Since it would be next to impossible for me to talk about my vacation in a concise (and eloquent) manner, I thought I would write multiple mind-numbing posts for your enjoyment.
You can thank me later.
Saturday
Travel/New Orleans
I hate travel days. You always wake up before the butt crack of dawn and then spend a good chunk of day travelling. It’s exhausting, but usually worth it in the end. The first thing we noticed when we get to New Orleans is that the airport is dead. It’s 3:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday (a few weeks before Mardi Gras) and no one is in the airport. Our hotel is in the heart of the French Quarter on the corner of Bourbon Street and Orleans Avenue (Bourbon Orleans Hotel, naturally). Our first impression of Nola is: depressed. I was expecting it to be similar to downtown Charleston, but it wasn’t at all. Brad and I joked about all of the billboards for sex shops and strip clubs along the route from the airport to the FQ. Our cab driver was very quiet but did point out a few of the areas hit by the flood after Hurricane Katrina.
We got a room upgrade – a townhouse suite – so things were off to a great start. (FYI: The bed was horribly uncomfortable.) The room consisted of a wet bar and living room downstairs with a loft/bedroom and bathroom upstairs. The hotel has a very interesting history, but I realize I room was part of the 1960s addition, so not as enchanting as I originally thought. We got settled into our room and decided to walk down Bourbon to the pre-determined restaurant. I hated Bourbon Street. It was seedy. Bars, strip clubs and people everywhere. Mind you I have nothing against bars or strip clubs. I can think of 3 strip clubs/gentlemen’s clubs/burlesque reviews within a 2 block walking radius of my office. Bourbon Street was different. It was…well, just seedy. One of the things that has come about my moving to/living in Oregon is that I have become more open minded. Even more than before. I tolerate a lot of the things that I used to think were uncouth (in my mind). But I really did not like Bourbon Street. I didn’t feel scared or intimidated…just like I needed a shower. It also could have been due in part to all the people around me. I hate feeling crowded. I would definitely not be happy there during Mardi Gras (which is also disappointing). Additionally, I was disappointed because I really, really wanted to like New Orleans. I love history and being surrounded by it. I love the old South, the architecture, the atmosphere – everything. Granted, I was extremely exhausted by this point in the day and we were walking for what seemed like an eternity. Maybe if I went under different circumstances and was able to actually spend some quality time there, my opinion would be different.
We finally made it to Acme Oyster House. It was recommended by a friend of my mom’s as well as by Food Network. Awesome. We sat at a table with a family from Baton Rouge (I believe) who informed us that since we were last to sit down we had the honor of picking up the tab. They would return the favor the next time we had dinner with them. I wasn’t in a great mood (see: exhaustion) but eventually tried to fake it lest they think we were rude/snobs. B and I both had po’ boys – his was a ham/roast beef concoction (him: you should learn to make roast beef like this); mine a combination of fried catfish and oysters. I never realized how much I missed fried catfish. We shared a pecan cobbler for dessert. Okay. B had one bite and I ate the rest, but technically we shared! It was so damn good. It was essentially a chopped up pecan pie served in a brown sugar rimmed martini glass with a scoop of ice cream. I would go back to New Orleans just for this dessert.
We walked back to our hotel via Royal Street because I couldn’t stand the thought of walking back down Bourbon. It was a nice, quiet street with antique and art galleries. There were some street performers and the walk put me in a better frame of mind about New Orleans. We made it back to the hotel and ended up going to bed early (especially considering we were two time zones away from home). I think we went to bed about 7:00 local (5:00 p.m. at home for those of you extremely bad at math). I did wake up and watch a little bit of SNL (Fleet Foxes, the musical act, was really good), but that was probably the highlight of our late night in New Orleans.
And so it begins…
-M
Song of the Day: The Sweetest Thing (I’ve Ever Known) by Juice Newton
