New Orleans 2003

Thursday, October 30th

The cat situation mentioned before had put a hurtin' on my wallet, so I had to check my bank account to make sure that my direct deposit (paycheck) went through. With that taken cared of, I could set my mind on the rest of the day.

Had breakfast in the hotel lounge, or whatever you call that place you eat in a hotel. Lounge sounds right for some reason, and dining room, or dining area doesn't.

Then I headed to Circuit City. The internet access pretty much consisted of letting people use the computers on display. Their connection was down that morning, but I wasn't sure I was comfortable composing e-mail in a situation like that. I have an old Visor handheld PDA with a Sprint digital link, so it doubles as a cell phone, and has internet access, but is limited. For one thing it's in black and white (actually black and green). My attempts to access web based e-mail with it leads to crashes and last night was no exception. I'll have to forget about e-mail for now.

I mentioned before that the hotel is 15 miles from downtown New Orleans, and that they offer a free shuttle to and from the airport. From the airport one can get to new orleans a number of ways. Taxi cabs are $26 one-way. The city bus is $1.60, but the last one back is at 6:30 pm which makes it inconvenient. Had I known about it (it's in the book) on this, my first full day here, I might have used it since I had no plan for the day, aside from wandering. It was better I didn't, I think. The last option (of those I'm aware of) is the Airport Shuttle, a service that takes travelers to and from major hotels in downtown New Orleans. It's $26.00 roundtrip ($13.00 each way). It's an extravagant daily expense, however, given the relatively cheap price of my hotel room, everything seems to even out. The only thing missing is the ability to come and go as I please to my room. I don't have that convenience. Once I leave I'm gone until my arranged pick up, which today is 9:30 pm.

Got dropped off near Jackson Square in the French Quarter and wandered around like a tourist snapping photos and taking in the scenery, getting howled at by a mule. Had lunch at some place who's name escapes me at the moment. I ordered crawfish. Didn't know what it was, but it was recommended by my friend Hiro, who lived here for a short while. When it came, there it was. A bowl full of bugs, or maybe little crabs. I guess it's how you look at it. Took me a few moments before I figured out what I was gonna do. Break open the bodies with my hand, had the stuff in the head, sucked the juices in the torso and ate the shrimp-like piece in the tail. I wasn't sure about the stuff in the head, so I soon stopped eating that part. On the whole it did taste good. Lots of hot sauce, which I'm not really into but I liked it. Probably the messiest meal ever. I also started deveining halfway through, once I noticed that the shrimp pieces contained veins. I was told later, that you don't bother with this with crawfish, but, you know... Also, you're supposed to suck the meat out of the head. Whatever.

Took a glance at the Mississippi river, after a while I decided to step away from the quarter, and found myself in the business district. Went back to Canal st., where I attempted to walk till it's end. There'd be a cemetery there. One of the things I wanted to see. Also, it was a possible route to City Park, where the Voodoo Fest was taking place. I was curious if it was walkable. There was a $5.00 shuttle each way, but I wanted to avoid that expense, so I tried it, and got a look at New Orleans outside of the Quarter. It was a longer walk than I anticipated. I should mention that though it was the end of October, beginning of November, it was hot everyday of my time here, though fairly cool at night. I didn't make it the full way, and after failing to see the end from where I was, decided to turn back.

Parts of Canal street reminds me of parts 70s era Queens (where I lived as a child) and NYC. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it does.

The end of Canal, closer to the water and to Harrah's casino was host to some sort of independent film and media event. Speakers were set up on different parts of the street blasting soundtracks to movies being projected on the sides of buildings, or in some cases DJs providing musical accompaniment to series of images also projected. The Sky Vodka people had a couple of stands in the area, kinda like hotdog vendors. I had a Very Berry Soda. I don't normally drink, but I had some time to kill and I figured I'd enjoy the atmosphere.

I got to feeling a little crosseyed, and I decided that was about as drunk as I'd like to get. Don't know how long I hung out out there, but I eventually made my way to Bourbon Street. This was where my pick-up was to be. It was still early, but I wanted to make sure I knew how to get there.

Bourbon Street is the center of the universe, here. While some say that Halloween is the sequel to Mardi Gras, it seems to me that here, Mardi gras is every night. Just Without the floats. Then again, I haven't actually seen Mardi Gras, have I? Anyhow, it's crazy busy here. It's the night before Halloween, and some folk decided to celebrate early.

I found a place here, just off Canal, called Krystal's. It's a fast food joint, much like White Castles with the little square sandwiches. They have internet access at $5.00 for twenty minutes. The food's pretty good, too. Sent off a message to a friend I wanted to keep contact with and then went back to Canal to eat my food and enjoy the music and visuals. Sat on a bench Forest Gump style (haven't seen that movie, yet), and talked to some lady for a while, even sharing one of my White Castle sized chicken sandwiches. Went back to Bourbon to watch the craziness and wait for my pickup. I wondered how they were gonna get through this crowd. There was no traffic coming through. Apparently, the driver was looking for me in the parking lobby downstairs and almost left without me.
Was back by 10:30-11:00pm.