June 12, 2013
NEW ORLEANS HERE I COME! With a pit stop by McDonalds first…of
course. I still haven’t been able to get my wifi device to work.
Today I learned that there is no such thing as free parking
in New Orleans. I ended up paying $14 to park my car somewhere for only 2
hours. What a jip! During that time, I was able to walk around and experience
day life on Bourbon St. and other streets surrounding. I think a new record was
made for how many times I was hooted and hollered at in a day, but everyone I
encountered was very friendly. Instead of me asking people if I could take
their picture, people were asking ME to take their picture, which I found to be
rather funny. Two gentlemen in particular grabbed my attention and asked me to snap a photo of them.
The man on the left said to make sure I let everyone know
that he is a Hurricane Katrina survivor, so here ya go, friend.
“Roses are red, violets are blue, when I see that Texas
smile, you make all my dreams come true!”
I saw more boobs and bottles of liquor than I think I have
in my entire lifetime…okay, maybe that’s not true, but there was literally a
cabaret every direction I looked and about 80% of people walking around had
either a fancy New Orleans style drink or brown bag in their hand. I spotted a
man wearing a jester costume and gold face paint heading my direction. I asked
him if I could take a picture of him, but he suggested taking one with me
instead. Just before a nice lady snapped our photo, I heard him say, “Just
don’t forget to tip me.” Oh, right…silly me. I told him I didn’t have any cash
and his response was, “Ain’t nothin’ free out here on the streets, baby.”
Whoops, another lesson learned for me!
Street performers- New Orleans, LA
On the way back to my car, I saw a young man hanging out by
a fountain holding a snake. I introduced myself to him and learned that his
name was James and his ball python’s name was Valatorous, which meant
“strength” and “power.” I was super excited when James offered to let me hold
Valatorous and I was able to get a picture with him.
James and Valatorous, the ball python- New Orleans, LA
After almost making it back to the car, I ran into a bike
taxi guy that I had seen earlier in the day. He told me that he was off soon so
he wouldn’t have time to take another passenger anywhere and offered me a ride
for free. I was hesitant to take the ride, feeling terribly that I didn’t have
any cash to pay him, but after chatting for a few moments, I decided I would
let him drive me to a cluster of old buildings nearby for a few good photos.
Zack and I talked as he peddled and I found out that he’s a really cool dude
who grew up here in Louisiana. He was able to tell me interesting facts about
the town and give me a bit of insight about good spots to go out at night. At
the end of my ride, it came up that I was traveling and was planning to sleep
in my car. After hearing that, he very politely and as un-forwardly as possible
offered to let me sleep on the sofa at his place. He actually has a profile on
Couch Surfers himself, but has it marked inactive since he has a friend staying
with him for the time being. I love the way things seem to just fall into
place. (I can thank the man upstairs for that one.) I didn't know if I would be taking Zack up on his offer for the night, but it was nice to make the contact for future reference.
DID I MENTION RICKY, ONE OF MY GREATEST FRIENDS, HAPPENS TO
BE IN LOUISIANA TONIGHT?!
Ricky came to Slidell, a town close to New Orleans, and we
were able to get together for the night. We went and grabbed a couple drinks
from a gas station and headed to the pool at Ricky's hotel around midnight. We noticed a sign saying the pool had closed at 10:00 pm, but decided to
stay until we were told to leave. After all, we weren’t doing anything loud or
obnoxious to disturb anyone. Earlier we noticed an older security guard walking
around who wore high water pants and a bald head. We decided he looked like a “Hubert,”
so that’s what we called him. We were able to swim and chill in the pool for
about 30 minutes before Hubert made his rounds and told us we couldn’t be in
the pool or the gated area enclosing it. Being the clever thinkers that we are,
we moved 2 pool chairs right outside of the gate and had ourselves a sit. While
we were catching up, we noticed a toad sitting next to us and you know what
that meant. It was frog hunting time! We caught several frogs throughout the
night and had a great time just goofing off, talking, and taking sneaky pool
dips in between Hubert’s nightly rounds. The simple things in life like
experiences like this are what bring me happiness.
Part of the Ricky Adventure- Slidell, LA
After hanging outside of the pool UNTIL 5 IN THE MORNING, we
figured it was about time to call it a night. Ricky retired to his room, and I to
my car.
Goodnight moon, goodnight frogs, and goodnight Hubert.
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