Weekend accomplishments, Super Sunday edition
Saturday I made breakfast, and after showering/dressing I went to the ATM, gas station, pharmacy, and CVS. I went to the Super 1 in Abbeville, normally I don't like to shop there but I just needed a frozen lasagna to make after I got home on Sunday (more on that later) and some muffins for Mom and Phil to have for breakfast on Sunday. I got on the road about 1:00 and made it to New Orleans about a quarter to 4:00. I decided to park in the Whitney Hancock Center because it's convenient, literally right across the street from Lori and Jeremy's apartment. It's $40 for 24 hours, which is pretty average for that neighborhood, and it's inside so I didn't have to worry about theft or vandalism. (I love New Orleans, but if you live there or even just visit enough, eventually someone will steal your car, or maybe just smash a window in because they were drunk and felt like it.)
They treated me to dinner at Creole House. I had garlic bacon grilled oysters and French onion soup and we split a chocolate mousse; I also had an amazing drink with bourbon, amaretto, soda, and sour mix. I never thought of putting bourbon and amaretto together and I wonder why not, because it's a great combination.
We took Dexter for a long walk to try to walk off some of the food, and then we just hung out. I started to tell them about RRR and they'd heard of it but hadn't seen it, so I showed them the dance scene. They still haven't got the guest room set up, right now it's just where they dumped everything they didn't have a spot for, so I slept on an air mattress in the front room. It was comfortable enough, but I guess I've just rusticated for too long because I cannot sleep in cities any more. Abbeville is not only a very small town (about 12,000), we don't even live in the town. In our neighborhood at night you hear bugs, maybe a dog barking in the distance, the faint hum of traffic on LA-14, and every once in a while a car drives slowly down our street. Every street in New Orleans sounds like it's full of trash trucks loaded with manhole covers 24/7. The streetcar goes right past their building too, and those things are loud. And I couldn't find my earplugs, either.
So on Sunday I woke up tired, but that's my country mouse problem, I'm not mad at New Orleans about it. Just shove some coffee in my hand, I'll manage. We got iced coffee and croissants and headed out around 11:00. It's supposed to start at noon, but even by NOLA standards Super Sunday is not a tightly organized event; the different tribes don't coordinate with each other, they kind of just show up. There were a LOT more food trucks and vendors then at past times I've gone, and it was starting to feel like just a big street festival without purpose--which at least gave me time to find Ms. Linda Green's yakamein booth. Jeremy's never had it so I got some for him, too. Yakamein is one of NOLA's sole surviving remnants of its Chinatown; it's usually slow-cooked shredded beef but can also be shrimp or crawfish, with noodles, green onions, a hardboiled egg, and a delicious, seasoned, beef broth. Jazz musicians used to eat it after gigs, because Chinese-run food carts would stay out late enough to serve them. Eventually most of the Chinese people went further west, and yakamein became part of NOLA Black culture via the musicians.
Just as I was starting to wonder if any Indians were gonna show up, suddenly they were everywhere. (Maybe they did coordinate with each other.) The origins of the Mardi Gras Indians are a little obscure, but it probably has to do with how enslaved Black people with different African traditions would dance and drum together in Congo Square, sometimes with Native Americans; most Indians today say it's also tribute to Native Americans who hid runaway slaves. Regardless, it's an old tradition and one of those uniquely NOLA things. The different tribes used to fight each other for real, but Tootie Montana, the most legendary Chief of Chiefs in the city's history, steered it towards becoming about pageantry and social cohesion. That's when the costumes started getting crazy elaborate. So now when rival chiefs come upon each other they usually just face off and talk some shit, then the 2 different tribes' music will merge together, then everyone goes their separate ways.
There's so many spectators that it's difficult to get good photos, so I mostly took short videos. (I tried for an hour to get these fucking videos to embed and could not get it to work, the workaround that worked last time isn't working this time, so anyway click the links if you care.)
https://youtube.com/embed/TMOOXW2A9eQ?si=-EBwLEDCarIvmJFh
https://youtube.com/embed/b4kwLWLEx50?si=_tNBatIfOsbwpY-u
https://youtube.com/embed/sfKs1CIGX9A?si=fDX8qmwb737X0LV_
https://youtube.com/embed/TY8B1eGdYbY?si=c0ly90q2PTR3F2M5
Trying to leave was kind of a nightmare, we had to walk until we were out of the parade area, then the first Uber we tried to get we had to cancel because he got stuck in the parade traffic. We finally got someone to pick us up; I had packed up before we left so I just grabbed my stuff, thanked Lori and Jeremy, and bounced. And all that hurrying turned out to be for nothing anyway, because turns out the lasagna takes 2 hours to cook and I got home too late for that. Sigh. I thought it only took an hour, but that's if you've thawed it first.
