What Happens in New Orleans…Stays in New Orleans…

~*~ What Happens in New Orleans… ~*~

New Orleans, LA

Date: March 19-24, 2005

Travelers: Sara & Kim

First it was going to be Ireland, and then it was going to be Scotland. For a fleeting moment, we thought we would go to Vegas. When all was said and done, we had booked a mini girls-only vacation to New Orleans, Louisiana. Four days in the South with Sara…it was sure to be one for the books (and one for our book, for that matter!). We haven’t spent a lot of time together in the past few years (other than our fall trip to Chicago) so I was really looking forward to the laughter that was sure to ensue upon arrival!

First Evening

I was scheduled to get into New Orleans about 3 hours before her. While I was flying from Philly, she was coming from Hartford, CT. At the airport I discovered that they had overbooked my flight and were looking for people to bump. Since I was going to be re-routed with a layover in Charlotte, the offered me a free round trip ticket and an upgrade to first class. YAHOO! I called Sara to let her know I would now be arriving about 15 minutes after she did. All worked out for the best and I even got a free ticket out of it. Flying first class was nice…much more comfy than back in the scariness known as coach. I wish we’d had a meal though because I was dying to know how much better the food on this side of the curtain was. All of the flying and traveling I have done in my life and this was the first time I ever got bumped and compensated for it.

As soon as I got to the airport, Sara and I found each other and the fun commenced. We gathered up our belongings and went out to find a taxi to take us to our hotel. Sara had found a nice little place right outside of the French Quarter. Walking distance to the fun, but just far enough away to make us happy. After dropping our things, we were a bit hungry and headed out into the New Orleans night to grab a bite to eat. It was about 8pm and we were exhausted. We weren’t even two blocks from our hotel when the madness began. There was a parade coming down the street celebrating God only knows what festival (we had missed Mardi Gras by weeks – on purpose). As Sara and I stood to the side watching, beads started whizzing by our heads. What the heck?!? We haven’t been in New Orleans for 10 minutes and already we have scored our first beads! By the time we went back to the hotel, we were happily drenched in colorful strings of beads, yapping a mile a minute about what a great vacation it was going to be.

It was a nice relaxing way to spend our first evening, low key and relaxed. We went to bed early so that we would be nice and refreshed for tomorrow!

Sunday

I think I was actually excited to get up and out of bed in the morning. Maybe because I knew that we were going to find our way to Café Dumond and experience complete and total heaven before 10am. We showered and decided to spend the day just wandering around getting our bearings and seeing what was out there. No hurry to be anywhere or do anything. The warm southern sun was a welcome change from the chill of the northern winter so we quickly put on some light weight clothes and headed out into the city.

New Orleans is incredibly beautiful with its old buildings, architecture and history. The streets tell their own stories in so many ways. We noticed all types of people, every race, every age, from single folks to families, all visiting. I think that surprised me a little bit because New Orleans is always associated with Mardi Gras and parties, so to see families out enjoying the city took me slightly by surprise. I would learn over the next few days how much N.O. really has to offer ~ so much more than giant beers and Hurricane’s from Paddy O’s.

We stopped first at Café Dumond in the French Quarter to have some breakfast, based on a recommendation from Anthony who had been in town for a lacrosse tournament several times. Café Dumond has a very limited menu. Coffee, water, and beignets. I wasn’t sure what to expect after the long wait in line, but it was well worth it. We were served nice hot cups of coffee, bottled water and an order of beignets…deep fried donuts that are loaded to the hilt with confectioner’s sugar. It felt like we were doing something wrong, something bad! Eating fried dough for breakfast! It was unbelievably tasty and filling. As we sat with our faces and clothes covered in dusty white sugar, we watch all of the people milling around the French Quarter and listened to the man on the corner as he played “Amazing Grace” on the trumpet. No words were needed for the moment.

