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Published: July 23rd 2009
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Bourban St
3 for 1....2 for 1....what to do? After 3 weekends spent at home I was getting restless and therefore decided it was time to travel again. On the Monday I had decided to 'go somewhere' by Tuesday I had convinced Jon to 'go somewhere', by Wednesday we agreed to go to New Orleans, by Thursday flights were booked and Friday afternoon saw us sitting on Bourbon Street listening to some very funky music drinking cold beer. Like most of my previous journeys I had stumbled across another wet county which meant wandering around the streets drinking alcohol in plastic cups, picking and choosing between 2 for 1, 3 for 1 and cheap cocktails in Nawlins, NOLA, The Big Easy...call it what you like.
Bourbon Street is famous for its atmosphere and live music and there is a direct correlation between alcohol price and the live music standard. 3 for 1 drinks will get you DJ and mechanical bull, 2 for 1 will get you a good college band playing New Orleans funk and local tunes, cheap cocktails and beer gets a great cover band and full priced drinks will get you some of the best live music you are going to hear. Safe to say we explored
Cemetary
All the bodies above ground to prevent floating downstream...couth all avenues however the favorite was definitely the House of Blues with 'Rooster' and his band, with Jon and I heading back Saturday night as well to listen to some sensational music. After being kissed on the cheek, rubbed on the arm and being crooned to, it was time to head out and join the crowd....enter 3 for 1 beers.
Bourbon street is crowded every Friday and Saturday but not overwhelmingly so in the Summer as it is low season however there were enough people to limit my tolerance for crowds and annoying people. The joy of this street is that everyone is at different levels of intoxicated from the happy people to those hugging a post and vomiting in the gutter, you will see the spiral and pray you are not looking into the future. On the street people on the patios are throwing beads even sans parade so the atmosphere is that of a constant party....until some 2 bit stripper decided to pelt them at people below. Now I wasn't hit but the lady next to me copped it and as I was about to retaliate on her behalf Jon was pretty quick to attempt to calm
Katrina
The blue poles show the height of flood water from Katrina next to a standard house in the area. me down. Some ummming and ahhhing over whether to cause a scene with a stripper I was put to peace via distraction with Jon pointing out the guy leaning on a post relieving his body of well....everything and a cop behind me. No fight erupted however tempting as it was to quote "I'll show her".
Late Friday night we headed out on a quick tour of the city with some other people on a horse and cart with the worlds narkiest horse. Now Im not a horse fan so this thing taking off sporadically and its slow drunk owner doing little to appease it left me wandering whether I should jump off the bloody thing. 30 mins later and safely returned it was time for more alcohol to overcome the horse induced trauma so a pub crawl was in order. Saturday morning I nursed a headache and dehydration which I can attribute to drinking cocktails out of a plastic alligator the night before. We wandered around the town, took in the sights and jumped on a tour which provided an amazing look at the damage that Katrina had done nearly 4 years prior.
By the time Hurricane Katrina
approached the city at the end of August 2005, the city's federal flood protection system had already failed, resulting in the worst civil engineering disaster in American history. Floodwalls and levees constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers failed below design specifications and 80% of the city flooded. At some points the water was over 12ft and the damage in the outer regions of the city can still be seen. Water marks remain on houses and many have not been rebuilt which can be seen in the suburbs especially the lower economic areas. Over 1,500 people died in Louisiana and some are still unaccounted for from the devastation that Katrina wielded. Louisiana is not unaccustomed to flooding and on the tour you get to go past the city cemeteries with the bodies all housed above ground to prevent the dead floating away.
Now walking around in a cemetery talking photos seemed a little uncouth to me at first but then I figured couth and I parted ways a few years ago so along with the other 50 people taking happy snaps I grabbed a couple. That night we dined on some traditional Cajun Creole food which isn't
Rooster
Some amazing sounds came from this place a definite must. my thing. Due to me not eating seafood and not being a big rice fan I wiped out 85% of the local dishes. More alcohol ensued with pub crawling and $2 shots which led to heading to Café Du Monde for world famous Beignets and by 11pm we were back to the 3 for 1 beer place.
Sunday we strolled along the Mississippi through the French market place grabbed a couple of beers and saw the guy in the wig at the Chart House Bar...how nautical of me, and then that afternoon it was time to leave. New Orleans is a fantastic place and I will definitely head back...maybe Ill run into that bead throwing stripper on my next journey....
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