yes, it's true, I HAVE CAR. thank you with_gusto, you and your wonderful webcomic.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
we got to new orleans after an all day drive the night of january first. here's the hotel room. and the back of ross's head. and thus began a great adventure.
so we get to new orleans and check in for the night at a hotel. we get up in the morning and strike out in search of breakfast. we're in the food capitol of the nation, a place where eating isn't just a necessity, isn't just a fun thing to do, isn't just a social activity, but is a way of life, so where do we eat? denny's. ha. i laughed. but... i had never been to denny's before, so it was all good.
the mighty mississippi river. now that's a river, none of this trinity river bs. a very impressive thing to take in. i could stand for quite a while and just watch the water and the ships go by. the riverwalk is just down the river from where i'm standing. we spent some time in there. basically a mall, but fun none-the-less.
we spent most of the first day we were there in the french quarter. (disregard the random guy in the picture, no idea who that is). we did all of the mandatory things, many of which will be documented in later pictures. although i don't have a picture of it, one of the things we did do was to stop by cafe du monde for beignets. oh god they're good. (http://www.cafedumonde.com/beignet.html if you want to know what they are. basically french donuts with about a pound of powdered sugar on top. the powdered sugar was literally equal in volume to the three donuts it was poured upon)
you can see all kinds of interesting things just wandering though the french quarter. it's lots of fun.
there were many interesting street performers out making their living on the streets of the french quarter. this guy did the robot for money. (quite well i might add). another guy played 3 guitars simultaneously, one with each hand and one with his feet. there was just about every kind of act imaginable being played out on the various street corners.
this is the st. louis cathedral. we definately had to stop by and check it out. it's the oldest operating cathedral in america, and a very impressive sight to behold. for those who don't know: everyone is catholic in new orleans. even if you aren't catholic, you're an honorary catholic. the government takes off catholic holidays and everything. it's pretty cool. the whole town just oozes with culture. dallas is quite bland in comparison unfortunately.
a view from the back doors of the cathedral. it was incredibly beautiful. i was literally taken aback by the sheer majesty of it all. normally i'm not much for all of that ornate-ness, but this was just amazing.
a close up view of the front of the sanctuary. peter stands on the left and paul on the right. coolness.
the back of the cathedral. the organ is quite impressive, can't remember exactly how many pipes it has, but it's a lot.
after the cathedral we visited jackson square (which is right across the avenue). andrew jackson was a badass, even if his actual policies weren't all that, uh, intelligent. heh.
another photo that i took later in the day of the french quarter. the whole atmosphere there is amazing. it's such a cool blend of american-ness and european-ness that creates something that is truly unique.
outside of the cathedral we saw a truly authentic (and truly amazing) new orleans street jazz band. i love that form of music, it's so spirited and, well, 'alive'. my mom ended up buying a cd of them that they were selling to the crowd. really good stuff. that's the kind of musician i would like to be, no concert orchestras for me, i'd wanna be on the street (or i guess in a club or whatever) just having fun and interacting with people. yeah, it was good.
we, of course, rode around town on the streetcar system. much more interesting and fun than a dart bus.
the night of our first day there we ate at cafe sbisa. it was our one "big" meal of the trip. it was damn good. one of the best, if not the best i've eaten in my life. of course, new orleans is the food capitol of the u.s. so it's only natural that it would be so good. even if i only just recently had my first memorable new orleans meal, i'm pretty sure that it's the cajun blood in me that caused me to always claim that long john silvers fish tastes like shit. on a related note, this trip has made me even more proud of my heritage and where i was born than i was before. i've always had a love for many different and good types of food and although i technically knew where it came from before, now i fully understand it. the same also applies to my laid-back attitude. i mean, yes, i moved to texas when i was 7, but the years i did live there are some of the most influental in the development of a person. anyway... i'm lousianan by birth and damn proud of it.
a cool pic of the shadow on the back of the cathedral that is made by a statue of jesus at night. i'm not sure if he's trying to forgive my sins or give me a good fright. "and then after dinner, he took the cup and after have blessed it, he said BOO!" heh. i amuse myself. (and hopefully jesus as well, otherwise i'm gonna be in trouble :) )
a blurry picture of bourbon street at night. even though it wasn't mardi gras all of the silly tourists who were in town for the sugar bowl made sure that it was still a pretty damn big party. guys were standing up on balconies and throwing gift-shop bought beads down to girls to get them to flash them. and they did. unfortunately i didn't get to see any flashings cause the streets were too crowded and i was on ground level. oh well, maybe next time...
another blurry picture of bourbon street at night. i guess it was just too exciting for me to keep a steady hand while taking these pictures...
on the second day we were there we went to the national d-day museum. it was pure brilliance. we spent nearly 6 hours there. if you ever have a chance to go do it, even if you aren't a wwII buff. it really is very good. if you're are into that kind of stuff ask me about the museum sometime. it's badass.
before we started our trip back to dallas we stopped by lake pontchartrain. it's big. and beautiful. it's probably hard to see in the picture, but off in the distance is the causway. it's the longest bridge in the world. owned.
