the need to go back to Bourbon Street to visit, but we did enjoy seeing what we had heard about for years for a couple of nights. It was easy to get to as our hotel, the Mazarin, was only about 100 feet from Bourbon Street. See the video below that puts you right into the middle of the action.

Saturday afternoon we walked the streets of the French Quarter trying to see all of the famous places such as Cafe Du Monde and others. The architecture there just blew us away. All of the buildings were only about 2 to 4 stories tall and most all had outdoor patios on them lined with very ornate steel railings. It was obvious that with the temperate climate down there, people spent a lot of time outside. You could literally spend a day just looking at all of the fantastic ornate old architecture that we certainly are not used to here in Arizona or in Kansas where I came from.

There was some firsts for us in New Orleans. While walking Decatur Street Saturday afternoon to catch some live music, we were going to cross the street and we saw a police car slowing driving down the street with the lights on. So we stopped to let it pass. Much to our amazement, the Police were leading a "Naked Bicycle Parade" down Decatur St. There must have been at least 300 bicycle riders in different stages from total undress to partial or costume. Even one dude on a unicycle! How does that work? As they say, there are some things that you just can't "unsee", and there were several examples in this parade that would qualify for that! I didn't want to keep all of this to myself. So, instead of giving you the play by play in my words, you can watch it for yourself. Click Here for the Video. Disclaimer: You can't "unsee" this. Lol.

A little bit later while down on Canal Street, the same scenario happened, police cars started blocking off Canal and there were police cars with their lights on again. This time it was the New Orleans Gay Pride parade led by the Sponsor Walgreen's and the N.O. Police. Once again, the costumes, activities and different stages of undress were interesting to say the least. Not something that we see every day in Peoria. One little gay guy that was walking in the parade all dressed in leather straps and not much else came up to me and said, fist bump me or I'm not leaving. I said, "no dude, I'm good". He repeated the same and I said, "I'm good". As I looked away he hit me in the arm and took off. I just chalked it off as part of an experience of a day in New Orleans.

All in all, we like seeing an experiencing new and different things, and if that is what you are looking for, New Orleans will certainly give you plenty of opportunities for that. The architecture is fantastic, the food is good and the culture is definitely different than what we are used to here. But that was the good part. We truly enjoyed our 3 nights there and will never forget it. Keep in mind, we didn't venture out of the French Quarter area and there is much more to see in New Orleans. With that being said, I don't think it is someplace that I feel the need to visit again any time soon. But we were really glad that we did and got to check New Orleans and the WW2 National Museum off of our list.

Next week I will be back with the review of Memphis and Graceland. Then the highlights of our 5 day ride in East Tennessee and North Carolina.

Photos and Video:
This is for those of you that haven't seen Bourbon Street on a Saturday Night. This video puts you right in the middle of the party at midnight on a Saturday night. See my selfie commentary at about 3:10 into the video. Click Here to View.
Click Here for Photos from New Orleans.
Click Here for the Cyclerides.com Facebook where I have posted photos from the trip.
Click Here for Map of the French Quarter.

Feel free to forward this letter to any of your friends that might like to see some New Orleans.

Stay cool and ride safe.
Barry



Update:
I have written about this several times in the past, but dehydration is a REAL thing and needs to be respected. Especially with the heat and low humidity that we are seeing now. If you would like to update yourself about symptoms and how to avoid it, Click Here to Read.



This Week

Saturday, July 8th
Arrowhead Harley-Davidson Trikes & Ice Cream. Join Arrowhead Harley-Davidson on Saturday, July 8th for Trikes and Ice Cream. Enjoy FREE Trike Test Rides, Free Ice Cream, Free Lunch, Bikini Bike Wash and Live Music.
Sidewalk sale on end of season Motorclothes. Raffle proceeds benefit Black Sheep. Join us for some cool ice cream, lunch and see what it is like to ride a fantastic Harley-Davidson Trike. Arrowhead HD is located at
16130 N. Arrowhead Fountain Center Dr. in Peoria, AZ.

Next Week

Saturday, July 15th

Buddy Stubbs Anthem Harley-Davidson Hogs and Dogs. Join Buddy Stubbs Anthem Harley-Davidson for Hogs & Dogs! They’ll have free burgers, dogs, drinks and more as they host a great open house on Saturday, July 15th from 11am till 2pm! This is also a great opportunity to outfit your bike while we endure the summer heat! Now, till August 19th grab 40% off labor on Twin Cam and MW8 camshaft upgrades at Anthem Harley-Davidson. Also remember that Buddy Stubbs Harley-Davidson is your home of the Lifetime Powertrain Warranty! You’re covered when you shop Buddy Stubbs H-D so check out their inventory today. Hop on your bike, grab some friends and roll up to Buddy Stubbs Anthem Harley-Davidson for all this and more. For more information call (623) 465-1122 or go to www.buddystubbshd.com. For up to the minute info be sure to follow them on Facebook and Instagram!

Saturday, July 15th
Chandler Harley-Davidson Presents "Beat The Heat". Beat the Heat Event: Beat the summer heat and join Chandler Harley-Davidson for our Beat the Heat Event! Enjoy a FREE bikini bike wash, boot shine by Blacksheep, and patch sewing. While you’re hear, enjoy lunch on us! Come out and hang with us and CHILL OUT! Chandler Harley-Davidson is located at 6895 W. Chandler Blvd. in Chandler, AZ. 480-496-6800.

Extras
 
Mid Week Updates will be made on the Cyclerides.com Facebook. New Easy to remember Facebook address. Go to www.facebook.com/cycleridescom. Over 6500 LIKES! Take a look at all the new photos posted on the wall. If you are not on Facebook, you can still view the  page, but you will not be able to post. There will be a link there for you to sign up for Facebook if you are inclined. Click the LIKE button!

The human ventriloquist dummy. Hilarious stuff. Click Here to View.

Video of the Week
This Japanese motorcycle cops drill team is amazing!  Click Here. Click on the Video of the Week graphic to view.
 
If you would like to sign up for the Cyclerides.com Weekly Update Click Here.

Until Next Week,
Blessings and Safe Riding To All,

Barry Caraway
"The Road Is Yours - Take The Ride"
www.cyclerides.com

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