"Go West Young Man"

I’ve said it before: always bring a camera with you. What if instead of a camera you have a camera crew? Snoop Dogg would usually come to mind with to his Girls Gone Wild exploits, but the D-O-double-G will need to take a back seat to the following story:

15 year old Darius Weens spent the weekend in New Orleans with his own crew. He had embarked on a cross country trip with the help of 11 friends to document his first real trip away from his home state of Georgia. There is more to this trip than see the good old U-S of A as Darius suffers from a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Duchene, and confined him to a wheelchair for the last 4 years. The trip will not only raise awareness of the disease but also showcase the how far the nation has come with accessibility since the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act 15 years ago.

I caught up with the caravan Saturday night as they may their way down Bourbon St. It was next to impossible to get to them ducking and weaving through the crowd that naturally follows someone with his type of celebrity status. I did finally catch up with a member of the crew to see what the commotion was all about and ask for a couple of words. Logan, the pack's ringleader, obliged and stopped everyone for a moment while I got Darius' thoughts of Bourbon St.

Let's just say he was having a great time and had a lot of beads.

The group's adventures, including the story of an extended stay in Lake Charles, are documented in their web blog.

-BourboJeff

(Also posted to the Bourbon St. Journal at nola.com)