The salad and garlic bread were still fine, so I made those and some cheese omelettes. Everyone was very nice about it. I showed my photos and videos, then I watched a couple more episodes of 3 Body Problem. I like it so far; they've changed some things from the book but the changes make sense to me.
They treated me to dinner at Creole House. I had garlic bacon grilled oysters and French onion soup and we split a chocolate mousse; I also had an amazing drink with bourbon, amaretto, soda, and sour mix. I never thought of putting bourbon and amaretto together and I wonder why not, because it's a great combination.
We took Dexter for a long walk to try to walk off some of the food, and then we just hung out. I started to tell them about RRR and they'd heard of it but hadn't seen it, so I showed them the dance scene. They still haven't got the guest room set up, right now it's just where they dumped everything they didn't have a spot for, so I slept on an air mattress in the front room. It was comfortable enough, but I guess I've just rusticated for too long because I cannot sleep in cities any more. Abbeville is not only a very small town (about 12,000), we don't even live in the town. In our neighborhood at night you hear bugs, maybe a dog barking in the distance, the faint hum of traffic on LA-14, and every once in a while a car drives slowly down our street. Every street in New Orleans sounds like it's full of trash trucks loaded with manhole covers 24/7. The streetcar goes right past their building too, and those things are loud. And I couldn't find my earplugs, either.
So on Sunday I woke up tired, but that's my country mouse problem, I'm not mad at New Orleans about it. Just shove some coffee in my hand, I'll manage. We got iced coffee and croissants and headed out around 11:00. It's supposed to start at noon, but even by NOLA standards Super Sunday is not a tightly organized event; the different tribes don't coordinate with each other, they kind of just show up. There were a LOT more food trucks and vendors then at past times I've gone, and it was starting to feel like just a big street festival without purpose--which at least gave me time to find Ms. Linda Green's yakamein booth. Jeremy's never had it so I got some for him, too. Yakamein is one of NOLA's sole surviving remnants of its Chinatown; it's usually slow-cooked shredded beef but can also be shrimp or crawfish, with noodles, green onions, a hardboiled egg, and a delicious, seasoned, beef broth. Jazz musicians used to eat it after gigs, because Chinese-run food carts would stay out late enough to serve them. Eventually most of the Chinese people went further west, and yakamein became part of NOLA Black culture via the musicians.
Just as I was starting to wonder if any Indians were gonna show up, suddenly they were everywhere. (Maybe they did coordinate with each other.) The origins of the Mardi Gras Indians are a little obscure, but it probably has to do with how enslaved Black people with different African traditions would dance and drum together in Congo Square, sometimes with Native Americans; most Indians today say it's also tribute to Native Americans who hid runaway slaves. Regardless, it's an old tradition and one of those uniquely NOLA things. The different tribes used to fight each other for real, but Tootie Montana, the most legendary Chief of Chiefs in the city's history, steered it towards becoming about pageantry and social cohesion. That's when the costumes started getting crazy elaborate. So now when rival chiefs come upon each other they usually just face off and talk some shit, then the 2 different tribes' music will merge together, then everyone goes their separate ways.
There's so many spectators that it's difficult to get good photos, so I mostly took short videos. (I tried for an hour to get these fucking videos to embed and could not get it to work, the workaround that worked last time isn't working this time, so anyway click the links if you care.)
https://youtube.com/embed/TMOOXW2A9eQ?si=-EBwLEDCarIvmJFh
https://youtube.com/embed/b4kwLWLEx50?si=_tNBatIfOsbwpY-u
https://youtube.com/embed/sfKs1CIGX9A?si=fDX8qmwb737X0LV_
https://youtube.com/embed/TY8B1eGdYbY?si=c0ly90q2PTR3F2M5
Trying to leave was kind of a nightmare, we had to walk until we were out of the parade area, then the first Uber we tried to get we had to cancel because he got stuck in the parade traffic. We finally got someone to pick us up; I had packed up before we left so I just grabbed my stuff, thanked Lori and Jeremy, and bounced. And all that hurrying turned out to be for nothing anyway, because turns out the lasagna takes 2 hours to cook and I got home too late for that. Sigh. I thought it only took an hour, but that's if you've thawed it first.
The salad and garlic bread were still fine, so I made those and some cheese omelettes. Everyone was very nice about it. I showed my photos and videos, then I watched a couple more episodes of 3 Body Problem. I like it so far; they've changed some things from the book but the changes make sense to me.