New Orleans is magical. This was my fourth time to visit The Big Easy, and I think I’ll always love coming back. I still question the wisdom of building a city below sea level, but I love what they’ve done with the place.
Like Mobile, the architecture reflects the French influence and 300 years worth of stories play out in my mind as I make my way through it. I have my must do activities when I visit New Orleans, like eat jambalaya, gumbo, and whatever other foods avail themselves to me. I’ve always loved Abita beers in every flavor, and had a great experience with absinthe once, but a 22$ drink just wasn’t in the budget for this go around.
While I do fancy myself a musician and a typewriter poet, New Orleans has several of each, and I was much more interested in exploring than I was in sitting around waiting for a customer or fighting over space on the street corners. My last visit was twenty years ago, and New Orleans is a place you’ve got to take some time with. After playing some songs for my host, a friend from Sarasota who relocated a few years ago, I put my guitar away, and went out to enjoy the city.
Although the streets can be rough on a motorcycle, it’s a fun ride, but to really appreciate New Orleans, you’ve got to walk around. Fortunately, my host lived just a few blocks from the French Quarter, and I spent all three nights on Frenchmen Street, listening to music at The Maison, Apple Barrel, and the Spotted Cat, as well as a drag show with six different queens at the Golden Lantern. I even got to meet up with an old friend from Sarasota who happened to be here for the weekend as well. Though I enjoy my own company, it’s always good to have somebody to explore with.
The first time I was in New Orleans, I was about twelve. My Dad still gets kidded about falling for the bet about where he got his shoes. I got taken by the monk in front of the cathedral who gave me beads in the name of peace before finagling twenty bucks out of my pockets. But if you’re not spending more money than you expected to in New Orleans, you’re probably not doing it right.