Gator Huntin

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Geo: 29.9537, -90.0778

Amazingly, we were up about 8am after having been up so late the night before. I had really wanted to do a traditional Southern Sunday Brunch but with timing of our kayaking tour we had to settle for breakfast. I had heard Stanley's was good, and it was actually open early enough, so we headed over to Jackson Square. Anna was hungover- I felt great surprisingly. We ended up getting Bloody Mary's- hair of the dog. Anna also ordered an oyster Po'Boy with some giant freakin oysters in it, and I had a Seafood Sampler platter with egg Benedict going on. I wasn't the biggest fan of all the fried but the soft shell fried crab was impressive. I've never eaten a crab shell like that!

After breakfast we started getting sleepy from the heavy breakfast. I remembered seeing a cafe down the street called Spitfire, and we sipped on lattes until it was time to walk over to our pick up point for our tour at 10:30am.

The driver and guide ended up picking up six of us total. One was a couple from Berkeley, and the other two happened to be NeuroICU nurses. They gave me countless valuable tips about my conference as we drove to the launch site which happened to be a random gravel pull out on the side of the highway. I hadn't planned to stop by the Conference center today but they said the bag pick up line would be horrendous on Monday otherwise.

Anyway. You're probably thinking what I was thinking when Anna initially suggested this activity- why the hell would you kayak in a swamp with alligators? Because they're alligators, not aggressive crocodiles. They just want to be left alone. Also we're just kayaking. I'm not jumping out of my boat to swim over and give one a hug lol. The swamp kayaking was awesome. I've never been in a swamp and I loved paddling by all the very different trees, plants and critters. The cypress were especially neat. They dig their roots into the water, and then the roots come back up in front to form finger-like branches poking up out of the water. I asked the guide about the roots thinking maybe they were like redwoods, and that's how a new Cypress is formed (families). Turns out the fingers create a shallow area for silt to collect so the tree has more nutrients. They're such neat looking trees. Paddling the wider channels wasn't difficult for Anna and I but the narrow passages got tricky. We were collision coursing through trees, debris and logs lol. We did eventually get a rhythm down. A couple times the others saw gators, and Anna and I seemed to miss them both times! I got a great picture of a turtle just chilling on a log, though.

We were almost at the end of the two hour kayaking trip, and Anna and I still hadn't seen an alligator. I was silently praying one would pop up soon since we were about to round the last bend to our launch site. I saw something about the size of a dog drop into the water in my periphery. I couldn't tell you what it was but it definitely wasn't a turtle! I almost didn't say anything and then I asked Anna if she saw what it was. She didn't get a good look either but she def saw something big, too. Right when we pulled into the last fifty feet before shore there he was.. A baby alligator just paddling circles. We spent a good fifteen minutes photographing him (I say "he" but I have no idea what gender) and pulling back onto land while we waited for our ride. I was super ecstatic I finally saw an alligator in the wild.

Anna and I both showered the swamp and sweat off ourselves at our studio, and then headed towards the nearby Riverfront Streetcar. We had meant to stop by French Market at some point and here we just walked right smack into it!! It was a big flea market with all the same goods you find in touristy shops but much cheaper. Next to it is a bunch of food vendors selling amazing looking Cajun food. We didn't buy any souvenirs yet but we did buy a pound of crawdads to peel and carnage. They were so good!! Very spicy, too.

Then we booked it as fast as we could down the streetcar line to the Conference Center. The nurses I'd met earlier kayaking had brilliantly suggested I use the streetcar to commute instead of walking or Uber. Genius. We got a little lost but Anna and I happened to make it just in time to get my bag of stuff. Lots of stuff from vendors but also my badge, course guide and conference guide. I was stunned by the massive size of the vendors area being constructed. Larger than two football fields!!

I had wanted to head towards Tulane University to see the pretty oak trees with the moss but we were running out of time before our next tour. So we wandered around the French Quarter more. First stop was Carousel Bar. We had great timing, and only waited a few minutes before a couple seats opened up at their rotating bar. Yes- its shaped like a carousel AND it turns! It's slow- a full rotation every 15minutes. The signature drink there was the Vieux Carre. I managed to get a little drunk off one drink so I was done drinking for a long while. I wanted to enjoy the upcoming tour.

We wandered in and out of shops for awhile and then ended up people watching on a balcony at a cheap restaurant on Bourbon. I can't impress on you enough how dumb some of these drunkards are. One guy was accepting "tips" by allowing other people to kick him as hard as he could. Also, lots of bead throwing even though its not Mardi Gras. I also enjoyed some average crab cakes and pecan pie.

At 7:30pm, Anna and I met up for our 5 in 1 Tour. Instead of just ghosts, they also talk about murder, voodoo, vampires and pirates. Our guide was a Berkeley history grad named Daisy, and her passion for storytelling made for an amazing walking tour through the French Quarter. I highly recommend this tour!! Why? Because the next two nights Anna and I have been too scared to sleep well. So that's how you know the stories were great... Or terrifying, rather. Particularly the one about Jack the creeper vampire.

The tour was over by 930pm, so we headed over to the Spotted Cat again. This time we actually stayed, had a couple drinks and enjoyed the music. I had taken a class in college on Jazz music. I kept bugging Anna so I could point out the solos vs the choruses, how they take turns and how in the moment and emotional it all is. We both loved it! There's a special place in my heart for jazz and blues.

Before heading home, we made one last stop across the street for some Dat Dog. Basically fancy hot dogs. Mine had crab ettouffe and I think Anna's was some sort of bacon creation. They were both very good. Also adorable, a very hammered probably barely legal kid enlisted two other barmates to announce his love to me. Smh. I laughed, pointed at my wedding ring and he apparently took it well, saying he had to try. Lolol. Poor guy.

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