Easy Rider Movie Locations

Day 13 – Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – New Orleans Louisiana.

6 Comments / Easy Rider, Rides / mrzip66 / June 24, 2013

I woke up and felt like George Hanson in a jail cell. When I looked in the mirror, I saw Keith Richards was staring at me. It’d been a long trip. Burbon Street is an interesting place.

I was to meet Graham in the lobby, but I was 10 minutes late. The plan was to go over to St. Louis Cemetery and see some scenes from the movie. Graham must have seen Keith Richards in the mirror too, he didn’t show so I figured i’d spy it out myself. I’m always up for coming back.

They filmed the acid trip scenes here. In fact, this was the first parts of the movie that they filmed, in 16mm film, instead of 35mm. If you watch the movie, you can tell the quality isn’t as good. They came down with 30 grand, no plan and Dennis Hoppers ego and the movie nearly ended before it began.

They even missed Mardi Gras by a month. If you notice in the movie, you don’t see the main Actors in the parade. They rounded up as many people as they could, and tried to re-create it.

Easy Rider Acid Drop St Louis Cemetary No1 — St Louis Cemetery #1 was where they dropped the Acid the Hippy Gave them. They Quartered it. You’re running out of time.

IMAG1250 — Same Spot, 2013. I’m hip about time.

Toni Basil St Louis Cematary no1 Easy Rider — Acid in the 60’s musta been like the Tequila of the 2000’s. Huh, who’d have thought.

IMAG1236 — St Louis Cemetery #1, in 2013

Peter Fondal St Louis Cematary no1 Easy Rider — There’s a story here.

Peter Fonda’s mother committed suicide when he was 10 years old. He didn’t know the full story or the reasons why for years. Dennis had convinced Peter to get up on that statue and talk to his mother in this scene. He didn’t want to do it. It was just way too personal, and and to this day he is both embarrassed and proud of that scene in Easy Rider. He laid it right out there.

When you watch the movie again, you can hear Peter say “shut up! Shut up!”. Dennis was a madman on the set back in those days, they’d just started filming and he’d started an argument while Peter was up there, laying his guts out on camera. He was trying to get through this, and he intermittently kept telling Dennis to shut the hell up. Tells you a lot about Peter Fonda, and his commitment to this film.

When they finished making the movie, they worked on getting a soundtrack for it. In Krotz springs, I told the story about how they’d gotten Bob Dylan to do a song for the film, and his reluctance to do it. Peter told Bob about the filming of this scene, and his own reluctance to say what he’d said. That point, was what finally convinced Bob Dylan to put a song on this film, after a few hours of debate. He scribbled down the words to “the Ballad of Easy Rider” on a piece of paper, and gave it to Peter. He told them to have Roger McGuinn of the Byrds put music to it. It was the final song of the movie. That was in 1969.

The Easy Rider graveyard/Acid trip isn’t my favorite part of this film, but I can appreciate the significance of it. It holds a lot of weight to the movie, and it’s a big part of what makes it such a classic period piece of film. It happened.

I didn’t want to get another cab. It was early, and figured I’d walk the few miles back to the hotel. I was in Nawlins, and I wanted to get a better feel for the city.

Hey, on a lighter note: This was Peter Fonda’s Escort in the movie of Easy Rider: Toni Basil. She was Hawt.

Toni Basil in 1981. Still fine, and holding it together. You know you like this song. I’m not gonna lie, I do.

I walked back to the Hotel.

IMAG1261 — New Orleans is old. Lots of history here methinks.

We were to meet at 3 so we could ride the bikes into EagleRider and turn em in. I got some lunch, took a nap, and took in more of the day. We all met in the parking garage of the Hampton Inn French Quarter, told some stories from the night before, and rolled out in the rain for the final time. It was cool, but knowing it was over pretty much sucked.

EagleRider, New Orleans. Turning the bikes in.

IMAG1265 — 3181 miles minus the 11 I had when I pulled her out of Los Angeles is 3170 miles in 2 good weeks.

