New Orleans!!!! How did I get here...

Oh yea, it was Teresa's 50th B-Day and as a present, Jackie and I joined her there to celebrate, and I'm glad we did, so I don't have to go back if I don't want to.  New Orleans in a funny place.  In as much as it is really just a state of mind, it is quite possible to find yourself here when you least expect it.  As luck would have it, we were there for some kind of festival or other but as I soon found out, luck has nothing to do with it, because they have some kind of festival there every few weeks or so.  So check your schedules.  But one thing is for sure.  Take the city bus from the airport to down town.  It's a couple of bucks and you immediately become part of the landscape and you will save a fortune in cab fare.  First night at the Weston which had a pretty good room and pretty bad food at the in house restaurant called Zoe which was free with our credits, but still wasn't worth it.  Jackie and I found no redeeming qualities.  Our room had a view of kind of good view of downtown New Orleans.

Since we're on the subject, the only way to get around in style are the trollies.  There's the St. Charles line that takes you through the garden district as far as Carrollton.

Once you get to the end of the line, if you are hungry, eat at the Camellia Grill.  Its old, authentic, and the price is right.  Then there are the Canal Street Lines and the City Park Lines.  Can't remember where they go, but if you get the all day pass, who cares.  Its all good.  Just get on and off as you please and you'll see it all.

Otherwise just enjoy the sights and sounds, they're everywhere...

St. Patrick's Cathedral...

New Orleans at night is magical.  Unfortunately, I didn't have a tripod, because I never have a tripod, so almost all of my night shots were blurry.  This was the only kind of good one.  It reminds me of the photographs you see in the book Paris At Night, shot in the 1930's by Brassai, so I like it a lot.   All in all, looking back, you could have taken a million photos there day or night (hopefully someone has), so these are only a few impressions of a newbie , and looking back I always think I could have done a better job, and as always, I say...next time, but I say that a lot, and there are only so many next times, so...

We might be hobo's, but we are still tourists in other people's reality, so how can you pass up one of these pictures?  Trite, but I love them.

Well, as it turned out, I found out that we were there for the French Quarter Festival, which is probably a lot like all the other festivals...a lot of music...a lot of food...a lot of people...a lot of noise...a lot of drinking and a lot of what everyone goes to New Orleans for...This is a photo of Tommy Malone, a member of the Subdudes who our friend Teresa, who was with us celebrating her 50th (in case you forgot), is crazy about.  Also saw Trombone Shorty who I like, but who wasn't so short anymore, was kind of no longer a novelty, and mostly played the trumpet.

                                                                Pablo