We spent the day wandering around the streets, checking out the little shops all along Bourbon Street and Canal Street, making note of the places we wanted to go back and visit either at night or later in the week. The shops and souvenirs are a lot of fun, actually. They make beads out of everything you can imagine from Pro sports teams to rubber ducks to four leaf clovers to penises. Certainly there is something for everyone in these places! We decided boas were a necessity for going out in the evening and promptly picked up two lovely boas in shades of pink. We are going to look ma-ahvelous! Street performers kept us entertained with music, dancing and simply standing still (until you handed them money).

In the afternoon, we headed into the city of New Orleans to find the D-Day Museum, which we were both very interested in visiting. Sara and I had been to France together while we were in high school and one of our stops was in Normandy and the American Cemetery. We had stood on the walkway overlooking the beaches in awe. At any rate, the museum is located in the city rather than the outskirts of New Orleans, a whole different world from what we had seen in the morning.

I was amazed by the D-Day museum. They had an exact replica of a Higgins boat on display in the main lobby, accompanied by a gentleman who had not only been in Normandy, but also helped to build the replica. He was a pleasure to talk to and listen to. There is so much to see and so much information to take in that we were both a little overwhelmed by the time we left. It’s mentally exhausting to spend an afternoon with such heavy matter, but it was enlightening and welcomed. I think I am most taken back by the visuals and the mini-replicas of things they have set up because you can actually see the enormity of it all. The boats, the numbers of people who were killed, the beaches themselves. It was solemn but a nice afternoon spent, nonetheless.

After having some dinner, we showered up and headed out for a night on Bourbon Street. Anthony had recommended that we go to Paddy O’s for a Hurricane or two so that was our first destination. Walking down the streets is amazing…even though it’s not Mardi Gras, there are hoards of people who seem to think that it’s okay to act like morons in public. Men trying to get women to lift their shirts for beads while other men swarm around with both still and video cameras. It’s like walking through the middle of a bad Girls Gone Wild video. We laughed it off as we headed into Paddy O’s. I instantly liked the place with it’s dueling pianos on stage and sing-along mentality. We both ordered Hurricane’s, which are indeed, delicious. While sipping the dangerously fruity concoction, we listened as the pianos played The Unicorn Song and the Marine’s Hymn. I could see Sara smiling and she commented that there are times she just knows that Bryan is with her. That made me happy to hear.

We called it a night around midnight and walked back to the hotel to crash out early. Sara had plans to rent a car the next morning so she could drive to Alabama to visit a friend, leaving me to explore more of the city on my own. It would be nice to have a solo day to check out things at my own pace and maybe see some things I wouldn’t if we were together.

Monday

Sara was up and at ‘em and gone fairly early. I took my time and eventually found my way to some coffee. It was a relaxing way to spend the morning, wandering aimlessly around the French Quarter and hitting the giant flea market for a few hours. It was a bit of a scouting mission to report back to Sara for our last day in New Orleans.

I ventured to the boardwalk where I spent a great deal of time sitting by the Mighty Mississippi River and watching the riverboat make it’s way slowly down the river. There were many people out walking, running and biking, no doubt enjoying the amazing weather as much as I was. I had brought a good book to read while I just enjoyed the fact that I wasn’t at work or in the cold weather in New Jersey.

I hit a few shops and bought a couple of items to bring home with me as souvenirs. I wanted to find the perfect beads for the trip, for myself and for others as well. I stopped at a little sidewalk café for a sandwich and enjoyed being able to sit outside and people watch. New Orleans is an outstanding place to people watch, by the way! I had noted at 10am there was a group wandering around with giant beers in their hands. It made me wonder if they had started early or if they just never made it to bed the night before. Who knows…

I ended up heading back to the hotel early in the afternoon to wait for Sara. When she finally returned, we had a nice quiet evening in the hotel room, figuring we’d save up our energy for tomorrow and our last night in the Big Easy. I told her about my day and all of the neat little places that I had come across while “getting lost” in the streets.

Tomorrow will bring a new day…

Tuesday

As soon as we awoke, we showered and returned Sara’s rental car. I’ve never seen such horrible customer service in my life! They were literally waiting for people to return cars just to get them out again. Nothing a little organization wouldn’t fix. They jumbled up the charges and were completely out of sorts which left Sara and I a little pissy. Nothing a cup of coffee and some beignets wouldn’t fix though! So, after finally getting out of the agency, we headed to Café Dumond. Yeah, I could get used to this.

