June 2012
Leaving Crystal River it was another 9 hour drive west to
New Orleans. Pushing the speed limit meant the time was cut, but it was still a
hell of a time sat in a car! The journey passed by with the usual sing-a-longs
(although with Lindsay controlling the music at times meant I had no idea at
some of the songs being played!), Max Tucker stories (always a giggle) and
Radio Lab shows. We hit the outskirts of New Orleans well after dark, and
having a few mares with the Sat Nav we eventually found our way to the hotel we
were staying in (courtesy of Lindsay’s parents – very grateful!) and then had
another mare with trying to find a parking space. Typical! Eventually getting
sorted and into the room (which was rather nice I must say!) it was a quick lie
down, shower and change and out into the French Quarter to make the most of the
short time we had in the city. Wandering around and getting hungry (well I was)
we dived into a Mexican place for some food and a bit of a look at some maps
and tourist information and the headed towards Bourbon Street.
Bourbon Street is THE party street of New Orleans. Right in
the middle of the French Quarter (which is the fancy French looking part of
touristy New Orleans) its packed full of clubs, bars, neon lights and revelers. The atmosphere was fantastic. Having a bit of a wonder around we
came across a nice little jazz place set into a courtyard towards the top of
Bourbon Street and sat down for a Hurricane drink – the archetypical drink of
New Orleans. The jazz was really good, and the place was busy but having
arrived so late we only heard a few songs before the band ended. Not a massive
drama with so many other places on offer, so we picked up our drinks and
wondered out onto the street. Bourbon Street area was similar to Key West in
the sense that you could wander around on the street with an alcoholic drink in
hand. Perfect!
 |
| Bourbon Street |
 |
| Hanging with the home boys! |
Wandering down the street, mingling with the rather wasted
tourists we stopped in a couple of different places, some jazz and blues
focused, others more mainstream. We found a cool little jazz club towards the
other end of Bourbon Street from the first place we were in, which was quite
pricy for drinks ($7-8 a pint) but the jazz music flowing out from the door
sounded amazing, and the place was small and very intimate for a music venue.
Going in we were seated right down the front (perfect!) and ended up staying
for a good while jigging to the music and drinking more expensive beer than
should have! Leaving the place we both were feeling the effects of the long
hours traveling in the day, and so headed back to the hotel room. Well, I was
heading back to the hotel room. Lindsay had decided point blank it was the
other way, and no amount of logical explanation involving a map could persuade
her otherwise. Women, eh?!
 |
| Bloody loved the jazz bands |
The next morning was tourist time. Having had a lovely lie
in and thus missing the complimentary breakfast (turns out it was all worth it
anyways), we spent a good half hour chatting to the hotel tour guide person,
and then headed out into town. Having missed breakfast we went for the brunch
option, and chanced the most amazing breakfast/lunch place in the French
Quarter. I cant remember its name, but it proclaimed to be world renowned for
its Po’Boys (a type of sandwich/baguette style edible thing. If that makes it
clear at all…). So obviously I had to have one. And my god it was good! The
place was rammed as we left too – guess it was renowned then! The day was spent
wandering around the French Quarter, which truly is a beautiful area. Although,
with New Orleans being below the water line and therefore doesn’t have great
drainage, the place did smell. Not like a gagging foul smell, but certainly a
noticeable smell that made one wrinkle their nose on occasion. It was also INCREDIBLY hot and humid. I mean INCREDIBLY. We had to keep stopping every so
often for a drink and sit down! Although this was no hardship as there were
plenty of little stalls and cafes with live jazz being played, and local
delicacies on offer, so I was more than happy with that!
 |
| Wandering around the French Quarter |
That evening the tourist lady-person had booked us a table
at a fancy-cum-traditional New Orleanian restaurant nearby. Creole food – which
is eaten in New Orleans and Louisianan – is an interesting mix between French,
American and some other styles. Needless to say I was very keen to get stuck in
and try some different things, going for some rabbit. I also had an incredibly
nice Hurricane drink, which was way better than the one the night before. But
also like 3 times the price… The meal was incredible and very satisfying – in
true American style there was loads of it; neither Lindsay or I could finish it
all! Leaving with rather large food babies and light wallets we managed to burn
it off walking across the Quarter to the start of the Ghost Tour. As we got to
the meeting place we were treated to the sight of a wedding procession coming
down the street towards us – the full on New Orleans experience of brass band,
everyone dancing and having a right old jolly and colour everywhere. It had
been something I wanted to see but wasn’t expecting and I was incredibly
excited to see the procession. Much to Lindsay’s amusement!
