when to walk away, when to run

New Orleans - land of debauchery that does not subscribe to your heathen beliefs in vegetables or recycling.  How beguiling you are.

The Food
Calorie Fest 2009 consisted of po' boys (yum), fried alligator (yuck) and a breathtaking creation called a pistolette that features seafood stew, somehow both fried and liquid, smothered over french bread.  The only veggie I saw was fried okra, unless you count the lettuce under Justin's shrimp remoulade (that's shrimp in mayonnaise, naturally).  The whole thing was a delicious, debilitating edition of "This is Why You're Fat".  I didn't, nay couldn't, eat for two days after we got home.

The Drinks
In NoLa you can drink in the streets.  You can bring your drink into another bar.  You can stop at a liquor store, fill your plastic syringes with Jack Daniels and proceed to bar hop all night spiking other people's drinks.  Presumably, you are to pour your drink into a plastic cup before leaving the bar.  Because plastic cups hold more, and they don't want you drying out before you make it next door.

The Scenery
Narrow streets, wrought iron balconies, horse-drawn carriages and the Mississippi River... New Orleans is beautiful, slow and grand.  I thought about Huck Finn and making a great escape, though to me NoLa would be a gateway rather than a destination.  The French Quarter is darkly, classically atmospheric (Bourbon Street is more of an alley), making it easily reminiscent of olden days with women in gowns and pirates hiding in dark doorways.  Or vampires.

The Party 
NoLa definitely lived up to it's reputation for throngs of drunken fools parading about the ancient confines of narrow streets.  Like LA's West Hollywood parade or Bay 2 Breakers squeezed through a tube of toothpaste, it was truly a sight that blurred even if you hadn't been hitting the hurricanes at Mango Mango.  The morning after, passed out revelers in costume littered Bourbon Street, literally asleep where they'd fallen and probably impressed with their stamina.

If I ever get back to New Orleans, I'll do more touristy things - swamp tour, have my fortune told, visit a plantation.  The city has a lot to offer besides drunken stumbling, and I hope to someday go back for more.  I'll pack some apples.