Meat and Potatoes
I am back up north, back from the Gulf Coast to the Atlantic, back from the Big Easy to Beantown. New Orleans: I love it. LOVE it. Love love love it. The people are generally incredibly friendly, laid back, courteous. It was ridiculously hot and unbearably humid. Our hotel, which was very lovely yet very cheap (more on this later), was on Convention Center Street, a good half hour walk away from the French Quarter/most of the places worth seeing. We were, however, right across the street from the Audubon Aquarium, as well as the mighty Mississippi and Decatur Street. Oh--and Harrah's Casino, which is famous/fabulous enough to warrant a star/mention on our tourist maps, but as it was strictly 21+, we didn't go in.
Other things we did: Swamp tour! We were driven around the Honey Island swamps in a motorboat. The swamps were really beautiful, and we saw a good number of alligators, which our guide fed marshmallows. We were lucky enough to see the biggest alligator living in the swamp, and he was really effing big. My dad pet him. What the fuck.
Shopping/sightseeing in the French Quarter! The architecture is just so beautiful and so CHARMING. All sorts of adorable boutiques, lingerie stores, cafes, galleries, were crammed into these gorgeous old spaces. I especially appreciated the covered sidewalks. We had coffee and beignets at the famous original Cafe Du Monde, saw the lovely Plaza de Armas, and shopped for souvenirs in Jackson Square.
Pet sting rays and baby sharks at the aquarium! Well, my cousin and I did, anyway. So cute! So soft! So squishy! We also got teary eyed at the IMAX theater, where we watched "Hurricane on the Bayou."
Vampire Tour! A little disappointing, since you psych yourself up so much for it, but very interesting and definitely spooky. Our guide led us through the OLD old French Quarters, the parts you "aren't supposed to visit" showing us the sites of and telling us New Orleans' famous vampire legends. Apparently, "Interview with the Vampire" was filmed here (he showed us those sites too), but as I have not seen the movie, that, sadly, means nothing to me.
Ate delicious food! Seriously. The food was SO GOOD. I ate so much, my right ass cheek alone gained about twenty pounds. We had Cajun and Creole classics, e.g. jambalaya, gumbo. Lots and lots of seafood, of course--crab, shrimp, oysters, catfish, tuna, all very fresh and very good. Everything was so highly seasoned and very hearty. I also had alligator! I saw Andrew whatshitface eat it today on his show "Bizarre Foods," so I like to think that that makes me pretty cool. Whatever. Alligator is very, very good, especially seasoned and grilled the way we had it. It's tender and not stringy/gamey at all. I didn't have the heart to try the frog legs; I just can't handle food when it's still in the SHAPE of the animal it's supposed to be. What else. I also ate LOTS of french fries and mashed potatoes--New Orleans and I are soul mates. The absolute best meal we had was at the House of Blues. There was no show the night we went, unfortunately, but the food and drinks were enough. I had "seared peppercorn crusted ahi tuna" and a key lime martini.
Speaking of drinks, New Orleans is way hard core about its liquor. Literally every other building is a bar, and if it's not a bar, if it has food, then it's got A fully stocked bar. Cafe and bar! Sandwhiches and bar! Creole and bar! Daquiris and cafe! Even drive-through bars and bars at the local mall food court! People casually strolling down the street with cups of beer or daquiris, which seem to be a big thing in New Orleans. On our vampire tour, we made two bar stops, one at which I paid $6.50 for a Heineken and a whiskey sour. !!! I advise you, Boston, to take careful note, because I don't appreciate paying ten bucks for a single drink.
Toured Tulane University! I still have a crush on the guy who rung up my purchases at the campus Barnes and Noble, where I got a free razor and a mysteriously wrapped package which turned out to be tampons, chap stick, and shampoo samples. We didn't get to help my brother move in, but we did get to help him buy his textbooks. Kids at universities get to take such cooler courses. DDDD: But um... my campus is prettier than yours? Yeah!