 |
| Wedding march procession |
New Orleans is one of the most haunted cities in the world –
due in part to a huge fire that ripped through the city in 1788, but also has
some crazy stories of residents considered to be witches and vampires. Hence
why we wanted to go on a Ghost Tour. It was a fair sized group lead by a guide
(obviously) who had many interesting and entertaining stories about various
places we passed. He would keep saying that if you took a photo of a building
you could see the ‘orbs’ of the spirits who died there. I was sceptical, but
did it anyways and got a few orbs on the photos. I then later read that these
can be attributed to dust particles. Ah well, good activity for the guide to
keep everyone’s attention I guess! The tour lasted a good few hours as it got
dark. The French Quarter was really cool in the dark, with many of the old
lamps still in place, giving the whole area a Victorian street feel in the dusk.
I would highly recommend doing a ghost tour whilst in New Orleans – it was
really good! And money well spent (of course!). Although Lindsay did later in
the evening get incredibly freaked out about ghosts in the hotel room. Which
wasn’t completely unfounded as it was an incredibly old hotel, and out room was
on the end of the building. No drama, except the floor was the old school
wooden floors that you can hear creak every time someone walks over them. And
we could hear footsteps and creaking outside of the room on the side facing out
onto the street. Freaky indeed…
 |
| Haunted House |
 |
| Haunted House with 'ghosts' |
Anyways, leaving the Ghost Tour we heading out of the French
Quarter for the evening, down to Frenchmen Street, which is renowned for more
progressive jazz and music. Despite it being a Sunday night it was buzzing
there, with jazz coming at you from all angles from the open doors of the jazz
clubs and venues. Going in and out of a few different places – some big clubs
and other tiny tiny bars - I was blown away at the quality of music being
played on stage. Some bands had only three musicians, others in excess of 10.
Yet all of them seemed to give their all on stage, dancing around and playing
fast and furiously, sweat dripping of all of them. It was simply amazing to
watch and you could feel yourself being drawn in by their vibe. My only
complaint of it all was the bizarre policy of some places of ID-ing on the door
(sometimes a right pain with a British ID) and then getting ID again at the
bar. Minor complain though to be honest! We hung out in the various venues for
a good few hours, but with the hardcore day wandering around the French Quarter
we were both knackered and headed back to the hotel at the New Orleans early
hour of 1.30am. This in itself was an awesome journey as we got a taxi back,
and the taxi driver was a total legend telling us about his three kids who “one
is a doctor and one an engineer”. Obviously the third was the black sheep then!
The next morning we made the most of the last few hours of
being in New Orleans. Lindsay wanted to look around a pharmacy museum that had
be walked past on the Ghost Tour the night before, but unfortunately getting
there we found it closed. Instead we grabbed some lunch on Bourbon Street (me
having some rather nice Jambalaya which is another Creole dish) and wandered
across the Quarter to a voodoo temple which I was keen to see. New Orleans is renowned for its links with
Voodoo-ism, as is the Creole culture. But what I didn’t know is the links
Voodoo has with the Christian Church from the slaves brought over wanting to
maintain links to their traditional ways of life.
Anyways, the temple wasn’t anything like I was expecting. It
wasn’t dark and dingy with satanic symbols and red everywhere. Instead it was
quite a normal shop, selling normal christian related things, and the priestess
in there was incredibly interesting to talk to (when I could understand her
that is!). It really was an interesting experience to go to the temple and see
what voodoo was all about. Having said that, I think we had gone to a more
‘mainstream/normal’ place as a voodoo shop we had gone into the previous day
was very different, although the basic idea was very similar. It was an
interesting thing to go and try and gain some perspective of however,
especially with the huge association voodoo has in New Orleans.
New Orleans is one mental place, but I loved it there. It is
completely different to any other USA city I had visited, and seemed to revel
in the fact it was such a different place. The two nights spent there just
weren’t enough – I could have easily spent a whole week there and then some! It
was definitely one of my favourite cities I have been too, and I am so glad I
managed to get there – also thanks to Lindsay for joining me (and keeping me
out of trouble!) and bringing the car!
 |
| Wandering around the Tombs |
As be left New Orleans, there was time for a quick stop in
the Garden District where some incredibly nice houses were located, and a poke
around the cemeteries around there, which again New Orleans is known for with
the huge ornate tombs. Then we had one last stop at a touristy shop for some
Mardi Gras beads (which one has to get when ones there!) and then it was time
to hit the road to head back to North Carolina. Via that Deep South state made
infamous by Top Gear….
 |
| Sheltering from the rain |
