4 days in New Orleans

It was an awesome 4 day mini-vacation in New Orleans with my girl, Bobby. The warm weather, the music, the food and the company provided a lovely escape from the bitter Chicago winter. It was warm (75 degrees) for a few days, but decided to dip down in the the 40s for a moment in the middle of the trip. I didn't mind so much because it was always warmer than the teens and 20s I've been experiencing in Chicago. We stayed in a cute little room in Hotel St. Pierre on the edge of the Quarter in an old creole style house. Our tiny room only fit two twin beds but opened up to a beautiful traditional brick courtyard with a fountain and tropical vegetation. It was clean and comfortable with lots of southern charm. The location was perfect, away from the tourist hubbub of Bourbon and Canal Streets closer to Esplanade, Frenchman Street and the Marigny where we rocked out in the real (not drunk frat boy) action.

We got in Saturday evening and Melvin and Maurice picked us up at the airport. They had driven down from Jackson, MS to party with us Saturday night. We ate the most amazing Fried Chicken ever at Praline Connect, where i used to work, then got stiff and sweet daiquiri's to-go at my favorite ghetto daiquiri stand, like, for reals, ghetto. (no tourists or even white people, for that matter, except for me) I only know about it from my days as a volunteer at Common Ground Collective when we lived in tents in the 'hood and used to visit there on our nights off.

Strong drinks in hand we made our way over to Frenchman street to bar hop, drink and listen to the assortment of bands playing in the venues that line the street. We caught the end of Washboard Chaz's set at the Spotted Cat and danced for a bit at the Apple Barrel. My friend Ruby (from my days working at the Praline Connection) who now lives in close by Jefferson Parish met up with us half way through our evening. We ended the night at Dragon's Den (a local spot, tucked away from the tourist crowds always stuffed with new Orleans locals) getting down to Soul Rebels Brass Band. They rocked out. It was fun and I knew i was 'home.' After eating some late night cheese fries at Check Point Charlies Melvin and Maurice crashed on our hotel floor.

Wrecked from Saturday night we started off our Sunday morning sloooowly. Soul food brunch at Elizabeth's (another local spot away from the crowds) and some of the best bloody mary's in New Orleans hit the spot. I had 'Redneck Eggs' with fried green tomatoes and some of the best creamy grits and biscuits i've had in ages. After brunch Melvin and Maurice departed on their journey back to Mississippi while Bobby and I made our way back to the Quarter. We hit up the Contemporary Arts Center to view a portion of the work from the Prospect One contemporary art biennial. Prospect one is: the largest biennial of international contemporary art ever organized in the United States, opened to the public on November 1, 2008 in museums, historic buildings, and found sites throughout New Orleans. We had planned on taking it easy Sunday then exploring the exhibits on Monday and Tuesday, but when we realized most of the spaces were closed on Monday and Tuesday, plans changed. Finally, exhausted at the end of the day we made it an early night.

Monday we rented a car to visit the 9th Ward (and lower 9th Ward) where most of the devastation from the storm had hit and where i had camped out as a Common Ground Volunteer. I saw the Catholic Elementary school where i had camped out and even got a chance to reconnect with people i had volunteered with. They were still there in the same lot running a community bike shop: Rubarb where they fix up old bikes and work with youth in the area. A small part of me wondered what would have happened if I had decided to stay in New Orleans.

The neighborhoods were still vastly abandoned and empty, but had certainly cleaned up a lot in the last two years since i had been there. Most of the trash, abandoned cars was removed from the streets and the houses were either bulldozed or cleaned up. Here's a few pix from 2006 of where i stayed and what it looked like at that time (unfortunately i didn't have a camera to document this last visit) You can see more of my pix here:
http://flickr.com/photos/shaynakatherine/sets/72057594106932029/
and here:
http://flickr.com/photos/shaynakatherine/sets/72057594121119117/


In the lower 9th ward we saw a few of the site specific installations from Prospect One as well as the Brad Pit Houses from MAKE IT RIGHT.com . Great idea and so far well executed. Way to go Brad. A celebrity actually doing good with his money and influence. A few of the houses were already finished with residents already living in them.

The rest of the day we drove around seeing my old haunts, then met up with Ruby in Jefferson Parish where we drank wine and met her son, Jack. For dinner we headed to Port O Call for some of the best burgers in New Orleans and then to Spotted Cat where we watched swing dancers to the sounds of the New Orleans Jazz Vipers.

Tuesday morning we returned the car and headed out on foot to the Quarter. We enjoyed beignets at Cafe Du Monde and I got my obligatory tarot card reading on Jackson Square. We visited some galleries on Julia Street then had dinner at another excellent creole restaurant i had not visited before: EAT.

Tuesday night we were lucky enough to get ourselves uptown to the Maple Leaf Bar to see Rebirth Brass Band play their legendary Tuesday night set. Although they made it an early night and had finished playing by 2am we still had enough time to drink a little whiskey and get our grove on. They always play to a packed house, and they always, always Rock!





Home by 3am, we woke up early the next day to catch our am flight back to Chicago. Luckily snows and severe weather in the midwest only delayed our flight an hour and i made it home safe and sound, back to the Chicago cold.

It was the perfect trip. Next time i hope it won't be so long before i return again.