Thursday, July 31, 2008

Sacle Bleu!

So we got back from New Orleans tonight. Pretty awesome city.

Walking down Bourbon Street was kind of like being in that intolerable tourist drag in Niagara, we found plenty of cool spots elsewhere.

We checked out the Aquarium first and while they did have jellyfish, it was disappointing to learn that they had no Octopus....

Afterwards I had what was possibly not only the best Jambalaya ever, but a front runner for best dish ever. Check out Coop's if you head to New Orleans.

Later in the night we ventured outside downtown to catch the Rebirth Brass Band at The Maple Leaf. B-a-d-a-s-s. It was like seeing a Slavic Soul Party show at Gooski's but with exponentially more energy and talent. Crazy. Good stuff.

Hopefully the only time I'll resort to playing on the 'Master Card' to sum up a night:
Cover charge: $12
3 Whiskey and Cokes: $14
Heading into the bathroom and hearing the crowd of thick necked jocks in there start chanting "Steelers!...Steelers!...Steelers!" out of nowhere, saying that you are from Pittsburgh and having them just about pee themselves in excitement and being forced to pose for pictures with them while accepting free drinks as they bellow "STEELERS!": Priceless.

We walked allllll over the place in New Orleans and ate like kings (and drank like them too). It ended up being me Steve and Nathan ho made the trip out. I picked up a new thumb ring, had my cards read for the first time (I tried my best to not smirk as the lady was not only way off, but dropped the cards while shuffling), and took lots of pictures.

The cemetery we visited was incredible. Everything is above ground so it's just a labyrinth of tombs and mausoleums. The cemetery only stayed open until 3pm. Reason being: There are all sorts of places for people to hide, mug, and kill you. That sort of thing apparently happens a lot. A whole lot.

We're going to be back around New Orleans in November and I plan on going again. This time we'll hit up the more hidden away local bars and really get to know some of the people. That was the only drag of the trip was that we didn't really meet and hang out with any locals.

All of my pics from the trip are HERE.