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Published: August 19th 2010
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Once again, I apologise for the lack of updates. It’s been pretty hectic these last few weeks and I’m a couple updates behind. I’ll hopefully get onto the Chicago and New York updates while travelling from New Jersey to Philadelphia. Judging by my previous record it will most likely be while journeying across to Detroit from Philadelphia. Okay okay, I can hear you motioning for me to hurry up and get on with it.
/roll ye olde historic camera footage/
My last update had me spending some time in San Antonio - a day and a half in total. After walking all around town I basically did my best hobo impersonation for a couple of hours and slept out the front of the San Antonio Amtrak station until it finally opened. Being such a small hub it only opens at 9PM, which really bites since I had to keep myself busy after checking out of the dive motel earlier that afternoon.
Once again the train was pretty full - whoever it was that told me that local residents don’t use the train was full of you know what. The trip across, a total of 20 hours, was actually
pretty enjoyable. The train had a nice observation deck in one of its cars so you could watch the world go by or chat with fellow travellers.
Unlike previous cities, I decided to catch a cab rather than lug my bags across to the hostel. Despite the rip-off cab fare, I was pretty happy with my decision after taking in a couple minutes of the ridiculous humidity. A fella in Austin mentioned to me that you needed the following to survive in New Orleans - street smarts; water and a hand towel to wipe your brow. After initially seeing the state of the hostel’s surrounding neighbourhood I think he should have mentioned that I needed a gun rather than a bottle of water. That line of thought changed after seeing some photos showing the damage caused by hurricane Katrina and Gustav. Talk about putting a guy on a guilt trip.
The hostel itself was pretty cool and really had a nice friendly environment. It’s actually owned by a couple of older gents out of the UK and modelled on an Australian hostel. The majority of guests were actually from outside of the US so it was good to
trade stories and drink with some fellow backpackers.
I tried my best to take in the attractions that downtown and the surrounding districts had to offer during the day before retiring back to the hostel pool. Most of the evenings were spent inside the French Quarter but outside of Bourbon Street. The Satchamo Festival was on during most of my stay so it was great to sit back and take in some free music and great local food - a variety of gumbos, alligator sausage (strike one more animal off my “Noah’s Ark Eating List”) and other interesting morsels. I was hoping to eat more seafood but I guess BP really did a number on the area’s fishing industry.
Other Highlights - Jackson Square in the French Quarter. An old town square that often features live music, street corner painters, tarot readers and the odd nutter.
- Lafayette Cemetery #1 in the Garden District. One of the oldest cemeteries in the city, the cemetery was officially established in 1833. Cemetery #1 has featured in a number of movies - Interview With A Vampire, Double Jeopardy and Easy Rider.
- Gumbo, gumbo and more gumbo.
- Buying a pair
of cowboy boots for $60.
I'll work on the Chicago and New York updates, maybe even upload some more photos to my Flickr album. Until next time people.
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