New Orleans
I arrived in New Orleans by plane from San Francisco. I watched the swamps get closer as we descended to the ground. It was such a flat part of the country, with twining waterways.
I’d been staying with friends and this was the first time I’d been on my own so to speak. Only me calling the shots about where I stayed, and what I did. I’d booked 3 nights in the Royal Sonesta Hotel as a bit of a treat. It was a gorgeous place, with a pool. My hair was waist length then and when I went for a swim it nearly drowned me it was so heavy. It was so humid there that going into the pool didn’t feel like it made much of a difference.
The hotel was right on Bourbon St, so I wasn’t far from the action. Thankfully my room was at the back so when I wanted to sleep, I could.
I received an email from my boyfriend at the time to tell me that one of my Siamese cats had been hit by a car and died. I was devastated and walked down Bourbon St crying my heart out. A skinny old man told me to put a smile on my face; I just kept crying.
I booked a bus tour. Despite having been in the country for over a month and doing lots of driving, I went to get in the right side of the bus. Another Australian was on the tour and asked if I was Australian too. His name was Pete, he was in New Orleans to do some cooking classes and we ended up hanging around together until he had to leave.
The tour included a stop at one of New Orleans above ground graveyards. It was fascinating – because New Orleans is basically below sea level, anything buried in the ground is at risk of finding it’s way back up again!
Pete and I hung out at a bar for a couple of nights – there were some characters in New Orleans. I drank far too many Mint Juleps! I had made a rule that I wouldn’t get drunk with strangers, but I broke that one pretty quickly. Still alive to tell the tale!
I loved the French architecture, it was so different to the modern architecture of the west coast. One of the shops we looked in was an antique shop which had a wide selection of antique guns. I’d only even seen my Poppa’s hunting rifle before, so I was morbidly fascinated with this display.
We took a quick cruise across the mighty Mississippi, to the suburb of Algiers. It was more to say that we’d crossed it because there wasn’t anything very interesting on the other side!
We caught the last ferry back and went out for Creole food at a trendy micro brewery.
I left New Orleans on a train, heading for Atlanta.
Post script: When Hurricane Katrina hit, I felt devastated. Obviously not as devastated as the residents, but New Orleans holds a special place in my heart and it was bizarre to think that buildings I had been in and places I had walked were destroyed.
