....I know. Original blog title right? It took me about 0.5 seconds to think of it.
Well Hi y'all (assume deep southern drawl). I hope you are reading this whilst lying horizontally across something comfortable like because I'm writing this from The Big Easy. I must forewarn you, my creative genius may be somewhat lubricated by the ridiculously strong Hurricane cocktail I sipped whilst listening to licve jazz music earlier. Yes, I know, it's a hard life. Very hard indeed. So if there are many more spelling/punctuation mistakes than normal than I apologise and blame it entirely on New Orleans.
Despite us travelling to the city of laid-back - today was actually pretty stressful. I had to drive through three different electrical storms to get us here and the novelty of seeing forked lightning spasm across the sky every five seconds quickly wore off and was replaced by slow realisation of our own morality. Also, as New Orleans is pretty much a walking-only town, our first couple of hours here were cooped up in our hotel room watching mother-nature beat the crap out of the place while we cowered behind the safety of our double-glazing.
When it's not raining - we've been exploring the French Quarter and pretty much falling in love with the place. We quickly bypassed Bourbon Street after we realised it was full of neon and disgusting drunk people and emerged ourselves in the beauty of the wrought iron balconies, narrow winding roads, and talented musicians playing the saxophone soulfully on abandoned street corners. I was expecting people to be laid back here, but was still surprised by just how chilled out human beings are capable are being. We travelled into the Quarter using the street trolley, and despite it being peak rush hour and solid traffic, everyone was winding down their windows and laughing to each other. As someone who has the tendency to break into tears and start screaming expletives at just the whiff of a jam on the M25, I feel I need to learn something from these people.
Another slight down side to the trip is that Rich and I are finding it difficult to cater to our morally-righteous vegetarian tastes in an area known for its duck-fried-chicken, shrimp by the bucketful and 72-ounce steak. We have both achieved the impossible and unwilling lost alot of weight since we've got to America. It's not through choice - rather a lack of vegetarian choice. They just don't do vegetarian in the southern states. We stopped on the interstate at lunchtime, excited because we had found a place called 'Applebees'. We thought, surely, a food establishment with 'Apple' in the title would cater for our moralistic whims? But we were wrong. There was actually not one thing on the menu that didn't include the dead carcass of an animal. We ended up having to eat only an appetiser of pre-made Tomato soup while our bellies rumbled aggressively at the waitress. It's actually got to the point that we're eating protein bars made for men who want to gain muscle to see us through the day...
...Anyway, there is a point to this whinging. In gastronomic despair, Rich googled Veggie restaurants in New Orleans and we found only one that served an entirely veggie menu just across the divide the Lonely Planet has given us so we can avoid dodgy areas. It was called the 'Dragons Den'but instead of being greeted by four entrepreneurs with wads of cash, we walked in to find a group of the biggest-hippy-wannabe-cliches I had ever come across. And I grew up in Surrey for God's sake. Home of the 'I-must-reject-my-middle-class-upbringing'.
The place was an absolute dive. There was a sign up telling us it will close forever next week, and it wasn't supringing considering just sitting on the sticky seats has probably given me an STI. And there was a dreadlocked stinky girl lying facedown on the floor in the middle of the supposed restaurant when we entered. Silly tart. However, as is usually the case with disgusting dives, the food was absolutely amazing and we gorged ourselves on veggie-takes on Southern classics whilst listening to a group of irritating and smelling 20-somethings compete to see who had slept the least over the past couple of days and who's tattoo has the most unique and meaningful meaning. Me? Judgemental? Of course not. F*cking twats.
We've spent the rest of the evening milling around and soaking it all up. People carry beers around with them and the most amazing jazz is played to nobody on street corners. But it's not all alcoholic beverage and soul music - the lasting imprint of Hurricane Katrina is everywhere. Just driving in you saw trees splintered and stripped of their outside bark, dilapidated billboards lying by the side of the roads, and houses - that used to be people's homes- remain dilapidated and derelict , abandoned on the side of the road. We're slap bang in the middle of Hurricane season so Rich and I have been watching the over dramatised Weather channel to ensure the heavy storms we're weathering won't grow into anything bigger. It's just such a shame that something as typical as the weather can ravage such a unique and beautiful place. Though something tells me people in New Orleans aren't that bothered by it. They're not that bothered by anything. And if you could bottle the positive vibe of this place and sell it to people who would make Bill Gates look like a pauper.
Anyway, slightly drunken entry over with. I must sleep so I can enjoy the delights of tomorrow. We've discovered there's a WW2 museum here that gives you a 4D experience of soldier life in the 1940s. I am already vibrating with excitement at the idea.
Lots of love and hugs and kisses.
Hope you're enjoying the fine English weather. Can't believe it's better there than it is here you bastards.
Holly xxxxx
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