They call it “The Bourbon Soup”. It's what you walk through as you stroll down America's favorite party street. It covers your shoes and also the floors of the various joints you walk in and out of. A pungent combination of dirty water, garbage, spilled beer, urine and vomit…hosed into the street from the previous night's bachinaal. Night after night people flock to the bars of Bourbon to relieve themselves of their troubles for a few hours. A place whose main aim seems to be to get you as drunk as possible, as quick as possible. Sample a Hurricaine or a Hand Grenade and it shouldn't take long. I'm glad I saw the spectacle but there were other parts of New Orleans that held my interest much more. Here are some musings:
Pros- the music…everywhere you looked there was music filling the air…Dixieland, zydeco,blues,funk, jazz of all kinds…played by young and old alike…mostly for tips. Like Joni Mitchell's song (see below) the street corner playing was awesome. And every club…from the dankest dive to the fanciest restaurant had something going on. The clubs on Frenchman Street are a better bet if you want to avoid the drunken crowds on Bourbon. Also some of the side streets, Royal, Toulouse, St. Peter, hold hidden gems as well like Preservation Hall. You can smell the history in the aging floors and walls of the place.
The food…seafood of course shrimp and oysters prepared dozens of ways (to my palate the shrimp tasted better down there (can't get any fresher I suppose)…crab, redfish, jambalya, po-boys…too many great restaurants to try on one short weekend.
The history…Just walking through the French Quarter and the Marigny neighborhood (where we stayed) and seeing plaques on the walls of various homes that were built in the 1830's or even earlier boggle the mind. Although there is some upgrading going on that covers up that kind of archetectural history, there are enough people that have realizedthey are protecting and do it well. The Garden District walking tour is well worth the money to get the history from people that actually live in the neighborhood.
The Mardi Gras Museum and the World War 2 Museum are well worth the trip alone. If you go to the World War 2 museum make sure you add on the 4-d movie Beyond All Boundaries” narrated by Tom Hanks.
Cons-It's a working city and not very clean. An army of sanitation workers try to keep up with a constant barrage of tourists but and old city in many places looks it's age.
Lots of homelessks and street people and not only in the French Quarter. It wasn't urprisng to be walking through almost any neighborhood and find unfortunate souls sleeping rough on the sidewalk, a few meager possessions strewn around them.
Noise- If you stay close to or in the Quarter be prepared to sleep less than you're used too. People stay out late and tend to mkae alot of noise on their way home. The B&B's you will stay in don't have thick wall or insulation and are right on top of the street.s You will hear everthing.
All in all more pros than cons and everyone should try and visit to sample all that the Big Easy has to offer. But I would suggest that you either leave the kids at home or not visit some parts of the city. I could not quite understand why you would walk down Bourbon Street (even during the day) with young children or even pre-teens in tow. And there were plenty of folks doing just that.
Other stuff
Ethan Happ is an emerging star in the college basketball ranks and he had another good one last night as the Badgers beat Indiana on the road. Wisconsin has won nine-in-a-row and will play at Purdue on Sunday afternoon. The tv schedule maker is unkind as that game will start right around the same time as the Packers playoff matchup with the Giants. The Bucks have moved their Sunday game up an hour to 1pm so their fans won't have to miss either game.
TJ Watt will be joining his brothers in the NFL. He made the decision just a couple of days after the Badgers took care of business and culminated an 11-3 season with a win at the Cotton Bowl.
The Bucks have won two straight and Giannis is on ther cover of this week's Sports Illustrated! The Bucks now play two in a row vs the Knicks…tonight at Madison Square Garden and Friday night in Milwaukee.
The Pointer mens and womens basketball teams begin conference play tonight. The men at home vs UW-Oshkosh and the women on the road at Oshkosh.
Songs Of The Day (from my I-pod)