And that basically covers my adventures down south. Tomorrow I begin the truly torturous ordeal of getting ready to pack for school; I move back in on the 30th in the afternoon. This year, I am determined to make my room amazing, because I just know that senior year will be amazing and my dorm I KNOW kicks all sorts of ass. I get a nice comfy single with a window overlooking Lower Lake in Mead, which was renovated last summer. My friend tells me the bathrooms are like "hotel bathrooms." YAY I AM SO EXCITED.
Other things we did: Swamp tour! We were driven around the Honey Island swamps in a motorboat. The swamps were really beautiful, and we saw a good number of alligators, which our guide fed marshmallows. We were lucky enough to see the biggest alligator living in the swamp, and he was really effing big. My dad pet him. What the fuck.
Shopping/sightseeing in the French Quarter! The architecture is just so beautiful and so CHARMING. All sorts of adorable boutiques, lingerie stores, cafes, galleries, were crammed into these gorgeous old spaces. I especially appreciated the covered sidewalks. We had coffee and beignets at the famous original Cafe Du Monde, saw the lovely Plaza de Armas, and shopped for souvenirs in Jackson Square.
Pet sting rays and baby sharks at the aquarium! Well, my cousin and I did, anyway. So cute! So soft! So squishy! We also got teary eyed at the IMAX theater, where we watched "Hurricane on the Bayou."
Vampire Tour! A little disappointing, since you psych yourself up so much for it, but very interesting and definitely spooky. Our guide led us through the OLD old French Quarters, the parts you "aren't supposed to visit" showing us the sites of and telling us New Orleans' famous vampire legends. Apparently, "Interview with the Vampire" was filmed here (he showed us those sites too), but as I have not seen the movie, that, sadly, means nothing to me.
Ate delicious food! Seriously. The food was SO GOOD. I ate so much, my right ass cheek alone gained about twenty pounds. We had Cajun and Creole classics, e.g. jambalaya, gumbo. Lots and lots of seafood, of course--crab, shrimp, oysters, catfish, tuna, all very fresh and very good. Everything was so highly seasoned and very hearty. I also had alligator! I saw Andrew whatshitface eat it today on his show "Bizarre Foods," so I like to think that that makes me pretty cool. Whatever. Alligator is very, very good, especially seasoned and grilled the way we had it. It's tender and not stringy/gamey at all. I didn't have the heart to try the frog legs; I just can't handle food when it's still in the SHAPE of the animal it's supposed to be. What else. I also ate LOTS of french fries and mashed potatoes--New Orleans and I are soul mates. The absolute best meal we had was at the House of Blues. There was no show the night we went, unfortunately, but the food and drinks were enough. I had "seared peppercorn crusted ahi tuna" and a key lime martini.
Speaking of drinks, New Orleans is way hard core about its liquor. Literally every other building is a bar, and if it's not a bar, if it has food, then it's got A fully stocked bar. Cafe and bar! Sandwhiches and bar! Creole and bar! Daquiris and cafe! Even drive-through bars and bars at the local mall food court! People casually strolling down the street with cups of beer or daquiris, which seem to be a big thing in New Orleans. On our vampire tour, we made two bar stops, one at which I paid $6.50 for a Heineken and a whiskey sour. !!! I advise you, Boston, to take careful note, because I don't appreciate paying ten bucks for a single drink.
Toured Tulane University! I still have a crush on the guy who rung up my purchases at the campus Barnes and Noble, where I got a free razor and a mysteriously wrapped package which turned out to be tampons, chap stick, and shampoo samples. We didn't get to help my brother move in, but we did get to help him buy his textbooks. Kids at universities get to take such cooler courses. DDDD: But um... my campus is prettier than yours? Yeah!
And that basically covers my adventures down south. Tomorrow I begin the truly torturous ordeal of getting ready to pack for school; I move back in on the 30th in the afternoon. This year, I am determined to make my room amazing, because I just know that senior year will be amazing and my dorm I KNOW kicks all sorts of ass. I get a nice comfy single with a window overlooking Lower Lake in Mead, which was renovated last summer. My friend tells me the bathrooms are like "hotel bathrooms." YAY I AM SO EXCITED.