VC2001 Cajun Cruising

A few of the things I can tell you about on my recent visit to New Orleans
My latest adventure started on Thursday evening, a quick change and dash to the airport after work and I was already in the holiday spirit. I'd decided that 1st Class was the only way to go and I have to admit after the 1st bottle of champagne on the plane, the world seemed a much nicer place. A quick change of plane in Dallas saw me in New Orleans by 11pm and ready to party !
Friday :Well we managed to get breakfast, a 1st I think for many of us and met up in the hospitality suite adjoining Barbara's room to decide what we would do for the day. Barbara, Amanda and I decided that the Charles St trolley ride would be a great way to see the city and not involve any undue exercise since we planned a late night !. Barbara persuaded a couple of girls on the trolley who were visiting from New York to act as our tour guides, telling us about each house of interest as we rattled along St Charles St. The house shown below is the 'Wedding Cake House' one of many beautiful houses we saw.
It was soon time for a bite of lunch so we got off the trolley at one of the many cafe along the route. It was so nice to be sitting in the bright sunshine dining out after the cold and snow of Michigan. We all decided the crawfish stew was too good to pass up and the diet was officially on hold for the weekend !
Back at the hotel we all got ready for the evenings events. First venue of the evening was to be Mulates resturant. However, before we could go we had a dressing crisis as I'd decided I wanted to wear a long skirt and top instead of jeans, well this was a VC do afterall. Amanda then decided to follow suit and created mass indicision with everyone else too. Eventually we manged some sort of dress code and set off for the resturant. Mulates is famous for its food and also Zydeco dancing and we were sat right next to the dance floor. After declining offers to dance for a while the Amanda was rather shocked to hear her name good wishes for a happy birthday . Of course part of the ritual was that she had to dance and the photo proves that she enjoyed every minute !, making us all feel a little jealous too.

After Mulates we walked around the corner to Hurrah's casino so see how our luck was running. Amanda seemed to be very well versed on what went on but I'm afraid most of it went over my head and I'm sorry to say my investment of $5 brought no million dollar jackpot.....again .
After a quick change next stop was Bourbon St. something I'd been looking forward to for a while. First stop was to one of the kerbside bars for a drink. I decided to forgo my usual White Russian for a Hurricane since it was part of the local culture. Soon we were wandering down the street taking in the sights. Every 50yds or so we'd come across groups of people negotiating for beads from those on the balconies above the street. Barbara and I managed to convince Amanda that she didn't really need to join the negotiation even if she did have the currency :-)

Eventually we fought our way into a small club called the Funky Pirate. I wouldn't usually say I liked jazz but this was something else and I enjoyed every minute of it. We managed to get front row seats so had a close up of the 400+lb singer ! a very nice person it turned out too.

After the Funky Pirate we wandered down the street again till Barbara go to the Cats meow, which is a Kariokee bar. The place was packed but we made our way to the front eventually and for some strange reason found ourselves on stage as the backing girls for one of the participants. Worse still we were asked to do an encore ! and then given the tape of our initial efforts. The tape is now locked in a high security area till I get my blackmail money from Barbara and Amanda .....actually its not that bad but of course we don't think it shows our best sides :-)
By now it was 3am so Barbara bundled us all in a taxi to go for something to eat . Such is New Orleans where most things are 24hrs you'd hardly know it was almost 4am when we walked into the resturant it was a busy as most places are at 10pm. I'm not sure when we got back to the hotel but the morning did arrive far too quickly !

Saturday

Next day , well afternoon, we went for a walk around the RiverWalk Mall. So many shops and so little time !. We all had a great time in the perfume shop trying to mix our own special scents and sampling a few of the hundreds of pre-mixed perfumes. Amanda eventually decided on her special perfume and came away very pleased with her unique bottle of 'Amanda'.

Other highlights of the walk were the toy store seen here and also the frozen drinks....no we didn't drink all the time, just 90% of it .
The evening was to be the riverboat cruise , with a jazz band and dancing. However, before we set off we had to have the official VC photo to prove we were there. Once the formalities were over it was off to the river for (another) drink before we got on the boat. Easily the best part of the river trip was Brian the waiter who kept us all entertained throughout the journey.
Sunday was my last day but as I had a late flight plenty of time to enjoy the sights, sunshine and company of my friends Barabara and Amanda. 1st thing on the agenda was lunch so Barbara took us to a wonderful resturant close to Bourbon St, quite different in the daylight !. Oysters seemed to be the favored choice , and were deliciuos so I'm told :-).

From there we wandered around the French Quarter and market looking for gifts and momentos of our weekend. Finally we couldn't resist the cafe au lait and beignets although not at Cafe du Monde as we planned. We then watched the mimes and acts in Jackson square before we decided that it was time to say goodbye and go our separate ways.

Such a wondeful place I can't wait to go back again and am sure I will soon.