Sunday, April 5th
Woke up and went out into the city with Anton, got bagels at Javalencia and dropped off Anton in the mission for the movie he is acting in. Then we drove out to Fisherman's Wharf and walked around for a while, before picking up Anton and going to El Farolito. After that, we went out to Ocean Beach where we went to the Cliff House and had a few drinks, then hung out on the sand for a while. It was really nice, and super relaxing and the weather was perfect.
Woke up and went out into the city with Anton, got bagels at Javalencia and dropped off Anton in the mission for the movie he is acting in. Then we drove out to Fisherman's Wharf and walked around for a while, before picking up Anton and going to El Farolito. After that, we went out to Ocean Beach where we went to the Cliff House and had a few drinks, then hung out on the sand for a while. It was really nice, and super relaxing and the weather was perfect.
Monday, April 6th
We woke up at 5:30am to catch our flight at SFO. We had a little trouble getting two bottles of wine on the plane (that we had bought as a gift for the people we would be staying with) but we ended up finally getting the wine on the plane after a huge hassle. (By the way, United kind of sucks.) We flew down to LAX where we transferred to a flight straight to New Orleans. We arrived at MSY at about 4:45pm (in Louisiana time) and after about 30 minutes, my aunt Cece arrived in her car to pick us up. After about 45 minutes on the freeway, we ended up driving down St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. It has these old-style street cars on it, down the middle of the street (which is called the "neutral ground," not the "median.") And incredibly old, gigantic, elaborately built houses from the 17oo's and 1800's scattered along the way. I learned a lot about these houses. The ones on the main road were where the wealthy whites resided. The slave and laborers' quarters were hidden in the blocks away from the main street. We checked out Loyola and Tulane University, then went to Whole Foods to get some vegan food (the family we are staying with are strict carnivores.) It was my mom's first time in a Whole Foods and I think she was into it. I discovered new Kombucha flavors (lavendar? chamomile?) Yeah... I was stoked. On the way to the house, my mom and I learned that where we were about to be staying is a "no-drinking premises," so we decided to hide the wine for later use. We got to the house on Claiborne Street and met Margaret, Robert and Prudence (the 15-month old goldie-mix puppy.) The rest of the night we basically ate food and relaxed at the house. I only slept for 4 hours.
We woke up at 5:30am to catch our flight at SFO. We had a little trouble getting two bottles of wine on the plane (that we had bought as a gift for the people we would be staying with) but we ended up finally getting the wine on the plane after a huge hassle. (By the way, United kind of sucks.) We flew down to LAX where we transferred to a flight straight to New Orleans. We arrived at MSY at about 4:45pm (in Louisiana time) and after about 30 minutes, my aunt Cece arrived in her car to pick us up. After about 45 minutes on the freeway, we ended up driving down St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. It has these old-style street cars on it, down the middle of the street (which is called the "neutral ground," not the "median.") And incredibly old, gigantic, elaborately built houses from the 17oo's and 1800's scattered along the way. I learned a lot about these houses. The ones on the main road were where the wealthy whites resided. The slave and laborers' quarters were hidden in the blocks away from the main street. We checked out Loyola and Tulane University, then went to Whole Foods to get some vegan food (the family we are staying with are strict carnivores.) It was my mom's first time in a Whole Foods and I think she was into it. I discovered new Kombucha flavors (lavendar? chamomile?) Yeah... I was stoked. On the way to the house, my mom and I learned that where we were about to be staying is a "no-drinking premises," so we decided to hide the wine for later use. We got to the house on Claiborne Street and met Margaret, Robert and Prudence (the 15-month old goldie-mix puppy.) The rest of the night we basically ate food and relaxed at the house. I only slept for 4 hours.
My aunt dropped us off at the French Quarter, which is the historic downtown part of New Orleans. It is where the first apartment building in the US was ever built (in Jackson Square.) We didn't really know what to do in the French Quarter, so we walked down Magazine Street for about, I don't know... 60 blocks? There are different sections along Magazine that have different shopping areas (antiques, thrift stores, contemporary clothing stores, etc.) and I think we went into about every other antique store we came across. I found a sterling silver ring for $5, at an antique mall and eventually found a dress for $10 at Funky Monkey (a clothing store that would be a lot cooler if the employees weren't so stereotypically "thrift-store-elitist") Puhleeeeeeeeese.
