Yesterday we got up and had pancakes for breakfast- courtesy of the Bourbon House! Today, however, we weren't ready to get up by the time breakfast had passed, but the coffee was much appreciated! ;-)
We went for a stroll around the area to see what was nearby, and ended up on Magazine St. where we saw some unusual/interesting sights and many shops, cafes, art galleries, etc. One shop in particular (Galeria Alegria) was an art gallery/studio, and on display were several large mosaic-type panels made completely out of Mardi Gras beads! They were absolutely gorgeous.
Next, we went on a swamp tour out on the bayou, and got some great pics of gators and some other local wildlife (including the local fishermen who hooted & hollered as our boat full of girls passed by...). Our guide was really cool and gave us a lot of information about the area, how it was affected by the hurricanes, and a little about the current efforts to continue rebuilding. It seems that the general sentiment toward relief efforts are frustration at how government funds are being allocated and how long it has taken to get seemingly very little accomplished. Although the tourism industry is New Orleans' main source of income, jobs, etc., most of the residents surrounding the areas that were hit the hardest are very hostile toward the tours that come through. That is one of several reasons why we opted not to go on a bus tour of the Katrina disaster areas...
We made an awesome friend at the hostel- Fiona, from Vancouver, Canada- and she joined us on the swamp tour and afterward, we went to a Daquiri Shoppe! For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a magical place where there are 15 different flavors of daquiri, all churning in their own individual slushie machines! There were also several pool tables and slot machines, in case you get bored while sipping slowly on your daquiri to avoid getting brain freeze... To top it all off, they sell a giant plastic mug that can hold an entire GALLON of frozen daquiri goodness, and it even comes with a strap so you can haul your gallon-o-daquiri around comfortably while playing pool and hitting up the slots!
After the swamp tour and daquiri tasting (we tasted the DOA, banana split, cajun comfort, lazy daisy, peach colada, pina colada, and margarita!), we stopped at the store to pick up something for dinner, and went back to the hostel. We made an awesome chicken jambalaya that was just spicy enough to make our noses run a little... 2 bottles of wine later, we made ourselves pretty and headed out to Bourbon Street!
Bourbon Street is, by my best guess, a cross between South St. Philadelphia, and Vegas. Every other bar is a strip club/brothel, there was live music and dj's at every single bar singing along with the music and entertaining the crowds, and the drinks were flowing almost as quickly as the cash out of the tourists' pockets. They even had several adjacent streets blocked off because of the high volume of (drunken) pedestrain traffic, and we made it our goal to join their ranks! When we left the hostel, Heather, Fiona, myself, and one of our friends- Nareth, from Boston- grabbed a cab along with 2 other girls who were headed the same way. Once we got there, we met up with 3 other "chaps" (Michael, Matt, & Andrew) from the hostel who had left before us, so in a large group we were considerably safe and well-looked-after.
We spent the night hopping from bar to bar in search of some decent live music and avoiding the places that demanded we put in a drink order before we could even be admitted, let alone use the bathroom, and eventually we settled on Howl At The Moon. It had a more relaxed, lounge-type feel and the atmosphere was really nice- everyone was just hanging out, relaxing, joking with the band, and having a good time. There were 2 pianos facing each-other, and the 2 guys playing were taking requests and occasionally altering the lyrics of the songs to get a laugh out of the audience and make things fun.
At some point, the band members all switched instruments, and one of the new pianists started playing Tina Turner's "Rolling On The River," and the crowd went WILD! So, to keep the audience 'rolling' on the good vibe, he pulled 3 people (including Laura!) up on stage for a "queen/king of the river" contest! The contest consisted of performing 3 of Tina's trademark dance moves, and the audience would be the judge... So after tossing hands up in the air and bringing them back down; rolling fists from right to left; and turning around, placing hands on the piano, and shaking butts with feet planted: Laura was declared the Queen! For a free beer? Why not??
Shortly after, 2 more of our new friends (and quite possibly the most attractive pair of cyclists we have ever met!)- Andy and Ian, from England- met up with us and we decided to change scenes... And at 4am we landed back at the hostel... All that needs to be said is that our big night in the Big Easy couldn't have been any more perfect!! :-)
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