We took a trolley car back to the Hotel, after we’d turned the bikes in. Brandon had headed out that morning with Captain America in tow, on to another tour. Steve originally had had to leave us, but in the end he was able to stay and turned us onto a good restaurant in the french quarter. After a couple of hours, we walked down the french quarter, to the Court of Two Sisters. This was a really nice place.

Tim made a pretty damn funny comment about the Blues Brothers.

I stared across the table at the people I’d ridden with for the last two weeks. I really liked these people. I’ll be honest, I’m a prick. I don’t like many. But Ana, Steve, John, Peter, Linda, Pete, Graham, Phil, Helio, Howard, June, Martine, Big D, Timmy, Bruno, Shawn, Bob, Brandon. You all made this ride fun. It was nice to share what I knew, and even better to learn what you knew.

We paid the bill, worked our way out, and said our goodbyes.

IMAG1267 — Corner of Bourbon and Toulouse. Madame Tinkertoys house of Blue LIghts, New Orleans Louisiana. Where George Hanson Never Went, we did. Easy Rider Inaugural Tour 2013.

We all went our separate ways. Tim and I walked Bourbon Street, had a few beers and shot the bull. We rounded back to the bar near the hotel and talked a bit. Pete & Linda, and Paul and Martine showed up for a few.

Then it was over. I went back to the Hotel. I’d fly out in the morning.

I want to ride with these people again.

Day 13 – Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – New Orleans Louisiana. Read More »

Day 11: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Austin Texas to Lake Charles Louisiana

2 Comments / Easy Rider, Rides / mrzip66 / June 20, 2013

I was up by 6 AM, and pretty much ready to go. It had been donning on me all day yesterday that we only had 3 days more of riding to go. That was pretty real to me. I packed up my suitcase, and headed down to the parking garage. My bike was ready earlier than usual on this time. I had the feeling this was coming to an end rapidly, and I didn’t want to miss get all of this in, as much as I could. I walked around the Austin a bit to try to get a better feel for Austin.

Bruno and Pete, Shooting the bull. We’d roll out soon. Austin Texas.

After a few, we were ready to ride. In the parking garage, Steve announced that yesterday was my birthday. I’m not sure, but I think it was Brandon who sold me out. I got sang the happy birthday song, and I’m pretty sure I turned beet red. Embarrassing, but pretty cool. I very much appreciated the thought. Little did I know….

Another Texas town down in the Books. Austin was a cool place, and seemed to be a lot of people’s favorite Texas place so far.

Then we hit the road. We were well out of the Texas panhandle, and deep in the heart. Small towns and good roads. We rolled Texas for over an hour, taking in what we could see. The riding was easy, and the road was solid. About 90 miles in, we took a break, in Brenham Texas.

This is where Steve’s penchant for circling the block was confirmed. At first, I thought it was because he was showing us old town America. No, Steve needs pastry. Hell, any pastry. He’s like a blood hound for that stuff, and can sniff out the good spots. He was 2 for 2 at this point. Thats pretty good. I’m pretty sure we rounded the town square twice till he zoned in.

The Happy Birthday Song. With a flaming cupcake! I blame Graham.

Paul from Manchester, and a Texas Cop. Right across from a doughnut shop? Coincidence?

Texas kind of mixes together when you travel it. I’m not sure if this happened the day before, or today. Even so, its a funny memory for me:

I was enjoying this bike. The stereo felt louder than bikes I’d had in the past. It took me awhile to realize that my bike back home is a whole helluva lot louder, thus the sound difference. In the open road, I turned it as loud as it would go. At intersections, I’d turn it down. I’m not that guy who thinks you need to hear my songs at the expense of yours. I was near the back. Phil and Tim were behind me. I had me some Bohemian Rhapsody on the stereo, full blast, and it was rocking the hell out of me.

When you’re tail end Charlie, you don’t have to glance back a whole lot. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw Phil and Tim with their arms in the air, singing Galileo! Galileo! It was Perfect. Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, and Phil and Tim. Good Moment.

More Texas. I wish I had more pictures of it. Guess I need to go back.

