June 13th - DRIVE TO THE BIG EASY!

We departed Memphis and the Ducks at the Peabody for New Orleans by 8AM. We drove through Mississipi. It was a long drive for both Captain Pat and the passengers but we managed to reach NOLA by about 3:45PM. Mississipi is the only state we have seen so far to have its Wecome Center a good 12 miles after you have entered the state. We attempted to stop twice for lunch in Mississipi but were unable to find a non fast food option (one of our goals is to avoid the drive through places and their fat). I had a book called Roadfood with a great diner selection but it was a 25 minute wait and by that point we just wanted to reach our destination as good food would abound in the Crescent City. So my emergency snack packs of crackers and individual peanut butter packs came in handy for those needing a break.

As we entered the French Quarter I was reminded of how unique NOLA is. I came in 1990 with Patrick, Mom and Dad for an ABC Convention. And we were bufferred by the 24/7 aspect of this because we stayed in a giant Marriott not far from here. The cast of characters roaming around is like no where else I know. We are staying at The Royal Sonesta, located at the corner of Bourbon and Bienville. There is a bachelor party group to the left of us and a bachelorette party to the right of us. We have a 85 foot long private corner balcony on the second floor overlooking all the insanity of Bourbon Street. Between the groups staying to the left and the right of us, and the parade of lunacy below we are prepared for a long night of noise! Since the kids have never been to NOLA before, they really had no idea what to expect of it. Even I am shocked viewing it as a mother of four versus my first time prior to having kids. Your persepctive changes on everything when your 17 year old daughter is inserted into this envrionment!

When we first checked in, we were entertained by some kids "tap dancing" with their make shift taps shoes made from crushed cans or bottle caps applied to their sneakers (I havent figured out what is keeping the taps on yet). They descend upon tourists with boxes they have no doubt found from behind the bars and beg for tips. Patrick warns us that they are like feeding sea gulls. If you feed one, they will surround you! And he is correct. They try to get Pat to toss down money from our balcony. He teases that he will pay them to STOP tapping. They tell Neil to stop taking picutres/videos of them until he pays. Nothing threatening...I guess they are just trying to survive in the only way they know how. It all seems pretty interesting but I have to admit my patience was ebbing at 1:15AM when they returned to this spot (They kept going up and down the strip but seem to like this corner the best) I was tempted to lob something at them to make them stop!

Fiona's favorite part is trying to catch the beads that people are tossing from the balcony above. We are planning to buy some beads to do the same tonight. But Fiona has made it clear that she would like to keep 5 strands for herself.

Neil is taking some really great time lapse photos with the traffic lights and neon signs. I will try to post them if I can ahold of them!

They call NYC the City that never sleeps, but this city truly never goes to sleep! I heard some sort of sirens or horns that came up the street at roughly 5 AM (sorry I could not muster the energy to go take a photo but I was delerious from staying up watching everything going on until I could no longer stay awake around 2). I can only surmise tht it was the police corralling the people off of Bourbon Street so they could open the road again. At 6 AM came the street cleaners with a large truck that had a power wash hose and they literally do clean the streets with water and a street sweeping car follows behind to collect the broken and crushed bottles, beads, cups and various evidence of the parade of people from just the hour before. There are still a few revelers insisting on walking in Bourbon Street as the street cleaners attempt to do their job. Much cursing and staggering between the two groups but the street cleaners win. The bar across the street from us has not closed and as I type this there are people wandering in and ordering mixed drinks. I had commented on how dirty the streets were with all the trash bags piled up. Patrick assured me that they clean Bourbon Street every morning and I doubted they could get the streets cleaned up so well. In fact, I had to take photos of the newly cleaned streets because it was so astounding!

We plan to take the kids to a tamer place today. And I think viewing Bourbon Street from our balcony is much safer and enjoyable than walking it with the kids.