1. Gretna Heritage Festival celebrates the heritage of, well, um, well I’m not really sure, but they do like trains.
2. Gretna is the Jersey of New Orleans. Even E! is getting in on the action and will begin filming Real Housewives of the Westbank next month. Flat bills, Affliction shirts, pencil goatees, trashy, black-haired baby mamas, and drunk toddlers- it’s all here.3. Molly Hatchett is no longer “Flirtin’ with Disaster”, he’s down right catastrophic. At least they band still has sweet flowing locks.
4. As terrible as they sound now, the band is still pretty Amurrican. They even pulled a few marines out of the crowd and brought them on stage, one of which gave a rousing Forrest-Gump-like speech.
5. Criminals are given exemptions for Gretna Fest.
6. Every gas station in Mississippi with a deep fryer has a chicken on a stick. It’s easy- deep fried chunks of chicken, potatoes, pickles, and onions all on the same stick. South Louisiana’s version is just skewered chicken tenders. What the hell.7. They do love there corndogs here. I’ve argued once that not all LSU fans smell like corndogs, I may have to change my stance on this issue.
8. All the other traditional state fair fare is here- funnel cakes, turkey legs, and every other thing Boomhauer would fry, including kool-aid. Oh yeah, that’s right, deep fried kool-aid.
9. On top of the fried goodness, the festival offers up some of South Louisiana’s specialties, if only someone could learn to spell boudin.
10. I went 25 years of my life without seeing Tracy Lawrence. I have now seen him twice in two months. I have a problem.11. I spent 25 years of my life listening to Bad Company on Z106.7 out of Jackson, MS. I have now seen them once. I do not have a problem. Brian Howe can still bring it (sorry for the poor audio quality).
12. Westbankers love their cover bands. Chee Weez and Bag of Donuts drew bigger crowds than Bad Company. Both COVER Bad Company. Hopefully this makes sense to you, because it’s something I can’t comprehend.
13. The Beer Garden let me down. Since the tent was set up directly in front of the German-American Cultural Center, I had high expectations. I’m pretty sure an old man in suspenders and 2 measly German beers on tap doesn’t qualify as a beer garden.14. I was not let down by the city views from atop the levee at the foot of Huey P. Long Avenue.
