New Orleans. Wow.
First off, if you've never been or if it's been over a decade since you have been, go. Go now. Spend a weekend, a week, whatever, but go.
This city is not only beautiful, rich in history and culture, it is also still in need of tourism dollars to rebuild itself after the damage that Katrina caused six years ago.
The people of New Orleans have a deep love for their city. I've visited and lived in cities where the locals have a real home-town pride and love their city but this is something different. The love and affection people feel for New Orleans somehow goes deeper and it's truly beautiful.
I had the pleasure of staying in a bed and breakfast along with some friends in the Marigny (the quarter directly to the east of the French Quarter). The Marigny is where many of the locals live and the music scene there is fantastic. Frenchman Street reminded me a little of Nashville because every bar, restaurant, and street corner had live music of some sort. Pick your favorite kind of music and you'll probably find it on Frenchman Street.
It was Halloween weekend and the trip was planned as a 3 day weekend. We got there Friday afternoon and planned to leave Monday afternoon. Friday evening we walked to Frenchman street and saw at least 3 impromptu parades with excellent brass sections and great costumes. We experienced wonderfully friendly people (everyone says hi to you on the street), great music, and delicious food. We actually ended up in a Japanese restaurant because they had the best live jazz on the street.
On Saturday we took our time wandering along Royal Street all the way from our B&B to Jackson Square in the French Quarter. Talk about history. Royal Street is GORGEOUS! The iron work on the houses, the balconies, the streets, the streetlights, the historic homes, the square. I felt like I was in Europe but to find a place so enchanting and full of history in the U.S. made it that much more beautiful.
We did our Bourbon Street duty and walked along for about 4 blocks. It was Saturday before Halloween and it was ridiculously packed. We did it because we felt like, as first-timers, we had to but I would not recommend it. It's overcrowded, rowdy, drunk, masses of people going in and out of bars that are equally crowded, rowdy and drunk. Not really my scene so once we decided we'd had our fill of that, we skipped back over to Jackson Square and ducked into a place we had stumbled across in our earlier wanderings. A local place (i.e. where the locals hang out, not the tourists), with a very friendly wait staff and a beautiful courtyard. They were so friendly that they called brothers, husbands, and friends in an attempt to get us a ride home on one of the busiest nights of the year. (In the end, we walked)
Sunday, I discovered Pirate's Alley. It's a little alley off of Jackson Square and it is so quaint I could hardly stand it. I found Faulkner's Books, which is a tiny little book store housed in the house where Faulkner lived when he wrote his first novel, built on the former Spanish prison yard. I also found Pirate's Alley Cafe where I sat in the sun and read a book. It was there that I met a photographer for the city of New Orleans who was taking new stock photos for the tourism bureau who told me about the Great Gatsby party at the Ann Rice house the night before. I only wish I had learned about it before! That would have been a neat party to attend.
It's also where I met a man named Irish who is a pirate. Well, he's not an actual pirate, he's a street performer. But he kind of looked like a pirate and he works at the Pirate's Alley Cafe on Pirate's Alley. And his name is Irish. No joke.
My friends re-joined me after they took a tour of the Garden District and we had one of the most wonderful, enjoyable, entertaining, delightful dinners ever. Our new cab driver friend (more on him later) told us we should try Adolpho's on Frenchhman Street. It is Italian Creole food. It's also a tiny little room above a bar with maybe 8 tables and 2 waiters. They don't take reservations and the wait is anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. We got lucky and got in under the one hour mark. We made a few new friends while we were waiting for a table as well. You have to "go downstairs and wait! I will call you" after you put your name in.
WOW. That was a good meal! Mussels in a white wine sauce, peppered steak in bourbon cream, crab, crawfish, shrimp, spaghetti,... It's a local spot as well and when the power went out and it went completely black in the place, about 5 people from different tables all got up and turned on their cell phones, downloaded flashlight apps (who knew that existed??) and lit the kitchen for the cooks so the food could keep being made. I don't know what their heat source was in the kitchen but luckily the blackout only lasted about 10 minutes and there didn't seem to be any disruption in the food preparation. It was kind of amazing.
On Monday, my friends flew home again. I, however, was asked over the weekend by my client to attend a conference taking place in New Orleans. My client knew I was going there for the weekend for fun and when she got sick and couldn't fly, she asked me to attend in her stead and to make sure her clients were taken care of properly. So, on Monday morning, I checked into the hotel near the convention center, went to the mall and bought some professional clothes and shoes (all I had with me were my costume and jeans - not very professional attire) and jumped right into work.
I got to see a whole different side of the city for the next three days. The super touristy side. I am so happy I got to experience the city from a different angle over the weekend! My saving grace though was that cab driver I mentioned. Anil was wonderful. He was always available to help in a pinch, to provide guidance on where to take clients to dinner, what to do/avoid, and of course to provide excellent, prompt, and reliable transportation whenever I needed it. I looked like a rock-star in front of all these very important vendor- and client-types because I could get a recommendation for a great restaurant or a cab on Halloween night with a simple text message. Anil made me look very good.
In return, I will help him with a screenplay he's writing. He's looking for help understanding the trial jury selection process and I figure that's the least I can do for his superior service as a driver and a guide while I was in his city.
I was definitely ready to come home when I finally did after being in New Orleans for 6 days and I am most definitely more partial to the non-touristy side of the city. I also know that I will absolutely, positively be returning to that city in the not very distant future. It's a city that is ridiculously easy to fall in love with.
