I knew it would be an interesting trip as I boarded the plane on Wednesday morning. I was in Seat 22F. In Seats 22D and 22E sat two little dogs! A guy standing across the aisle was getting ready to take a picture of them sitting in their seats, but assured me that they were both his and he would be moving them out of my way momentarily. Turns out HE was sitting in Seat 22D and would be holding both dogs on a pillow on his lap. I didn’t realize the airlines would let small dogs travel like that. Maybe he had special circumstances or paid extra, though; didn’t ask him. A woman sat in the middle. Luckily for the man, we were both dog lovers!
My flight arrived on time to New Orleans. I’d overpacked, as usual. Since Mileage Plus Explorer card members get to check a suitcase both ways for free (as long as the ticket was charged on that credit card), I HAD to take a full suitcase, merely on principle! I also took a rolling laptop bag and a “purse” to hold my DSLR. Life would be so much more simple if only my DSLR fit into my laptop bag, but it doesn’t. So there you have it – 3 pieces of luggage for a 4-day trip. Once my suitcase showed up on the carousel, I wheeled it over to the airport shuttle counter. The elderly woman taking down my information called me “baby” several times in a matter of minutes! That’s one of the things that I find endearing about the South. Complete strangers are “baby,” “honey,” “sugar” and such. When the shuttle was full and we were on our way, the majority of the riders were there for Southern Decadence, a gay pride type of festival held annually in New Orleans over Labor Day weekend. There was only one other woman in the van, besides me.
This was my first time staying in an apartment in New Orleans. I’d rented a French Quarter studio apartment through VRBO. The owner had mailed the keys to me a few weeks ago. The location was perfectly located on Chartres Street, somewhere in the middle between Napoleon House and The Grill. When I unlocked the door to the courtyard, I was a little skeptical. It seemed even older than most courtyards in New Orleans. Then I saw the 3 flights of wooden circular stairs and remembered that my apartment was on the 3rd floor. THAT is the moment that I regretted overpacking! Believe me, lugging that stuff upstairs in about 90 degrees with high humidity was so not fun. I nearly passed out by the time I got everything upstairs and the apartment door open! The studio was really small, but nice. I especially liked the kitchen; perhaps, because it was the biggest room! The air conditioning was already on, so I took my time looking around. The cons were that there was barely any counter space in the bathroom and absolutely nowhere to hang any of my clothes. Thus, for the duration of my trip, part of my toiletries were on the kitchen counter, my suitcase remained in front of the TV, and my shoes and clothes were thrown everywhere! As I walked down the stairs to start my afternoon, two thoughts came to mind. The first was that I’d best not be too drunk at any time and fall down those stairs. The second was that the courtyard might creep me out at night if it was dark and no one was staying in the other apartments. Ok, I also admit to hoping that no part of the courtyard or my apartment was haunted!
My first stop was at the Erin Rose bar on Conti. I sat there and head a Heinie to cool me off. Then I went in the back of the bar where Killer Po’ Boys is set up and ordered a Cajun 5-Spice Meatloaf po’ boy, which came to about $10. I’d had a cilantro lime shrimp one the last trip. I dragged that po’ boy back to the apartment and threw it in the refrigerator. I already had a 5:45 p.m. dinner reservation at K-Paul’s, which was a block away from my apartment. That po’ boy was for my midnight snack, so I was definitely planning ahead!
Out of all of my trips to New Orleans (10-13 or so), I’ve never eaten at K-Paul’s, so it was long overdue. I put a summery dress on with some little heels and walked down there. I was greeted in a very friendly manner and asked if I’d ever eaten there before, to which the woman assured me that I’d enjoy it. There was no French or Italian bread to start me off. Instead, they brought a basket with 4 different types of breads. One was a Southern biscuit, one was something else that I don’t recall and the two I was interested in were the jalapeno-cheddar bread, along with the ginger-carrot-pecan biscuit/muffin thingy. They were both so good, but the ginger-carrot-pecan was my favorite. When the menu was given to me, I noticed that they didn’t list the Coolinary menu. In August of every year, New Orleans has a Coolinary event, which many restaurants participate in. They have 2- or 3-course prix fixe meals for a somewhat bargain price-wise. When I asked if they had the Coolinary menu, they brought it to me straight away. I settled on the fried green tomato over chipotle shrimp remoulade for my appetizer; the paneed chicken breast with jambalaya and veggies for my entrée; and the bread pudding for dessert. A glass of merlot completed everything. I’ve had fried green tomatoes once at Eat, another New Orleans restaurant. Their fried green tomatoes are supposed to be pretty good, but they had failed to impress me. The one at K-Paul’s, however, was delish. Maybe it was the chipotle shrimp remoulade that they were served over that made all the difference; don’t really know. The flavors worked well together. The paneed chicken breast was perfect – not greasy or oily, not too much coating. The jambalaya was good and the veggies were, um, veggies. The bread pudding was very good and rich and sweet and all of the things that are bad for you! I might slightly prefer the bread pudding at Galatoire’s, though. Service was excellent, as it generally is in the South. The time between my appetizer and entrée was a little bit long, so the waitress apologized and brought me a local guide to read. She also pointed out some clubs and bars in the vicinity and told me what type of music and crowds were at each. Suffice it to say that I didn’t finish all of my jambalaya or my bread pudding, which they happily packed up. The waitress mentioned that she’d thrown in some ginger-carrot-pecan biscuits as well, simply because she knew how much I liked them. My bill was about $50; it’s the alcohol that always ups that bill, anyway! By the end of the meal, I was feeling fat and sassy.
