Monday, May 11, 2009
And my feet are killing me from walking all over the French Quarter, but by God I DID walk all over the French Quarter. I also drank a hella load of alcohol (between Thursday night and this morning I had 6 cuba libres, one pina colada, two Hurricanes, one Swamp Water, a six pack of Parrot Bay Pineapple Coladas (VERY tasty) and one Smirnoff's Watermelon Ice), but the amazing thing is that I wasn't hung over once, which just goes to show that one must move one's fundament if one is going to drink.
By 10:00 PM Friday night, I had:
Eaten dinner on a balcony while people-watching
Eaten beignets at Cafe du Monde
Gone on a carriage tour of the French Quarter
Had lunch at the Court of the Two Sisters
Gone shopping at the French Market
Purchased a nice sun hat, a dress and a fan
Consumed more alcohol in one night than I had in all of 2008
Determined that there's something about TOS James Kirk that makes me want him on his knees in restraints
Been hugged by a trumpet player who informed me that he liked redheads
Seen someone thrown bodily out of a package store
Started knitting a sock
The adventures continued on Saturday. Among other things, we visited Marie LeBeau's voodoo shop and bought some...ingredients, took another carriage ride so that this time I could get pictures (saw Brangelina's mansion -- doesn't look like much from the street, but most of the old houses here are built on a courtyard plan so that's where all the pretty stuff is), ate crawfish etouffe and flirted with the cutest little Cajun waiter (the Sister told him she wanted to take him home in her purse. He said, "Feed me and I'm yours"), walked past quite the number of strip joints and sex shows on Bourbon, bought a LOT of clothes (me), drank a LOT of beer (the Sister), had a nice conversation with an extremely inebriated young man in our hotel elevator who kept staring at the twins (I was wearing one of my new summer dresses, which makes them look rather perky) and complaining that his outfit was unflattering, listened to some killer music (we can hear the live band across the street from our room, and they know their shit), sat on the balcony and people-watched, and took pictures of a pirate who held up a sign explaining that he was NOT Somalian.
We have determined that when we win the Lotto and buy our flat in the French Quarter, the Sister will buy a carriage and donkey and give carriage tours, and I will brush up my trumpet skills and get a jazz band together.
And then I was at the airport ridiculously early this morning (well, the Sister had to leave this morning at 5:30 AM, poor darlin', so I didn't really have anything else to do), sipping a cuba libre made for me by an adorable Cajun drag queen in mufti, tapping away at my little hacked MSI Wind and pondering a final wander around the airport shops.
I think I really needed this trip -- just a chance to unwind, have many, many drinks with the Sister, do some sightseeing, flirt with the occasional interesting man (the things the Sister was saying about our room service waiter almost had me peeing in my pants, I was laughing so hard) and basically recharge the batteries. Oh, and I bought a killer straw hat that's kind of like the ones that British Airways flight attendants used to wear (with the brim turned up all the way around), only in raffia. The Sister looked at me with a hint of envy and said that I could wear hats. This is true, especially when I'm holding the Big Ass Beers sign from a local joint on Bourbon Street, which is a post for another day when I have access to a card reader for the memory card in my phone. But I digress.
In the meantime, I now return home with fizzing batteries, ready to get back to work on the book and Story #4 in the AYITL series, and start prepping for Podcasterpalooza in Orlando in June. Whee!
