Music writer Keith Spera traveled to New York City with Fats Domino last week. This is the first of his reports from the road.

The idea seemed crazy. The principals of the Tipitina's Foundation had convinced Fats Domino to travel to New York this week to promote the foundation's two-CD benefit project, "Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino."

As soon as Tipitina's Foundation executive director Bill Taylor revealed the plan, I resolved to tag along. Conceivably, Fats might never again embark on such an adventure. If it went smoothly -- or even if it didn't -- it would make for a great story.

Unlike contemporaries Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, Domino gave up globetrotting decades ago. For years, he rarely strayed outside Orleans Parish, an immoveable object until confronted with the irresistible force of Hurricane Katrina. After the waters receded, he hustled back to New Orleans as quickly as possible.

Since the storm, public appearances have proved to be even more of a challenge. He famously backed out of headlining the 2006 New Orleans Jazz abd Heritage Festival hours before show time. And only after an intense lobbying effort did he perform at Tipitina's in May for a benefit that was initially his idea.

So the proposed three-day New York itinerary seemed incredibly ambitious: Fats was to perform "My Blue Heaven" with Norah Jones on Thursday's "Late Show With David Letterman." Later Thursday, he'd make an appearance - hedging their bets, organizers hoped, but didn't promise, that he'd actually perform - at a tribute concert at Manhattan's Pink Elephant. On Friday morning, Nov. 9, he would perform "Let the Four Winds Blow" on "The Today Show." Later Friday, he'd sign autographs at a Border's.

Variables and unknowns abound: Did Fats fully realize what he'd committed to? Would he be ready Wednesday morning when his friend and favorite cab driver, Walter Miles, picked him up in Harvey? Would something go wrong at the airport? Would he perform at the tribute? Would he really get up at 6 a.m. for the "Today" show? Was this really feasible?

And how would the Lower 9th Ward's most famous resident respond to the Big Apple? I had no illusions about Fats wanting to check out the view from the Empire State Building or contemplate the starkness of Ground Zero. If he made it to his scheduled events without incident, that would be an accomplishment. Herding Fats is a bit like herding cats.

One key element of the trip fell through early in the week. The "Late Show With David Letterman" was among the first casualties of the strike by the Writers Guild of America. Members of the Domino entourage - including this one - were doubly disappointed because Letterman's other scheduled guest on Thursday was actress Nicole Kidman.

Monday night, I asked Bill Taylor if he was confident about the upcoming journey. "Confident? No. I'm hopeful."

On Tuesday, the day before departure, Fats bought new luggage. A positive sign.

But the trip wouldn't be real until the flight attendants sealed the door of Continental Flight 617 at 10 a.m. Wednesday with Fats safely stowed aboard.

And this I knew for sure: I wasn't getting on that plane until Fats did. If he bolted at the last minute, I didn't want to be the bride left at the altar, flying to New York on the newspaper's dime with no story to write.

To everyone's relief, Wednesday morning went relatively well. Fats and Walter Miles rolled up to the airport an hour before flight time. Fats looked sharp in a black leather jacket, black slacks, black Nike sneakers and white captain's cap. More importantly, he seemed to be in good spirits.

Tipitina's owner Roland Von Kurnatowski had arranged a private security screening for Fats, as well as a golf cart to whisk him through the terminal and into a private lounge - no one wanted to risk Fats being spooked by an onslaught of fans.

Inside the lounge, Domino cracked open his first Heineken of the day. It was 9:30 a.m.

Twenty minutes later, most passengers had boarded, and the gate attendants called for all remaining passengers to get on. Taylor signaled for Fats to be brought up from the lounge.

Down the terminal, we saw Fats board a golf cart, then get off and disappear into a Hudson News. Seems he needed to buy sunglasses.

As the minutes ticked by, the gate attendants looked at us, and Taylor started to get nervous. Finally Fats and Miles made their way to the gate. They ambled down the jetway three minutes before departure - literally the last passengers on board -- and settled in among the Tipitina's party in first class. That party included Taylor, Von Kurnatowski, executive assistant Lauren Cangelosi and Dean Dupuy, a longtime friend and business partner of Von Kurnatowski's.

At the back of the plane, the guy sitting next to me noticed my copy of "Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n Roll," north shore writer Rick Coleman's award-winning biography of Domino. Turns out this fellow traveler, Glenn Denning, was in New Orleans the previous day with Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs and contemporary R&B star John Legend for a discussion at Tulane about poverty.

Denning also accompanied Legend on a tour of the 9th Ward that included a stop at Fats' flooded house, which is still under construction.

"So is Fats on the plane?" Denning asked.

Against all odds, he is. The Fat Man is bound for the Big Apple.