I was feeling even fatter when I remembered that I had 3 flights of stairs to walk up! Luckily, the courtyard was well lit. I noticed that there was someone in one of the apartments on the second floor, the one closest to the stairs. They had the curtains/shutters open, so I could see into their beautifully decorated place. I hobbled into my studio and collapsed on the couch, taking in all that air conditioning. I took a short nap, then freshened up and changed into shorts, a loose top and some canvas shoes ’cause I had a “date” with a stranger.
When I’d planned my trip to New Orleans, I’d posted on a few travel-related websites to see if anyone might be interested in joining me at either The Candlelight Lounge or The Rock N Bowl. One woman, Triskell, had answered to say that she’d join me if I wanted to go to Celebration Hall instead, then she attached a link to a video filmed there. The TBC Brass Band plays there on Wednesday nights. The video showed a bunch of guys dancing solo, doing their own thing, to a brass band. The crowd did NOT look mixed, but mainly African-American. Let me just put this out there. In my day, African-Americans were referred to as “black,” so that’s the term I still prefer to use. (Isn’t it funny how you can tell a person’s age by their terms – such as colored as opposed to African-American or Asian as opposed to Oriental?) Now back to Celebration Hall. It’s located in the 7th Ward, also part of Treme. Various people had mentioned to me that the area wasn’t safe or that certain cab drivers might refuse to go there. With all of those warnings, I looked at the video again. Did the people in the video look like the gang bang type? Not to me. Thus, I’d told Triskell that I’d be happy to give the place a try, as she’d never been there, either, although she’d moved to New Orleans a mere year ago. We agreed to meet in front of The Grill. She said that she’d be the woman with the purple hair and that she’d pick me up via cab. At 9:45 p.m., I was standing on the corner checking every cab that went by. When one pulled up and cab driver motioned for me to get in, I was hesitant. I couldn’t see who or even if anyone was in the back. Suddenly, the back door opened and I saw purple hair and heard someone call my name. You can never be too safe, though! I jumped in front with the driver, while noticing that Triskell had an accent. I couldn’t place the accent, so asked where she was from. She’s Polish! She was really nice and we weren’t uncomfortable talking to each other at all. When the cab pulled up to Celebration Hall, there were several people hanging around outside. No one paid that much attention when we got out of the cab. The first sign I saw as we walked to the door specified “No firearms.” My evening was bound to be as interesting as boarding the plane that morning! The cover was $5 and they quickly glanced in our purses. We went straight to the bar, where all drinks were $3.00 until 11 :00 p.m. (I think). The bartenders asked if it was our first time there (did we stick out that much?!), then assured us that we’d have lots of fun. A TV in the back was showing a Second Line Parade somewhere. Other patrons were sitting around drinking and talking. The band started about 10:30 p.m. Both of us truly enjoyed watching people, mostly men, dancing and a having a good time. We stood on the side of the dance floor and tried to make videos, but it was really dimly lit in there. Eventually a man walked up to me and started talking away. Due to the loud music, his somewhat soft voice, his Southern accent and his slang, I could barely understand anything that he was saying to me! The basis of it was that he wanted to buy me a drink. I let him buy me a drink and we attempted to talk. Mostly, he was taking me around and introducing me to everyone; tons of his friends and relatives were there and some of his relatives play in the Rebirth Brass Band. Triskell came looking for me after awhile, as she was a little concerned. I told her that I was fine, and that I definitely wouldn’t leave without her. After awhile, the guy took us outside to introduce us to more people. Plus, they had some barbecue going on out there – yet another thing that I love about the South! We must have stayed until about 1:00 a.m. before calling a cab. Triskell had to work at 7:00 a.m. and I was simply tired from getting up at 1:30 a.m. the previous morning. The guy wanted me to stay longer, but there was no way that Triskell and I were leaving separately, so he got my number and was happy with that.
Back at the studio, I suddenly had a second wind. I was on vacation after all and needed to go back out and get some air. I was actually looking for a little market to buy a Coke at. Instead, I ended up at one of those frozen daiquiri bars on Bourbon Street with a peach bellini daiquiri in my hand ($10 for a regular) and a smile on my face! Carlos, one of the bartenders, was chatting me up. He mentioned that I should go to the Mad Decent Block Party, an EDM festival, on Friday. I was only interested in seeing Big Gigantic and RL Grime, though. Since I had no way of knowing when they’d go on, I didn’t want to spend the whole day there. He said that if I changed my mind, he was determined to find me there!
The end of my first day in New Orleans came at approximately 3:00 a.m. I’d had a great dinner, a fun non-touristy experience at Celebration Hall, several drinks, had made a few new friends and no harm had come to me. What’s more important is that I didn’t even fall going up those stairs drunk!
Here’s some New Orleans inspiration ’cause this song has been going through my head all day. One night I want to dance to this song with some stranger in a smoky New Orleans bar on a sultry summer evening.
“Tell It Like It Is” – Aaron Neville
