Thoughts On New Orleans

I'm back safe, although sound is another question entirely.

I thought that the knot in my stomach would go away once I got on the plane but no such luck. I struggled with it through the entire vacation. I've decided that I need to stop calling them va-cations and start calling them sleep-cations since that's what I do most of the time.

It is a recurring theme in my own health (physical and mental) that I don't sleep well here. I've mentioned it before. My brother reported that mom had him up at all hours of the night while he covered the home front, too.

Despite the tummy ache, I made up my mind to just push through. Sometimes just getting out and about can take my mind off of my worries. My bff from CA had some Vicodin and I found that it relaxed my stomach for an hour or two. That way at least I could eat.

With all of that, I think the trip was an overall success. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but there wasn't a bad part about it except for my nerves. I would definitely recommend going and I would like to go back.

Okay, here are some things I notices about New Orleans:

• Nobody calls it N'Awlins. I think that's for t-shirts. However, it is New OR-lins and not New OrLEENS. (On a similar note, Nevada is not Ne-VAH-da, it's Ne-VADD-a with the first 'a' sounding as in cat.)

• The airport seemed a bit old and decrepit.

• We couldn't have had better weather. When planning the trip, we decided on October since it was historically the month with the least rainfall. It was in the mid-70's, clear skies, no humidity, nice breeze. Absolutely perfect.

• Driving into the French Quarter takes you through Metairie and outer New Orleans. It's a pretty bleak low-industrial kinda place.

• Seeing the Superdome brought back all those images from Hurricane Katrina.

• Cab ride was $30+tip. Glad we didn't rent a car since there was so much to do within walking distance and there was a $25/day parking fee at the hotel.

• Odd, but considering that they are on the waterfront of the Mississippi River, I didn't see one seagull. For cripes sakes, I've seen seagulls around here! I hate seagulls, so I shouldn't complain.

• The Moonwalk is the name of the wide sidewalk and berm along the river. I walked the length every morning and evening.

• On Saturday morning, the Steamer Natchez boat tooted tunes from its whistles, drawing customers to come and take a paddle boat ride on the Mississippi. You could hear the music for blocks. It was a bit corny but I have to say I like corny! I'm still singing "The Good Ship Robert E. Lee" that I performed in a 7th grade version of Showboat.

• Po'Boys. These are special New Orleans sandwiches. Think a 6" sub on a lighter roll. Meat, sauce, shredded lettuce and tomato. I had one with hot roast beef (with dark gravy) and another with grilled chicken that was very good!

• Muffulettas. These are special New Orleans Italian sandwiches. Think Italian cold cuts (salamis etc.) on a soft tasty roll. They usually come with olive salad inside but I was able to order mine without.

• Beignets. Pronounced ben-YAY. These are special "French doughnuts." Ummm, highly overrated in my opinion. They are deep fried, piled high with powdered sugar, but the inside of them is more like Italian bread. One was enough for me.

• Cafe du Monde is the famous place for getting the beignets. It's a bit of a tourist trap...you gotta get them here...blah blah blah. It's like an outdoor coffee shop since they only sell beignets and beverages. There were lines to get seating on the weekend mornings. If you go, don't sit at a table along the sidewalk. While you may think it will give you a good view of all the happenings, you will be subject to beggars, derelicts, people who think they are musicians, etc. looking for a spare dollar.

• They don't bury people in cemeteries. Nothing is underground...I assume because of the high water table. Everyone is put in above-ground crypts/mausoleums. These places are really run down as the weather has just worn away at the brick façades.

• If you want to take a tour, they've got one just for you. Vampires, architecture, gators, cemeteries, walking or horse-drawn or Segues. Each evening, we'd be heading back to the hotel and there would be four vampire tours starting.

• The French Quarter is pretty nice. It captures an old world style housing with more than a few souvenir shops and bars. If you like alcohol, you'll like Bourbon Street in the French Quarter.

• The city is full of artists. Lots of galleries and there were tons of local folks selling their creations around the main square on the weekends.

• There are no fast food restaurants. No McDonalds, BK, or Wendy's. I couldn't find Chinese food, either. I assume these restrictions are done by city code.

• All in all, I found the food to be good, not great, and on the pricey side.

• I made sure to tip everyone big since they are still on tough times.

• Lots of references to VooDoo. I don't know if there's really a secret underground or if it's hype for the tourists. It seems that every local has the ability to tell your fortune and a card table in tow that they can set up in the public square.

• The ornate work on the front of the buildings is cast iron, not wrought iron. And, most are not "balconies" (which do not have supports underneath). Rather, most are "galleries" that are supported by posts that reach down to the sidewalks. I dare say most of them look really rickety and on the verge of collapse!

Tomorrow I will try to post some of my photos. (Update: See my pics of New Orleans here.)