Finally, after walking for hours, we hopped on a street car and made it back to the house. We relaxed for a while, then made a picnic and headed out to Audubon Park to watch the boats sail down the Mississippi. We drank one of our secret bottles of wine (by the way, drinking in public is perfectly legal here. That might explain all the drive-through daquiri stands.) It was so peaceful watching the tugboats and barges go by. The weather was perfect - warm, a little humid, but breezy. I can see why people like New Orleans. My mom and I talked for a long time and I somehow got a wooden sliver under my fingernail. When we were walking out of the park, as the sun was setting, we came across a little island in a pond where there were hundreds of large white birds squaking at each other. When I was watching the birds on the island, I saw a little animal swimming in the water. Hoping it was an alligator, I snuck up to it to take a picture, then realized it was some sort of rat, like a huge river rat, or a river ferret. They are everywhere here! Then I saw a rabbit, which I tried to sneak up to as well (but it got away...duh) and then I got a few pictures of these weird duck-like things (grouse?) with red heads and black and white bodies. After we made it out of the park, we hopped on a street car intending to head back to the house. We heard a couple on the street car ask the driver about "Jacques-Imos Cafe" ("Real Nawlin's Food") which is apparently the place to be, so we jumped off the car and followed them. We headed down a dark, somewhat abandoned street that was mostly blocked off due to road construction. On the way, we were stopped by a couple who asked us for change and went into a long sob-story, so we gave them some bucks and kept walking. Finally we ended up a few blocks down at what looked like some plain old bar. Once inside, we realized that it was actually a restaurant with a bar up front. We got our names on the list, and drank expensive Bloody Marys while we waited the entire hour for our name to be called. Finally, once seated, we realized that this place is so in desire because of it's famous authentic Cajun food. It was totally packed! The menu was really Cajun (think crawfish, rabbit, cornbread and red beans) but luckily I was able to get the Veggie Curry made vegan (it was really good, too.) My mom had the fried green tomatoes, which she didn't completely love. (They were too salty.) After that, my aunt picked us up (at our host's insistence - there was a shooting in the neighborhood about a month back that resulted in the death of an 8 year old.) So we came home and spent a couple hours talking to my aunt and learning about the socio-economics, the corrupt politics, and failed school system of New Orleans. She is getting her Master's in Urban Studies and knows just about everything there is to know about this area. Then, we finally went to sleep.
Wednesday, April 8th
Thursday, April 9th
Went out to get coffee at a cute local place near the French Quarter. After getting our drinks, we stopped at a French bakery, then went down to the French Quarter and walked around, checking out the old architecture and Jackson Square and the French Market, which I really liked. There were some really interesting pieces, including real alligator heads. I really wanted to buy one, but I asked the vendor where they came from and he told me that they hunt the gators in the bayou, then chop off the heads and eat the bodies. So, I decided it wouldn't really support my vegan ideals to support that... but maybe if I find one in a thrift shop it will be another story. After that, we came back to the house, then looked up the location of Banksy's pieces that were put up in 2008. Apparently, it got a lot of attention last year when Banksy stopped through town and left a few of his pieces scattered around. So, we google-mapped them, then went on a Banksy Hunt in my aunt's car. We drove out to the 9th ward, which is the most devastated area of the city. It is the location where the levee broke after Hurricane Katrina (the levee is the wall between the river and the houses) that resulted in the destruction of tons of homes. Some of them actually floated away, and others were just torn to shreds. It is also the area that Brad Pitt's "Make It Right" Foundation is restoring. I took pictures of some of the homes. They are designed with solar-panels on the roofs, are built up high off the ground and are painted bright colors.
After locating and photographing most of the Banksy paintings (a couple were on buildings that have since been demolished) we went back to the house and relaxed and ate for a while. A couple hours later we headed out to get a drink (from Applebees... yuck) and check out a movie (Sunshine Cleaning... it was... alright.) Then we went to sleep.
Friday, April 10th
Today we woke up bright and early at about 6:30am (or 4:30am Pacific Time) and headed out to catch our flight out of MSY. Our flight to Denver was relatively painless, but then we got stuck at Denver for an extra 2 1/2 hours while they fixed some battery problem with our plane. Finally we got in to SFO and went straight to Herbivore, where I ate until my stomach hurt (airport food isn't real.) Now I'm at home and happy to be here. I had a lot of fun in New Orleans, but I really like being in Oakland right now, and I'm SO ready to sleep in my own bed.
Here is what I learned about New Orleans:
*Creole is a mix of races: French, Spanish, African-American and Native American
*Cajun food is awesome (well I already knew that)After locating and photographing most of the Banksy paintings (a couple were on buildings that have since been demolished) we went back to the house and relaxed and ate for a while. A couple hours later we headed out to get a drink (from Applebees... yuck) and check out a movie (Sunshine Cleaning... it was... alright.) Then we went to sleep.
Friday, April 10th
Today we woke up bright and early at about 6:30am (or 4:30am Pacific Time) and headed out to catch our flight out of MSY. Our flight to Denver was relatively painless, but then we got stuck at Denver for an extra 2 1/2 hours while they fixed some battery problem with our plane. Finally we got in to SFO and went straight to Herbivore, where I ate until my stomach hurt (airport food isn't real.) Now I'm at home and happy to be here. I had a lot of fun in New Orleans, but I really like being in Oakland right now, and I'm SO ready to sleep in my own bed.
Here is what I learned about New Orleans:
*Creole is a mix of races: French, Spanish, African-American and Native American
*New Orleanians are notoriously friendly, hospitable and chatty
*New Orleans is the most Catholic city in the country
*Almost all houses in N.O. have porches and people like to hang out on them all the time
*New Orleans actually used to be very wealthy, but ain't doin' too hot these days
*The school system is corrupt
*The weather is muggy, but beautiful
*Weird animals!
To see more pictures, go to my flickr
0 comments:
Post a Comment