Life is good in the Big Easy
Have you ever been walking down the street looking for a candy store, looked down at a text message and then looked up just as a marching band rounds the corner and starts to play, grooving down the street with giant dolls waving in your direction, as if it were all just for you?
No, this is not Manhattan on LSD -- it's New Orleans!
I had a magical afternoon just after arriving in the Big Easy. All in a day's work, I saw the classic streetcars, Spanish-style homes and crazy Bars of the French Quarter before filling up on shrimp etouffe, jambalaya and red beans and rice. Through the details of my crazy life I was offered a book of free food and activities, and I tried to eat as much as possible on the first day (which I promise I will duly work off in my hotel's awesome gym). So after all that classic NOLA fare at Mother's Restaurant, a down-to-earth diner where people line up at a cafeteria-style serving counter as they drool over what they wish their moms had known how to cook, I went searching for more goodies.
I have to say that, in spite of all the magic that continually directs itself in my direction, the candy shop was closed and my box of free pralines had to hold off until tomorrow. But all was not lost! This mild misfortune got me to seek out a free cocktail at the Bourbon Cafe, where I had to sit alone at the bar but made it quick, and then got a lovely lemon tart at classically upscale-but-homey Galatoire's.
The only thing I'm regretting as I find out more about the city is how much I'll miss - the steamboat tour, the haunted house and cemetery and culinary tours..... there's so much going on! And although according to my calculations like 20% of the people in this city at any given time are tourists and there is plenty of cheese to be found amongst the kitsch, I am loving the party feel.
There aren't that many places I've met people who grew up there who say they've left and came back and would never choose any place over home. Today while watching the marching band I met a guy who said he'd tried another southern city but couldn't see living anywhere else but here. He described the band we were watching with pride - it was a high school marching band that traveled all over the world. They weren't in perfect sync as they marched, and the music had a bit of the "joyful noise" quality to it, but it sure could get you tapping your feet.
To hear this man talk about his town, It reminded me of a fishermen I met in the town where I live who told me he'd lived six months less than a mile out of town and couldn't stand it, he had to come back home. It's good to love your roots, and it shows when a community feels so proud.