Chilling in the Big Easy

I just got back yesterday afternoon from a fantastic trip to New Orleans. I'm already dreaming of going back-- more beignets, more shopping, more admiring the architecture, more museums, more ghost tours. We didn't even get to see the bayou, which I think is perfect reason to head down south again soon.

Thursday morning Kacey, my mom, and I were at the airport for our very uneventful flight, and we got into New Orleans around 2:00 that afternoon, central time. When we landed it was still about 50 degrees outside, but very rainy. We walked around the French Quarter for a bit, and then about an hour and a half later or so Kay arrived! That night we had dinner at Ralph and Kacoo's-- great food, amazing service. The waiters were so funny! We had gator bites for an appetizer (a bit like chicken, but chewier), and one of the best bowls of she-crab soup ever, and grouper, and then a brownie sundae that Kay and I shared. Fantastic.

After dinner we went on a ghost tour, which left from Reverend Zombie's Voodoo Shop. Our tour guide was named Midian, and he dressed a bit like a cowboy. It was interesting. The beginning of the tour was a lot of fun. We heard some great ghost stories about some hotels in the area, and about Jackson Square, and Midian knew his stuff. The temperature was plummetting, however, so we were beginning to freeze. That might have been ok, especially since there was a bar break in the middle to warm up, but we also had a drunk stupid girl on the tour, and we're pretty sure that Midian thought he was going to get laid so he started paying attention only to her. Seriously, this girl was ridiculously stupid-- stupider as she sobered up, actually, which led us to believe she had spent her whole life studying drunk, so could only be smart under the influence. She asked if New Orleans was involved at all with the Civil War; when Midian explained that General Butler, a Union General who held New Orleans while it was occupied by northern troups, had suggested turning all of the women of New Orleans into "women of the night" and killing any man who tried to defend them, the girl said, "There must be more to that story." When Midian said, "Yes, it was if anyone made fun of the Northern troops," she shrugged and said, "See?" as if making fun of someone was reason enough for rape. Terrible. Also at the Lalaurie House, which had been recently owned by Nick Cage and still had some decorations on it from Halloween, the girl started talking about decorating that house for Halloween was "the utmost of disrespect." There were other things, but mostly she was stupid and annoying.

At the end of the tour we stopped at a different bar, though, and it was amazing. It had once been the Spanish prison, according to the bartender, and William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, and Alastair Crowley had all been there to drink. We got warming and wonderful cups of hot buttered rum. :)

The next day, we woke up and headed for Cafe du Monde to get some "man-grabbin'" beignets. It wasn't rainy at all anymore, but it was frigidly cold-- in the 30s. We got our beignets, then stopped into some boutiques, and then headed to a museum about Mardi Gras. I had no idea how much goes into each Mardi Gras! The museum was very cool and comprehensive, with rooms about the history of Mardi Gras, Krewes, Costumes, and Balls (which we have decided we need to be invited to). We were there for easily two hours. The strangest part was in the section devoted exclusively to costume design they had a picture of the 2005 Queen and Court of the Krewe of Endymion, and one of my high school friends was on the Court!!! She was a year older than I was and played Titania when my high school did Midsummer. I was Peaseblossom, her head fairy. :) So that was exciting.

After the Mardi Gras museum we got lunch at a place called Cafe Maspero, which had dollar strawberry daiquiris! So cheap!!! Also, really good French Onion Soup and Red Beans and Rice. All under 10 bucks. Great place. After lunch we headed to the Voodoo Museum... it felt kind of... cheap. But interesting! They had lots of Voodoo masks and "gris-gris" and a mummified cat and turtle, and a nice little sheet with facts about Voodoo. They never explained the difference betweeen Voodoo and Hoodoo, though, which kind of irked me, and really never explained the origins of Voodoo-- I know it is a mix of Catholicism and African religions, but seriously they could have tried harder to let me know what exactly the Voodoo beliefs are. However, they also explained certain methods of obtaining what you want using Voodoo. All noted. I'm still a little confused about what it all means, but I guess I have a better grasp of it now than I did before I went to New Orleans.

