Saturday.
After realizing that Sissy would be better off at Dr. Weber's office for the weekend, we headed down 59 South for the Crescent City. The only thing on the agenda: Flogging Molly and eating well.
We rolled into New Orleans around 2pm. We checked into the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel. It sits on Canal Street between Royal and Bourbon Streets on the edge of the French Quarter. (party time!) The room was as nice as expected for the price. (But then again, in the Quarter, how nice does a room have to be since usually the intention is to spend time away from the room?)
Anyway, we headed out of the hotel headed to the nearest streetcar to the Garden District. EXACT CHANGE ONLY. Rats. So in an effort to get a roll of quarters, we headed sown to Harrah's Casino. They're bound to have plenty of change. And they did, just not for us. We were denied just change, so Tara decided to place 20 dollars in a 25-cent slot machine to see if we could win streetcar fare. She stopped when she was up to $28.25. If they couldn't spare the 40 quarters in exchange for a 10-dollar bill, they could pony up 33 for nothing. (Screw the house.)
Of course in the time it took to get the fare, it also got kind of late for checking out old houses. After all it, would be dark soon.
So we went back to our room to clean up, change clothes and head out to grab some food.
Now being the metal head that I am, I check out www.blabbermouth.net almost daily. One day I read that Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity and Down fame had listed a couple of his favorite NOLA haunts. He recommended a place down Exchange Alley called The Pelican Club. Keenan may not be a world-renowned food critic, but he is a New Orleans native so his word is good as any I've read. And the food at the Pelican Club was as good as if not better than advertised. Tara had the Filet Mignon with crab cake and I had the Seafood Fricassee (featuring tilapia, shrimp, crawfish, scallops, and mussels over rice with vegetables). It is the best food I've had in New Orleans, hands down.
After dinner, we headed out to be part of the bacchanalia that is Bourbon Street. First stop on the trip was HUGE ASS BEERS. It has become a tradition of sorts for me in my journeys to New Orleans. They offer exactly what they advertise and for only five bucks. I told Tara she ought try a Hurricane (a gulf tradition) while I had the customary beer. Her Hurricane turned out to be about more sour than I'd ever tasted. We were batting zero as far as her drinks had gone. (She had a drink called an Exchange Alley at The Pelican Club that tasted terrible, too)
We ventured down Bourbon a little further to a bar she remember from an abridged Spring break trip. It featured a fountain in the courtyard that had both flam and water spouting from it.
Since she'd had no luck up to this point, we figured we go with the old stand-by drink—The Long Island Ice Tea. Boy, were we wrong.?
This was the stiffest drink I'd tasted in a long time. Every time she took a drink, she winced in pain. (That's right—every time. Read into what you will.) We were 0 for 3 on the night, and it was time to pack it in and see if we couldn't improve the next night.
Sunday.
So we got up at about 11am, and why not? We were on vacation. Upon waking up, we notice that Tara's rash had gone farther than her ears and neck and had migrated to her wrists, knees, small of her back, and her eyes had started to swell.
(I guess I didn't mention that she was starting to have an allergic reaction to—something. She took some Benedryl and started to feel better but, apparently it did not cure what ailed her.)
Erring on the side of caution, we headed to the hospital to make sure it wasn't something that may escalate into her throat closing or anything else terribly harmful. That would really ruin our trip. (wink-wink, nudge-nudge)
Anyway, after a Zantac, a shot of Cortisone, and about six hours, we headed back to the hotel room. We decided to head over the House of Blues early to eat there. They had a deal where if you ate there and had tickets to the show, you could go to the front of the line like a Disney FastPass.
The line to a show is always a good place to be sociable since you're captive there until the doors open. There we met Carl and Rachel from Biloxi. They were not silly kids (thankfully), but folks closer to my age who came to shows to see the show not get ridiculous drunk and mosh the whole time. Having seen many a show at the venue, they gave the inside dish on where we ought stand for the show so we could lean when tired and get to the bar in a timely fashion. (Thanks, again.)
At this point I should make Tara do a review of the bands as she is the bigger fan in general. And by that, I mean that she really gets into every aspect of being at a show. That said, I'll say a little starting with The Cherry Cokes from Japan.
They sound a lot like Flogging Molly except for the part where they sing in Japanese. It was a little surreal to hear Irish music in such a foreign tongue. The singer/banjo player was very charismatic despite the language barrier.
Up next on he bill was Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band. (The name is intentionally deceiving as the entire band is comprised of only three members—Rev., his wife Breezy, and his brother Jayme.) He played some fantastic Mississippi Delta blues on his resonator guitar while his brother pounded he guitar and his wife scratched out a rhythm on the washboard—that's right—the washboard. It was the most original act I've seen doing tried and true Delta blues. I'll be buying some CDs very soon and trying to find them playing live again.
Last but not least, Flogging Molly.
Now let me first complain that that I left my camera in the hotel room so I wouldn't damage or lose it. And let me complain that I didn't purchase a smaller point-and-shoot camera. That said, while walking to dinner, we passed by four of the seven members of Flogging Molly. And had I had a camera, Tara would have her picture with all of them. And, I'd have some photos from the show as well as more of New Orleans in general. But I digress…
First, let me say that Dave King is the consummate showman. He had the attention of the crowd from the time the lights went up. And while all of the band member are capable on their respective instruments, I was most impressed with the bass lines of Nathan Maxwell. And, I guess it's because I could really hear them last night where they are not as prominent on the albums.
While it has nothing to do with their performance, this was one of the best shows I've seen in a while because both me and my date enjoyed the show. It's been a long time since I had a hand to hold during a slower, sentimental song (though I probably should have grabbed a hand or hip, and even kissed my date the last time I saw the Avett Brothers—but that is another story.)
Anyway, they rocked and rollicked through every song I wanted to hear except for "The Worst Day Since Yesterday." One of my highlights was hearing "Float" off of their new album. And although I studied his hand, I still have no idea how to play it. (boo)
Monday.
Our last day was fairly mundane. I finally got to go to St. Louis Cemetery No. 1. Seeing the elevated crypts was pretty neat. They range from pristine, restored condition to falling to pieces. And as you can see I actually took my camera out. Part of my nerdy fun will be reading about some of the graves I shot.
After the cemetery we ended up driving through the French Quarter, looking for a place to eat. We ended up at Flannigan's Irish Pub. I'll have to remember the place the next time I end up in the quarter all night long. When we walked in at 11am, folks were doing shots of Jagermeister. In the spirit of not disturbing the status quo, I had a Guiness before we had lunch. Both it and my Shepherd's Pie were delicious. After paying a pittance (thank you, bartender), we got in the car and headed home.
(While I thought I was done with the story, I was reminded that it is not over because we haven't technically made it back to Trussville yet. She's such a stickler despite the fact they she has only the faintest of what I've written until now.)