New Orleans, September 12-14, 2009
We left our house early for the airport on Saturday. Our flight was supposed to be 9:45. Everything started smoothly and we all got on the plane and got settled in. Then the captain told us there was a slight delay as they had to fix a sensor on the wing. We waited. He told us it would be fixed shortly and we wouldn't be delayed very much. Then he said there were more problems than the thought and it might be closer to 11 that we would leave. We were all hanging out on the plane then. Some people were getting angry, but we were just waiting to see what happened. Then, about 11am they said they were unable to fix the sensor and were going to transfer us to another plane. That is when things got crazy. We got off the plane and the agent at the counter was clearly overwhelmed she said there was another flight leaving at 12:40 and "if it were here" and we didn't have any checked bags, we should go try to get on that plane. So oneandonlymatt and I took off to get to that gate. A couple other folks had tried the same thing, and there was a guy in front of us who was trying to get on that plane. He and his wife/girlfriend were trying to go to a wedding that was at 3pm! The agent there was really nice but couldn't guarantee a seat, but could put us on standby. She did call to our original gate to find out what was going on because that flight wasn't listed as cancelled. Wedding Guy asked to be put on standby, which of course means he loses his seat on the original plane. But she found out that they had moved our original flight to a new plane at a new gate. So the rest of us decide not to give up our tickets and run to the new gate. The plane left at 12:30. Wedding Guy was not on it, so we didn't know what had happened to his flight. However, he does come in to play later in the trip, so stay tuned.
When we got to New Orleans, we went to our Hotel to check in. We were staying at Place D'Armes on St. Ann just off Jackson Square. It was very nice. However, our room wasn't ready yet so we checked our bags with them and went off to find some lunch - I was starving. We ended up at the Crescent City Brewery and the food was tasty. Then Matt talked to our friend who had actually organized the trip to NO. He and his friends were at a sports bar eating lunch and watching the University of Michigan game. We happened to be on the same street, so we wandered that way and hung out with them.
It rained in NOLA quite a bit while we were there, so we were about to walk to our hotel when it started pouring. We waited it out and then headed back to Jackson Square. It started raining again by the time we were half way there, so we were pretty soaked. We got our room and the bellman brought our bags up. The next step was a shower. Then Matt and I went out wandering again just to see what we could find. We wound up on Bourbon St. at a place called Beer Fest that had been recommended by our friends. We tried a great microbrew from a place in Mississippi called Southern Pecan. We also tried the Jefferson Stout from the same place. The Brewery is called Lazy Magnolia. It isn't available in Georgia or North Carolina, but I sure wish it was. Yum. We wandered some more and thought about dinner. I had found a couple of places on the internet and it just so happened that we stumbled upon one of them, a place called Green Goddess. But just as we were about to go in our friend called us and said the group was going to a Cajun place and wanted to know if we wanted to come. We decided we'd rather be social so we met them at that place. I can't remember what the place was called, but the food was good. Traditional NOLA stuff - I had shrimp Creole that was tasty and spicy. After dinner we all wandered around doing the usual New Orleans stuff.
Matt and I gave up around Midnight (which, of course, was 1am our time and we had gotten up VERY early to get to the airport for our delayed plane). I guess the other guys were out until 3ish.
Sunday, of course, was the Lions game. We got up early so we could go to a po' boy place that Matt really wanted to eat at. I can't remember the name of that place either, but they had breakfast sandwiches and such. Matt got an actually breakfast po'boy but I got an egg and cheese biscuit - it was HUGE and good. Then we wandered closer to the hotel where our friends were staying so we could get the tickets. We had coffee at a PJ's coffee right there on Canal street, which was right next to their hotel. While we were in the coffee shop we spotted Wedding Guy! He was pacing the street on his cell phone. He looked just as frazzled as he had on Saturday. If he hadn't been on the phone or as frazzled we would have gone out and said something to him and found out if he made the wedding. Instead we called our friends to get our tickets. They were just eating breakfast so we met them in their hotel lobby and got our tickets. We were going to all walk to the game, but then it started raining so Matt and I said we would get a cab and they could grab their own cab when they were done eating. We got to the Superdome pretty early and hung out waiting for them all to get there. There were 9 Lions fans total - all of us from different parts of the country. Four from Detroit, two from Atlanta, One from Washington DC, One from Boise, and one from Houston.
The game was as you might expect. We lost. Going for 0-32 I think. Everyone kept saying to us that we couldn't be much worse this year, but I think they underestimate our team’s ability to be worse than anything!
The four Detroiters left at Half Time - they actually had to catch a flight back to Detroit. The rest of us stayed to the bitter end. It wasn't raining when the game was over so we walked back to Canal Street. Our Houston friend had to leave then because he drove. After that we didn't end up hanging out with the Boise and DC friends. We went back to the hotel - changed out of our Lions gear - and napped a little. Then I was starving to we went for dinner. We went back to Green Goddess and am I ever glad we did! It was so fantastic. The food was about tapas size and we ordered a couple of things. They were all great. The highlight was a roasted beet "ravioli" stuffed with Chevrre cheese. OMG! They were so good, and I don't even like beats. We sat at the bar to eat - it was a tiny place - and chatted with the bartender. We also chatted with the owner/chef. The conversation turned to liquor and they told us about a grappa that they had. Now, Matt's family is Italian so we know what grappa is, and typically it tastes like rubbing alcohol. But the folks at Green Goddess told us that this was nothing like that - it was more like a fine aged whisky or scotch. It was golden in color and looked interesting. Plus, they recommended pairing it with a honey chevrre stuffed roasted fig. Well, why not. So we got one little glass to split and ate the figs. That was phenomenal! It was so full of yum.
After dinner, we walked for a while again and ended up at an Irish bar to watch the Packers game. They had the Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan so we sat at the bar and enjoyed the game. We met a guy from NOLA who had gone to the game with his friend from Australia. We told them about our going to the first game last season with our friend from Australia. This guy’s Australian friend seemed a little overwhelmed with New Orleans. They eventually left the bar and a guy from Wisconsin sat down. He lived in New Orleans now, but had grown up only about two hours from Green Bay. I have to say that having conversations with strangers at bars is one of my favorite things to do. I know it sounds insane, but I love meeting new people and talking with them. That is what Asheville has done to me.
After that, we got a Hand Grenade just to say we did and walked back the hotel. It was so sickenly sweet that I barely drank it. Then we collapsed and slept until morning.
We got up and wandered all around on Monday trying to find a place open for breakfast. Most of the restaurants that served breakfast didn't open until 11 or 11:30! We finally found a little place called Stanley. I had pancakes with vanilla ice cream! Then we walked down by the river and into a couple of shops before we had to get in a cab for the airport. We got their early so Matt looked at the earlier flight and it said it was delayed so we decided to just stick with our original flight which was, as of then, on time. Well, as it turned out the earlier flight to Atlanta got pushed back until *after* our flight. Crazy. But we got on the plane on time and got off the ground on time and made it back home. We stopped to get Mellow Mushroom pizza - a post vacation tradition for us - and got home around 6:45. We ate our Pizza and generally sat around with Piglet until it was time for bed.
In spite of the Lions, it was a great time.