Shreveport Part One

Got into Shreveport Wednesday, March 24th. Staying with one of my mother’s 31 first cousins. His name is John. Stayed with him, his wife, Therese, and one of his sons, Tyler. 

I met all of them back in August of 2013, during a family reunion. I actually met so many of my family members. I don’t quite remember everyone’s faces, and I was the photographer for the second time. During the first family reunion I went to, everyone thought I was a hired photographer. I was ok with that, because I was shy and socially awkward. I was still awkward the second time, but Cara, another one of my mother’s first cousins, set everyone straight on who I was. 

Anyways, got into Shreveport from Nashville. They had supper ready, and we spent a few hours talking. I began drinking some Maple Rum that I got from Vermont. We were hanging out on the back porch looking at the unfinished pool. Apparently that pool hasn’t been finished because the city found out the guy doing it didn’t have a permit nor a license to do so. Then the guy kept taking the test and failed it 8 times. Persistence I guess haha. The thing is, it has been over a year since he last touched it. Now it has old rain water in it, and green algae and moss growing in it. 

John went to bed about 8-9 ish, then Therese followed suit. It was just Tyler, Lola (the dog), the cat (don’t remember its name), and me. Tyler looks over and asks, “Want to go out and drink Cousin?” 

“Sure.” I said while shrugging my shoulders, not expecting the night we were going to have. 

This guy knows the ins and outs of Shreveport. He has worked a lot of different jobs and currently in the service industry, and he is just a big extrovert. Me, being a social introvert, was expecting to get a few drinks, maybe meet some of his friends, and call it a night like at midnight the latest. That was a big nope!

We just went to a couple of places. He of course got shots for us. It seemed like every single person knew him, except for a fake Aussie guy with the bullwhip in the parking lot. However, Tyler discovered he knew the guy from a story he heard about this guy just walking into this bar’s kitchen and started to cook up something for himself then got kicked out. 

I got a couple more shots and another beer for myself. I don’t really remember how many people came up to us to basically pay their respects to Tyler, hahaha. It just cracked me up, because I haven’t seen this well connected person in a long time. Then we went across the parking lot to the EDM bar. 

Same shit happend at the EDM bar. First we walked in, and he said hi to everyone. Then once we got settled in, people came by to say hello, and even to say hello again from the other bar. Tyler told me the new bartender thought I was attractive. I was surprised, and felt good that someone expressed their liking to me. Looking back now, I should have gone up and introduced myself. I wasn’t attractive to her, physically, but she could have been a cool person to talk to. But as you can tell, I didn’t go and talk to her. I just kept drinking. Tyler kept getting pitchers, and kept filling up my cups. I was getting DRUUUUUNK. 

Then a friend of his started to hang out with us. I was trying my best to have a coaching session with her. I feel like I try to pry myself into people’s lives, and see what is plaguing them. Then try to take the knowledge I have, and the BS I can muster up to help them. This is what I tried with this person, but I was also really drunk, and I believe I was high at this point. In truth, I started fading in and out. I remember being in Tyler’s vehicle, there were four of us, and we were hot boxing. I think we went to get food too, but I am not sure. Like I remember being in the back seat and the front seat of the car. When I was in the back seat the car was moving, and the two other peeps were with us. 

It was a long night. It wasn’t until the next night, when I took it way easier, that I asked when the bars closed in Shreveport. Tyler told me most close at 4, but you can find some that close at 6. Then there is a bar that opens at 7 am. So you can basically be at a bar for 23 hours. The first night, all I know is I got really fucking tired. I don’t really remember leaving, nor going to bed. 

Next morning, I woke up at 10 am, with the worst headache I’ve had in a very long time. I didn’t want to get up, so I just plainly didn’t. I also needed to take a piss really bad. But naw. THAT headache was way worse. I figure I just force myself to go back to sleep. That is what I did. I woke back up at 2 pm, and that DAMN headache was still there!! 

I knew I had to get up, and luckily I got a big ol glass of water right before I went to bed, and it was still sitting there. Thank you faded me for thinking about the future me, love ya bud! Drank that entire thing, took some ibuprofen, then headed out to the porch. Brought my bluetooth keyboard with me, and reviewed my stories. 

Tyler woke up around the time I did. We were both hungry, and Tyler had the day planned out for us.

First. We went to Ki Mexico. This place was bomb! Of course Tyler knew every single person in that place. We got a lamb burger, and that sucker was to die for. I would say the burger was a half pound burger, ¾ inch thick, and a size of a fist. Had herbs, fresh cucumber, oil/basil dressing, sprouts, and a good fresh made bun. Then it was served with a side of in house made chips that tasted like it had Tajin seasoning on them. I was still hungry so I ordered a single taco. Glad I did that because this taco, called Gringa, was a big ass taco. The description of the taco: pork marinated in ancho and guajillo peppers, then wrapped in a cheese crust with cilantro and onions. Then your choice of sauce. To say the least I was full. Also, the bartenders there were entertaining, genuine, thought provoking, and just overall great people!

Next up was a brewery, the first brewery that started in Shreveport, Great Raft Brewery. My first beer was Barrel Aged Old Mad Joy. 10% porter. It was smooth, a bit sweet, hints of coffee and chocolate, and of course it was strong. Other beers I had of theirs were: 318 (Golden Ale), Life Itself: Key Lime Pie (Gose, one of my favorites), and Stagger Homeward (Stout). Great Brewery, and if you are in Shreveport, this would be another recommendation. 

Then we were supposed to get 50 cent raw oysters, which I was surprised by the amount. But we made a stop at Tyler’s job, he works at Eddy’s, a pool hall. Played some pool, and his buddy texted him that they ran out of oysters. I was only a bit sad, but was happy to beat Tyler 4 out of 5 pool games. 

Second to last we went to this bar that looks like a classical German Decor building. It was a bar and they were having trivia. Before trivia started up, Tyler told me one of the bartenders braids hair. She was like yup, and I’ll braid your hair for $5. She was joking, then I was like, sure. She paused for a second, and was like, “Are you serious?” I was, and then her face made a pondering face, she was probably 5 foot 4, and long blond hair, that she had in two braid like structures. One over each of her shoulders, and she wore circle glasses. After she thought, she was in, and she was asked, before or after trivia. I left it up to her. 

We were doing pretty well in trivia. Before the bonus rounds, we tied for first; but, the bonus rounds screwed us over. 

After we lost, I reminded the bartender, I believe her name was Casey, but I’m not sure. I know the other one just started that day and her name was Tallie. Anyways, Casey came around, and did a single loose french braid, starting from the top of my head to the back. It looked good. 

Last for the night, was the same bar we went to the night before. This time around, I didn’t go hard. This was the night I found out that the bar doesn’t close until 4. We didn’t close out the bar… but we didn’t leave until like 3:30 am. 

We also hung out with one of the bartenders from Ki Mexico. I am really bad with names, so sir, if you read this, I am sorry that I forgot your name. You are an awesome person!

That ended the night and majority of the time I hung out with Tyler. He had to work during the weekend. Part two of Shreveport is me hanging out with Tyler’s brother Colin.