Way Down In Louisiana, Down In New Orleans
With an early flight this morning I was paranoid about sleeping in so I was up with the birds! Our sleepy little possums had a bit of trouble rising and as the holiday goes on, it’s getting harder to rouse them in the A.M.! We wolfed down some breakfast, opting this morning for some ‘eggs’ that were in such perfectly round circles and a yellow colour not often found in nature, they could easily have doubled for small frisbees. As we were in a hurry, I decided to eat them rather than test their aerodynamics and we were greeted enthusiastically by our hilarious taxi driver out the front. He was so laid back and easygoing, he didn’t care that we were still banging on the window, urgently beckoning Molly and Sam to “put down those pancakes and get your butts outside”. He had a prize-winning mullet and a big grin to match, wearing a leather vest with his white t-shirt and forearms to rival Popeye’s. His southern American drawl was magnificent! He was almost like a caricature but he was real.
The Savannah Airport provided a handy little set of scales right near the check-in area where we could make sure our bags were under the regulation 50 pounds. Sam was helpfully translating it into kilos for those of us who were not pound-literate. Ross was suitably proud of his efforts, and rightly so, when he stepped confidently up to the weigh in podium with a near perfect score; forty-seven, point five pounds on the noggin! What a champ! (You know I married him for his packing prowess, amongst other things.) The rest of us had to do the unpack-and-rearrange-of-shame; Toby – our lightest packer – able to take much of the excess onboard. There were loud fist pumps and cheers with each subsequent bag passing the weight test, Sam particularly proud of his 50 pound perfect score. Phew.
With that over, we boarded our Delta Airlines plane for what seemed like the shortest flight ever. The flight attendants had barely had time to whip off their life jackets and oxygen masks from their safety demo, before they were preparing the cabin for landing. No time for drinks or snacks on this one!
Arriving in Atlanta for a quick stopover before flying down to New Orleans, the boys were excited to be in the birthplace of Coca Cola and were keen to have a ceremonial Atlanta Coke before they left the hallowed grounds of the city. Now we’ve noticed a phenomenon that overcomes Ross once we enter an airport anywhere on our travels. We’ve dubbed it “airport mode”. He has an urgency in his step, demonstrated by the speed with which he moves in and out of queues and whooshes past rows of departure gates with such gusto, he leaves a light breeze in his wake. Any unprepared family member, if not on their game, will be left behind quite easily once “airport mode” is in operation. It is therefore imperative for all family members to be paying attention in any airport situation, lest they miss their connecting flight. The request for the ceremonial Coke came when “airport mode” was in full force and was met with a very stern warning. The boys only made it back into the line before boarding by the skin of their sugar-coated teeth!
The second leg of our flight was fairly speedy too, though there was time for a brief visit from the drinks and snack cart. As we were winging our way down to Louisiana, about half way through the flight, poor Miss Molly was overcome with pain in one side of her mouth. One minute she was munching happily on some pretzels and enjoying the view out the window and the next, she was clutching at her jaw, tears silently slipping down her cheek. It was so sudden and so strange. She was in lots of pain! Ross had luckily packed some painkillers in his carry-on baggage so she was able to take them and that eventually eased her discomfort. She does have a slight cold at the moment so it may have been to do with the altitude pressing down on her sinuses; we’re not too sure. We’ll give her some more Panadol before the next flight just in case.
The weather in New Orleans wasn’t any cooler than it had been in Georgia! We emerged from the airconditioned comfort of the airport into the muggy morning and waited for our taxi. Our taxi driver was not much taller than Maisy, with darker than dark skin and a thick Creole accent that was extremely hard to decipher. Ross did his best to hold a conversation with him and he was keen to impart his knowledge of New Orleans to us but it was so hard to understand him!
Our check in at the “Embarrassing Suits” (Embassy Suites) wasn’t until 3pm so we thought we’d just dump our luggage at the hotel and have a little explore. We waited for the concierge, Tom, while he went into enormous detail over every possible tourist attraction in New Orleans for the people in the queue in front of us. We must have waited for over half an hour! When we finally saw him, he did give us some good ideas and kitted us out with a great map, showing us all the different areas of the city, telling us where we should go. He did give us a stern warning about drinking – to watch what we drank! We took that on board.
It was amazing to actually be walking along the banks of the Mississippi River! There was a HUGE paddle steamer in dock and down by the river there was an exhibition centre, an aquarium and an IMAX theatre – just like in Sydney. We did notice the massive electricity towers all over the area that did detract a little from the beauty of the riverfront. Our ears were assaulted by some loud, carnival-type music filling the area. It was SO loud and grating and we were speculating where it might be coming from and what instruments we were hearing. Was it a busker? Who was it? It sounded like a really bad primary school recorder group. As we approached the giant paddle steamer, the Natchez, the source of the noise pollution was revealed. It was a little old lady perched atop the boat, playing what looked like a little organ. As she played, little pipes atop the roof, went up and down, emanating puffs of steam as they went. She was completely dwarfed by the massive boat and it was hard to believe someone that small could pump out so much noise! Later, once we’d looked at the brochure, we realised what we were hearing was actually a concert! She was playing “Calliope”. Don’t think we’ll be lining up for that one in a hurry!
Having heard about the famous Café du Monde, we tried to go but were put off by the long queue winding around the block and opted instead for lunch at Riverside Restaurant, where we enjoyed gumbo, jambalya and creole sauce. Mmmmm.
Walking through the French Quarter was such an experience and an assault on all of our senses! There were street performers, horses pulling floral-decorated carts, voodoo shops – with skulls, zombies and other scary window displays, flags, feathers, beads, heaps of bars with live music playing and people dancing in the middle of the day, strip clubs, artists with their easels, jazz bands, guitarists, scantily clad prostitutes parading outside of their clubs, t-shirt shops (displaying some less than wholesome graphics) and dodgy sex shops. One club had a dreadlocked bouncer playing the sax out the front! Everyone was walking around with these bright green “grenade cups” boasting the strongest alcohol fit for human consumption. There was a line-up of people waiting for a high-five from a guy in a red suit dressed as the devil and at one stage we were being tailed by the “devil” and his zombie friend. We all agreed it was a place you definitely wouldn’t want to walk around alone! Just so much happening though! We’d never experienced anything like it and it was way beyond any of our expectations.
It’s hard to describe what New Orleans is like, perhaps a bit of a cross between Nimbin, Newtown and Kings Cross with lots of music thrown in. There’s the hippy element of Nimbin, the urban hipster vibe and arty feel of Newtown and then the seedy sex industry side of Kings Cross. We were definitely in the minority being white and also having kids. We didn’t spot any other kids at all! We were approached by a couple of “brothers” who were pedaling their CDs. Ross and Tobes had a listen through the big white headphones and we chatted to them for ages. They’d just been to Australia so we had lots to talk about! They were from California and echoed our sentiments about New Orleans, “this place is cerrr-azzzzy!!” Apparently we just missed the big “Essence Festival” last weekend, which thousands upon thousands of people visited. Sounds like it could get even CRAZIER!
leaving the mayhem (but not the sweltering temperatures) behind, we couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel and have a refreshing dip in the pool (always the highlight for Maisy!) The Embarrassing Suits has a happy hour from 5:30 to 7:30 (which is really like a happy couple of hours) with free drinks and free food every night. We took full advantage of this and then came back for a movie and some down time. It was a big day!
