The Big Easy Part Deux

First a few things I left out from yesterday.

I was the lucky winner of a random, as picked by the metal detector, secondary inspection. I was hoping for a pat down, but just got my hands swabbed and then run through the analyzer.

Gary showed us where they are filming Planet of the Apes 2. Not too far from my hotel if I remember correctly. I looked on IMDB and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes stars Gary Oldman, Judy Greer and Keri Russel.

And now a few random thoughts.

I hope I never have to drive here. At least near the French Quarter. It has to be frustrating for the locals and I don't know how tourists do it. Taxies or public transportation is the only way to go. It is faster to walk then drive in the FQ.

What is up with the pink but mostly salmon, shirts, shorts, dresses, and even shoes. I first noticed a dude in the airport wearing pink Converse. Last night and today I saw a lot of dudes wearing pink and/or salmon. Pink is ok for a shirt, but not shorts and I now officially detest salmon shorts. Many women had salmon colored dresses on also. I will have to see if this is the summer fashion and I notice the salmon in California or it is a NOLA thing.

Speaking of clothes. I should have brought twice as many shirts. You need at least 2 shirts a day. One for the day and then one after you shower before going out in the evening. I guess I will be wearing Microsoft and other vendor t-shirts later in the week. Well maybe other vendors--never Microsoft.

And now for a picture.

Dinner!




Well a drink with dinner. A Hurricane at Willies Chicken Shack.




And actual Chicken at Willies Chicken Shack.

Nothing better than the cold/frozen drink after walking all day. The fried chicken was excellent.

I'll post pictures from today's Treme tour and steamboat ride later tonight. I need to drink more water to account for all that I sweated away today. I heard it hit 97 at one point. It was like being in a sauna for most of the day.

The third shower of the day may be in order.

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Location:Iberville St,New Orleans,United States

The Big Easy

The day started off great with breakfast at Swami's with the VIMmers. During breakfast my phone rang and it was Southwest calling to tell me my flight was delayed an hour. They called 3 more times--moving the time back to original time (12:20), then back to delayed time (1:15) and then a gate change. There was a maintenance issue with the plane so it was late arriving to SD. Some things I just don't need to know.

We pushed back about 1:15 and took off quickly. I decided to watch This is 40 which I rented on iTunes. Very funny movie. I especially liked the parts involving the oldest daughter watching Lost. The flight was quick and I didn't finish the movie before we landed in Houston. We arrived in Houston a little before 6 and I barely had time to move to a closer seat and use the restroom before the new passengers started to board. We took off by 6:35 and it was a quick 45 minutes in the air. I was able to finish This is 40. 2 thumbs Up!👍👍

I was off the plane by 7:35 which considering my SD departure was a hour late I was only 1/2 hour late arriving to NOLA. Since the SD luggage was first on of course it was last off. With luggage in tow I stepped outside into the weather. It had just rained so it was nice and humid. It took about 15 minutes for the shuttle to fill up so we departed about 8:05.

The driver, Gary, gave a weather report described as "shaky" since it could rain any minute. It did rain within 2 minutes of him finishing the report. He also gave great descriptions as we drove into the city. We passed the Super Dome which I will be inside on Thursday night. There were 7 stops and mine was the sixth but it was great to hear about the city from Gary. The south and north parts of the city are actually east and west. Gary used the word confusing a lot.

A goal I had was to see a Second Line Parade while here. Gary was not thrilled that we got to see one. A motorcycle cop stopped us as the parade went by. It was a wedding and I tried to get a picture but the good camera was in the suitcase still. So here is a picture but I hope to see another second line.




Mine was the next stop after the few minute delay for the parade.

The Hotel is very nice. At the end of Canal St with a nice view of the Mississippi River to the South.





And the French Quarter to the East.




I needed food and water so I set out to Bourbon Street. Wow! I will have to post an entire blog about the people. I love people watching and this is going to be a fun place to observe. I was thinking it would have been fun to come here 20 years ago. And then I thought it was probably a good thing that I didn't come here 20 years ago. It was only 10 PM and I think most of the people on Bourbon Street have been drinking since 10am.

I wanted a Muffuletta -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muffuletta -- but the recommended location, Central Grocery, was closed so I settled for Cafe Beignet in Musical Legends Park.





How have I not had one before or for that matter even heard of one. I was very hungry but it was delicious.




I spent some more time walking around and found Cafe Du Monde for beignets tomorrow morning. I tried to buy a Jazzy Pass for the Streetcars, but the Wallgreens near the hotel that sells them was already closed.

I found a place to buy some bottled water and headed back to the hotel to shower and write this blog before bed.

If you are still reading I promise better pictures and maybe more interesting stories in tomorrow's entry.

Tomorrow's plan is Treme after beignets and coffee in the morning. There is also the Oyster Festival right outside the hotel.

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Location:New Orleans,United States