Hello! I'm back from New Orleans. And boy was it fun (and dirty).
I've never been to New Orleans before but I would like to go back.
We got in on Thursday around 5pm (I think). I don't care what anyone says, it is a long drive from Atlanta (but I'm also terribly impatient in the car). All of the roads in New Orleans are one way and it's confusing so it was necessary that Jamie had to take the wheel. We checked into our hotel, The Baronne Plaza Hotel in the business district (I love any hotel with the word Plaza in it since that is where Eloise lives) and I had to get changed for the "bachelorette party." The girls met up at some place called DBA. It's a bar with live music. The band that was playing when we got there was very New Orleans sounding so when I walked to other side of the bar to check them out I realized that none other than my "friend" Paul Sanchez was playing (he used to be in Cowboy Mouth until he left the band a year or two ago). It's always cool to see someone you know in a different city (when you weren't expecting to see them because obviously we saw people we knew at the wedding). Here's something I didn't know about New Orleans. You walk everywhere. Which I don't mind, but it would've been nice to know ahead of time because I would've rethought my wardrobe (shoes). I wore these cute wedges to the party and I've had them for years and worn them a bunch, but I guess I had never done too much walking (or dancing) in them so by the time we got back to meet up with the boys (no boys at a bachelorette party) my feet were killing me. Like I could barely walk. Like I made Jamie take a $4 cab ride with me the four blocks back to our hotel. For reals.
Saturday Jamie and I went on a mission. For some reason we decided we needed to find and eat at a Kosher deli. So, Paul (or Frank or Shawn or something, I don't remember his name), the valet at the Dauphine Orleans hotel (where everyone else we knew was staying) called the Jewish gardener (no lie, the gardener at the hotel is Jewish) and asked him for a recommendation. He referred us to a place called Stein's. But we couldn't walk there (because of my feet and because it was far away from where we were in the French Quarter). So Jamie and I had an adventure on the trolley car. Once we got off the trolley we asked a nice lady at a bus stop (New Orleansers (?) are very polite and helpful) which way Jackson Avenue was (we were on St. Charles). We were about four blocks away so I hobbled (Jamie walked) and we stumbled upon Stein's purely by luck. I had a delicious bagel (they get them in daily from H&H in NYC). After we ate we trekked back to the trolley and back to the French Quarter. Here's something else I learned. You stroll in New Orleans, you don't walk.
We walked around and saw the sights and smelled the smells. Seriously, Bourbon Street smells. We walked down it in the middle of the day and it wasn't crowded but it totally smelled like puke and sweat and pee and other nasty things I could not identify. And there are "gentlemen's clubs" everywhere. I didn't realize there was so many strip clubs in such close proximity in New Orleans. Larry Flynt has two clubs within two blocks! There was one club, and again, this is like at 1pm, with a window and a girl in a thong sticking her butt out the window. For reals.
Friday night I probably had my favorite dinner while we were there. I had a Caesar salad, a plate of sauteed shrimp, a cup of zucchini and squash, and some potatoes. It was so good, but I was so full that I could barely walk (or rather stroll) to the cocktail party we had to attend. You know what's cool about New Orleans? You didn't finish your cocktail at dinner? You can get a to go cup! You made a drink while you were getting ready to go out (a getting ready drink) and you didn't finish it? Take it with you! I think Atlanta could benefit from allowing open containers (in certain nightlife areas).
Saturday we did more of the same (except we had breakfast at IHOP). The wedding was Saturday night and it was beautiful. Honestly it was one of the best and most fun (and most delicious) weddings I have ever attended. They had this incredible three piece band playing that consisted of a washboard, a sousaphone, and a guitar. They were so good they did Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song on the sousaphone and they played Take Me Out To The Ball Game! And really, you have not lived until you've heard Led Zep on the sousaphone. I recommend it for your next party. Then for some reason a group of us decided it would be a good thing to stay out partying (yes on and around Bourbon Street) until 5am (central time of course). Obviously the minute we got back to the hotel I had to take a shower because I could feel Bourbon Street on me and it is a nasty, nasty feeling. Then we got up and had to go home. And the drive home felt even longer.
It was nice to be home, as it always is when you come back from a trip, but I can honestly say that I look forward to the next time I get to go to New Orleans. And next time I will bring nothing but sneakers. Oh, and I would like to go back in the fall or winter because the humidity in New Orleans is nasty (almost as nasty as the smells on Bourbon Street).
The above pic is of me on the trolley on the way to the deli. If you want to see more awesome pics of New Orleans (we not only remembered a camera but we actually used it) then head to my Facebook page.
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