That night we went to Brennan's for dinner, which was amazing. I tried Turtle Soup, which I discovered is a bit like Maryland Clam Chowder (the turtle is a lot like clam), and Kacey and I had the BEST Bananas Foster. So good. We were also sitting in the "Rex" room, which further led us to believe that we need to be involved with Mardi Gras Krewes :). After dinner, Kacey, Kay, and I headed to St. Peter's Street once more, to Reverend Zombie's Voodoo Shop. We wanted to get tarot readings. Unfortunately, only two people were allowed back at a time, so we took turns with who got to hear who's reading. I sat out the first session, while Kay got her reading and Kacey listened. There was a really nice guy working at the Voodoo shop, though, named Joey, so it was ok. We got along pretty well, and then while I listened as Kacey was getting her cards read, Kay talked to him, and so on.

The tarot readings themselves were quite interesting: mine had parts that were accurate for the present, such as "nothing much is going on right now, you're in a bit of an average time." Truth. Basically, I had control over my work and my emotional life, but nothing major was going on in either. I had him then read for the next six months and the next year. Apparently, the next year is going to be way more intense than my present or than my past year. Some of this seemed ok, as I always was in control emotionally, but he said to be wary of something in my work life in the next nine months to a year, as something that seems great won't be as great as I thought. There was some other accurate stuff, too. :)

After tarot reading, Kacey, Kay, and I went over to Pat O'Brien's for their famous drink called "A Hurricane." SO GOOD. We then went over to an Irish bar next to the Voodoo shop. We tried to go find Joey to see if he wanted to get a drink with us, but he was off of work already, so we just kept it a girls night. Kacey ordered a mai-tai at the bar and they looked at her as if she was crazy, and she ended up with a rum and pineapple juice :). Good fun.

The next day we went once more to Cafe du Monde for beignets. This time we sat indoors (hooray!) and the beignets were even better!!! Guh, I love them. It's a good thing I don't live there, perhaps, as I would be so fat off of beignets. We went next to a lovely little lingerie shop that had Renaissance Faire styled corsets, and Kay bought one to go with the red skirt we both bought at Maxazria at Potomac Mills. We then went to the Wax Museum... it was different. It wasn't a wax museum with famous people, rather, it gave us the history of New Orleans in what I believe was an extremely historically inaccurate and amusing way. Every plaque with Andrew Jackson called him General Andy Jackson, and one plaque showed a dueller named Pepe, who was saving a fair damsel in distress... who had had her husband shot. Was odd. There was also Michaela someone or other who had "a luxurious but loveless marriage, and was shot in the breast four times by her father-in-law. She then moved back to New Orleans..." WHAT??? Yeah, that was the gist of it. Fun, crazy, etc. The end was "The Haunted Dungeon" which depicted scenes from creepy stories, such as Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Vampire Meets the Wolf-Man, which sounded to me a lot like New Moon.

After the Wax Museum, we grabbed a quick lunch at a place called Muriel's and then Kay got a cab to the airport. Kacey and I went out shopping for a bit after that, then took an afternoon nap at the hotel, which proved necessary. We had dinner that night at Commander's Palace, and I swear it was the best food I've ever had ever. They had amazing garlic bread, I had a great cocktail called Tequila Mockingbird, we got a Honey Satsuma salad, and then I had a pecan crusted white fish topped with champagne poached crab meat that was to die for. Kacey's meal, too, looked excellent and her mashed potatoes were some of the best I've tasted. My mom got shrimp, of which I'm not a huge fan, but I tried a bite and the spices on it were perfect. We then got homemade ice cream parfait for dessert... guh. Fantastical.

Once we had digested a bit, Kacey and I headed back to Reverend Zombie's to see if Joey was working and if he wanted to get a drink with us. He was, and he did. We headed back to Pat O'Brien's for another Hurricane, and shortly Joey was off of work and joined us. He invited one of his friends, Ryan, to join us. What a fantastic night. After spending time at Pat O'Brien's, they took us to a more local bar where we had whiskey and soda, and a frozen Irish coffee, and played songs off of the juke-box. Ryan and I got along really well, and had tons of fun talking about tv shows, Neil Gaiman, my thesis, his adventures as a paramedic, and honestly I forget because I had had so much to drink by that point :). But it was great. We didn't get back to the hotel until about 7:00 AM. And our flight was at 12:45. But it was worth every minute. Best night out in New Orleans that I could have dreamed of. And now... I want to go back. Preferably when it's somewhat warmer, but soon!!! Kacey, Kay, and I have decided that without a doubt we need to get invited to a Mardi Gras ball, and I would totally skip class for that. So... New Orleans, here I come! I hope...

And now I'm back in Virginia, thinking of heading down to school again tomorrow, and needing desperately to make arrangements for my books for my independent study. Le sigh.