Shooting for warmth after a long drive south through the snowy Mid-West and the Bible Belt, we arrived into the New Orleans, Louisiana area. Crossing over the, now second after China's recent new bridge, longest bridge in the world, we entered New Orleans city. Before checking into our hotel we visited a Plantation, where Slaves were used to grow Indigo and Sugar Cane crops; back in the Dark days.
Some very sweet black girls accompanied us during our tour. Should we feel embarrassed or ashamed, we thought? ... but it wasn't Us, 'per se'.. we struggled with this.. so we thought it a good time to go for a drink....
Once settled into the French Quarter of New Orleans, we headed to Bourbon street. It was still Morning when we arrived, so the partying, had only just warmed up. Dawn chugged a couple of Handgrenades, which tasted like cheap Vodka mixed with even cheaper Vodka and a splash of Mountain Dew. Tackily served in a plastic jug glass, along with a floating plastic hand grenade. It 'could' have been leading up to 'one of those night's'; but we'd clearly joined in too late in the day. Pretty much everyone on the street was drunk and getting drunker. We wandered around , a few blocks, to discover the extent of the drunken region. Surprisingly, the next street over offered some stark contrast: Art Shops, quiet coffee shops and beyond that a variety of music...
New Orleans has a wonderful feel to it. A host of Musicians and Artists, many with cats and dogs for companions.
A colorful, friendly, vibrant city with people walking everywhere; and none of the faceless, brain dead, stucco architecture of identical looking shopping malls that spoils most American cities...
We spend a week in NOLA and took in a lot of the tourist sights, but mainly the overall city's vibe is what we found most attractive.
We ranked New Orleans as our Number #1, favorite city in the USA.