I will say this: Every Texas town we went through in Texas, you get a whiff or two of Barbecue somewhere. Not that smell from grilling, or charcoal briquets to make a 20 minute steak; but real BBQ. Low and slow. Outside of Brenham, I saw a 40 foot smoker on the back of a semi trailer. I BBQ a lot. Briskets, Ribs, Pulled Pork, Chickens and a turkey every thanksgiving. I really wanted to try some good BBQ in this part of the country.

We pulled into Tromball Texas. Steve and Brando had obviously been searching for a good restaurant, and they found a good one. The sign outside on the marquis said “voted best bbq in Houston”. I was geeked to see what they had to offer.

The Original Rib Tickler. I had the ribs and Brisket. Sauce on the side, but they didn’t need it. 5 stars.

You can tell good BBQ a few ways. First, if the ribs make a bite mark. Too long on the smoker, and they fall off the bone. Too little, they have a pull off the bone. These were dead on perfect. Its a matter of minutes between the two, and its hard to do. Especially in a restaurant.

We still had a 160 miles to go. We headed out and made that time towards Lake Charles. The scenery started changing. Less texas, and More Louisiana. In this part of the south, there is some difference it seems. At least terrain wise.

I could feel some Clash comin’ on. I listened to this as we headed East.

Got Gas and a rest stop at the Texas Border.

We crossed the border. Beautiful scene. I had no idea what Louisiana had in store for us riding wise. I was excited to find out. We still had 2 more days to go.

lake charles — Crossing Indian Bay, into Lake Charles

We headed into the Hotel, cleaned up and took a shuttle to a restaurant. I can’t quite remember the name. Our bus boy was funny, and I remember eating some Louisiana food and Belgium beating the US on the soccer game on the TV. Graham taught me the finer points of Soccer.

We went back to the room, Brando broke out some rum and had a toast to a good day. I went to bed not long afterward. Tomorrow we’d hit up some Easy Rider spots. This was a great day.

P.S. My oldest daughter Megan Graduated High School this day. Mrs Zip sent me the videos of her getting her diploma. Meg is my bud, a great kid and a great student. I was pretty proud of her.

Day 11 – Easy Rider Tour – 295 Miles

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Day 10: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Abilene Texas to Austin Texas.

1 Comment / Easy Rider, Rides / mrzip66 / June 19, 2013

Met at the bikes, sunscreened up, swapped stories and headed out of Abilene.

I’d slept good the night before, and was ready to head out. On to Austin. We were out of the Pan Handle, and Texas got even more interesting. We hit Comanche Texas, about 80 miles away. About 10 o’ Clock it seems, our tour guide Steve starts needing a doughnut. I’d imagine if I was up front, I’d have seen the rubber necking at 9:30 ish. He found a place. We had an 80 mile Harley-Davidson ass, so the break was welcome.

My mom used to make these things that she called “pigs in a blanket”. They’re basically hot dogs, wrapped in Pillsbury something-or-other dough, and baked. I don’t eat breakfast much, so I just hung out in the parking lot until I found out they were selling these little numbers. We ate at all kinds of places on this trip. I ate at Gene Simmons restaurant in L.A. I ate gut bombs, at the local Chevron gas station. I ate real Texas BBQ on this trip. I ate at a 100 dollar a plate restaurant in the french quarter of new Orleans that opened up in the year 1830 on this trip. Those little pigs in a blanket at that little place, in Comanche Texas were right up there on the top of the list.

We saddled up, and we headed south to Lano Texas. We still had some miles to go.

Another Texas surprise. Beautiful. Check out that color.

Cranked up the Who, twisted the throttle and just tried to take it all in. I think I like Texas.

Fields and wide open space. Texas is like Nevada, only they water it.

Steve found a cool little twisty road, on the way to Austin:

slab road texas — A county road, crossing the river. Wished I’d have stopped and taken some pictures.

Into Marble falls. We ate at theRiver City Grill. Great view.

The view was awesome. On the Texas Version of the Colorado river. Seems like a pretty good version to me.

