The Big Easy

Hi everyone, We're officially home now (safe and sound), so we have a little catching up to do... From Houston we made the quick 6-hour drive to New Orleans (amazing how your definition of a "quick" drive changes on a cross-country road trip). Using the Starwood (hotel chain) points I've earned over the course of my travels for work, we were able to book two nights for free at the "W", a very snazzy boutique hotel right in the heart of the French Quarter. Upon arrival we were upgraded to a "wonder suite" with a private terrace. As a side note, everything at the W starts with the letter W... When you call the front desk (by pressing the "Whatever/Whenever" button on your phone), they answer "What is your Wish Mr. Koren?". To make a long story short, the hotel was very nice, especially the courtyard, which had a beautiful water/fire fountain, heated outdoor pool, etc... Our first evening in New Orleans we decided to wander around Bourbon St to check out the scene. In short, Bourbon St is basically the wild side of college life immortalized in six blocks. I ordered a "Huge Ass Beer to go" from a bar called "Huge Ass Beer" (fortunately they served Sam Adams, as drinking 30+ ounces of Bud Light is not that appealing). We then strolled up and down the street, passing alternating jazz clubs and XXX strip clubs. I found it entertaining; Dena found it distasteful (Mars / Venus I guess). We ended up finding a club with a band that we liked, and listened to a few songs before calling it a night. We spent much of the next day poking around the shops, galleries, and cafes of the French Quarter. Our first stop, upon the strong recommendation of Dena's dad and just about everyone else we talked to, was Cafe Du Monde. Our intention was to have a hearty breakfast of "beignets" (a cross between Fried Dough and a Donut, covered in powdered sugar), but it was packed beyond belief (~200 people seated & another 100+ waiting for a table & 100+ waiting for take out), so we decided we would come back later in the day. Instead we went to Cafe Beignet, across the street, which served delicious beignets (though, as we discovered later, not quite as good as Cafe Du Monde). A few highlights of the day: Catching a quick Jazz show at the New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, a national park (i.e. building) that hosts 1-2 free live jazz shows a day (your tax dollars at work) Lunch at Praline Connection, where I had a roast beef Po'Boy and Dena had Collard Greens for the first time, because usually they are cooked with pork but in this case were Vegetarian! The stunning iron-work on the balconies and gates of almost every building When we returned to the hotel that afternoon, we were planning to go to the pool to cool off and relax, but we realized the entire courtyard was set up for a wedding. We immediately feared the pool would be closed off, but it turns out we were wrong, and the pool remained open. We decided to go despite the wedding, so we put on our bathing suits, slipped around the guests in their dresses and suits, ducked under the photographer, and dove in. We quickly realized the pool gave us a great vantage point from which we could watch (i.e., spy on) the wedding. I'll spare you the details, except for one story I will never forget. As the bride is getting set to walk down the aisle, we saw one of the flower girls (the daughter of the bride) trailing slowly behind her. The girl suddenly stops, and starts whining, then screaming "No Mommy NO." The wedding coordinator ran over and tried to pick up the girl, but she squirmed free, ran towards her mom (the bride), jumped on to the back of the dress, and starting pulling at it desperately. The wedding coordinator finally managed to grab hold of the girl and drag her away... The bride seemed to handle it all fairly well and proceeded to walk down the aisle. The ceremony was over in about four minutes, and we then took the opportunity to escape the pool and get ready for our night out on the town. That evening we went to Preservation Hall, a jazz club that intends to preserve the New Orleans jazz tradition. As such, there is no amplification whatsoever, just the vocals and instruments of the musicians. I don't remember the last time I saw a music performance of any kind without microphones / speakers, and it was a real treat. The place was so crowded that we had to sit in front of the front row, on the floor. We were so close we could see straight up the barrel of the clarinet player (fortunately a low-spit instrument). The next day we went to the Garden District, the upscale neighborhood in New Orleans with all the elaborate mansions. I wasn't going to write about this at all, except for one funny story. We were standing in front of the Paige mansion, which was not particularly remarkable, except that it is the place where Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, passed away. As we were admiring the house, two cars pulled up and out poured three generations of a family. We started chatting with them and found out that the eldest woman was the granddaughter of a girl who lived in the house when Jefferson Davis passed away. They asked me to take their photo, and I happily obliged. For the first shot, I said "say cheese." For the second shot, I said "1, 2, 3" and then the mother chimed in "Say Confederacyyyyyyyy." Not quite believing our ears, we quickly scuttled away. Well, this post is getting intolerably long, so I'll stop at that. We'll try to wrap up the next few posts (Nashville, Philly, and DC) in the next couple of days! -Amit

Iron-work in the FQ Jackson Square Jazz national park The wedding Fountain of Fire Preservation Hall The Preservation Hall Jazz Band The sax player (we were close) Enjoying a beignet at Cafe du Monde