After breakfast, we decided to do some shopping. We found some great candy shops and bought some for our family members. I led the way to the flea market where we went crazy buying beads for ourselves for the evening, as well as some beads as souvenirs for people. I managed to find a great set that had pigs on them for my mom. We bought Louisiana hot sauce, dip mixes, yummy flavored nuts and more. We got hungry so opted to have some lunch where I had my first shrimp poboy. I wasn’t really all that impressed as it was pretty bland. Maybe I should have busted out some of that hot sauce for the occasion!

We wound up sitting on some concrete steps and watching a great street performance with three young men dancing and putting on a comedy routine. They made a point of picking on some members of the audience, as well as those that passed by. When a particularly yuppie looking couple tried to squeeze by, they called out for attention and proclaimed that Ken & Barbie were in New Orleans. Everyone had a good laugh about it, including the slightly embarrassed couple. Some folks weren’t so happy to be the object of ridicule, much to the delight of the crowd.

The afternoon was spent at the Audubon Aquarium and seeing an iMax show on sharks. A 3-D show, at that! We walked through the rainforest, watched the penguins and explored every inch of the place with fascination. It was a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Tired from walking and being in the sun, we went back to the hotel to rest up before heading out for our last night in New Orleans. Woo hoo!

First things first, we had to get some dinner. I think we decided on pizza…go figure. All the way to the Big Easy to feast on something we could have gotten back up north on any street corner. Our bellies full and our necks loaded with beads, we made our way back to Paddy O’s. We had had so much fun the last time, we wanted to check it out again. It wasn’t disappointing as we sat and chatted with people around us.

We stopped for a bite to eat and chatted with the guy behind the counter since there was nobody in the place but us. Yeah, we felt bad for him in there all by himself while the party went on without him just outside the doors. After a snack and using the restrooms, we headed back out into the wild, getting a kick out of the craziness that IS Bourbon Street. We were briefly cornered by some girl who was unhappy with her boyfriend and I suppose she thought Sara and I looked like we cared. It was entertaining for about 5 minutes.

Then I saw “Howl at the Moon Saloon” and I think I took off in a run, with Sara in tow. We spent the last of our evening singing along with the pianos and laughing at the songs. I was excited to show this place to Sara after having spent such a lot of time in it while in Miami. I even ended up on stage for their rendition of “Joy to the World”. Oh man…of all songs!

And so another evening gone by, it was our last in New Orleans. I wish we had more time! I’m loving this little city! It’s got so much more to offer than what you see on TV or hear about second hand from the party-goers. I would never go to Mardi Gras but I would love to visit New Orleans again someday. If for nothing else, to hit Café Dumond one last time.

Wednesday

Since our flights weren’t leaving until later in the afternoon, we checked our baggage at the front desk and went for one last walk around the city. We did some last minute shopping and of course, laughing, before finally having to say good-bye to the Big Easy.

One last bonehead move on my part….I managed to drop my cell phone in the cab on the way to the airport. Fortunately, Sara was able to contact the company and give the cab number to them. Our driver returned, with my cell phone, and I had no choice but to give her a huge tip. I would have been devastated and basically screwed without my phone. Relieved, we found our way to the gates to say good-bye. Sara was off…and I was delayed.

Which is how I ended up in New Orleans for another night. I got bumped for the second time in one trip – amazing! This time, no free ticket, but they put me up at the hotel by the airport. I crashed out in my room and only ventured out to get some dinner downstairs in the lobby.

I called it an early night and crashed out, I had to be at the airport at 7:00am. Wonderful.

Well, the flight home was uneventful (finally!). This was such a great trip and just what the doctor ordered. I had a blast with Sara, catching up on old times and making new memories. We found a nice balance of sight-seeing and having fun on Bourbon Street. I got home relaxed and refreshed rather than frazzled and exhausted. I can’t wait for our next adventure…wherever that may be!

What I Learned:

~ Just because you have a phone stand, doesn’t mean you have to put the phone on it.