The road out of Marble falls was beautiful. Newly paved, and up and down, twists and turns. Made for a motorcycle. We rolled into the freeway, and headed north to Round Rock. We needed souvenirs. I needed a long sleeve shirt. 10 days of sun will kill a man.

Central Texas Harley – Davidson, Round Rock Texas

IMAG1186 — Loving the color. Oh yes, you will be mine.

We headed the last 20 miles into Austin, down the freeway. Stop and go traffic at quitting time. We maneuvered our way off the freeway, and into our place at the Comfort inn parking garage.

I shut my bike off, and locked her up. We only had 2 more days to ride. I turned 46 years old today. Riding all day on your birthday is exactly what i’d have asked for.

I headed up to the hotel room, and cleaned the road up off of me. Then Went down to the bar around the corner, made a few friends and watched some hockey playoffs.

IMAG1187 — Chicken Breasts, with Jalapenos and bacon, dipped in hot sauce. Killer.

Had a long talk to Missus Dunn and my kids. Great day. I was exhausted.

Today was a cool day. A riding day. Took me about 2 hours to put that map together at the bottom of this post. I’d tried to keep track of the highway numbers that day, but in the end I had to message Steve for some help. Thanks Steve!

Day 10: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – 282 Miles

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Day 8 part 2: Amarillo gets it’s own post.

1 Comment / Easy Rider, Rides, Route 66 / mrzip66 / June 17, 2013

We rolled down from Las Vegas, and hit interstate 40. This is route 66 generally, and if you glance side to side now and again you’ll see old alignments of the mother road. Route 66, from days gone by. We hit up a truck stop to hydrate, and they had a bitchen little museum inside.

Before this place, I saw some bitchin old bridges on the south of 1-40, with frontage roads leading into them. Old route 66. I always wonder what it was like, back in the day.

We rolled into Amarillo. Cadillac ranch, to be specific. We’d ridden pretty hard today, and everyone was feeling pretty light hearted and a bit silly by now. Time to have some fun. I had no idea who sweet Marie was, or what this song was up to this point. I’d come to know.

No one located on the western Hemisphere of this tour knew this song either. Brazil, New Jersey, Utah. We had no idea. And Yet it came.

I knew tonight was going to be a fun one. We rolled the 10 miles into Amarillo. Got our room keys, cleaned up and the Limo took us all to the Big Texan Steak Ranch. This place is another route 66 classic, and its been here for years.

Getting primed at the Big Texan Steak Ranch

IMAG1169 — To good people, and more fun ahead!

IMAG1170 — Phil and Tim don’t mess around. This is Texas, after all. They ordered one of the smaller beers. Brando got the variety pack. I had the Pecan Porter. John and Graham were drinking BL’s.

Live music at the tables. These guys were a lot of fun. The fiddler was hooked up to oxygen, but he played that thing like he was 18 years old. We got a few requests in.

They didn’t know any Tony Christie Either. We had that covered though.

This old cowboy put on a good show, and could carry a tune. We were fired up.

It was memorial day weekend, and I wouldn’t be able to put flowers on the old man’s grave this year, so did the next best thing and Asked if he knew any Ernest Tubb. The did, by heart. My father used to torture me with this song, and now its just music to my ears.

This guy is trying to eat 4 pounds of steak with all the trimmings in an hour. I bet on this horse, and lost. He kind of staggered away from the table when he was done.

Rattle Snake Eggs — Pete got Paul from the UK pretty good, with the Rattlesnake eggs trick.

We ate and drank, got loud like everyone else there, and I personally had a blast.

John and I, taking the bull by the horns. Big Texan Steak Ranch, 2013

A long but killer day. We all headed back to the hotel, and crashed for the night. Tomorrow we’d spend another day crossing Texas.

Oh, by the way…

Jack Nicholson holding a pork chop in the movie Easy Rider — Yeah, I lost that bet.

We headed back to the Hotel bar. A Chili’s restaurant, I think and shot the bull. I remember shots of Jack and toasts to the day we just wound down.

A great time. A whole day I’ll never forget.

Day 8 part 2: Amarillo gets it’s own post. Read More »