George and I have decided to go to New Orleans this weekend. This will be our fourth trip there, but our first since the hurricane. We really love the place. To love New Orleans you have to suffer. We went in May one year to go to the Jazz Festival and it was so hot we didn't even go. Sun like that is dangerous and they don't allow you to bring in chairs, water or umbrellas. I wanted to go, but I didn't want to see the show from the medical tent.
August in New Orleans is also going to be very humid and hot. I am mentally preparing myself to have a good time and ignore the sweat dripping down my face. They sell Gatorade at every corner drug store, and it is fun to duck into a restaurant or bar and get a cool drink (non-alcoholic for me, thank you) and grab some shade. I have a hat, and we have umbrellas for the chance of a brief thunderstorm. It is cooler on the riverboats, and we will be inside the museums and shops. Let's face it, half the world is near the equator. The tropics are hot, and New Orleans wouldn't be New Orleans without it's tropical flavor.
This year we will be going to the Satchmo Summerfest at the Old US Mint where they will have stages set up: Traditional Jazz Stage, Contemporary Jazz Stage, and a Brass Band Stage. We also plan on going to the White Linen Night gallery walk which takes place on Saturday night. I found a new restaurant called Cochon that serves authentic Cajun food: boudin, andouille, & something I haven't tried yet: crawfish. I'm determined to be braver and eat crawfish on this trip! My love for Cajun music has spilled over to my interest in everything Cajun.
At White Linen Night, everyone is given a fan and everyone wears white linen. It is an evening to celebrate the art of living in that kind of heat I guess. New Orleans loves a celebration. This is a "local" evening, not just for tourists and I'm looking forward to it. White Linen Night started as a celebration to get people out in the slow summer months. I like going to New Orleans during the slow times. We went for Christmas once with Mike and Michelle, and we went another time in the late summer. I would never go to New Orleans for Marti Gras. Too many crowds and too much chaos. I like it slow and simple.
This trip we will finally go to the World War II museum. They have airplanes, so of course George is very interested! And I am interested in history and am reading a great book on World War II called "1942:The year that tried men's souls" by Winston Groom. We plan on taking at least one tour, either a plantation tour or a swamp tour and we wouldn't miss a nice evening jazz cruise on the riverboat. There is also a tour of the ninth ward and the flooded out parts of New Orleans that we might want to take. They want tourists, and we will be there four days to do our part for the economy. New Orleans is never boring!
Our room at the Wyndham will have a view of the Mississippi River because I love big rivers and watching the riverboats and tugboats. We will go to the jazz brunch at Armauds on Sunday morning and eat a lot of fresh oysters at the Acme Oyster house and dance and dine one night at my favorite Cajun place in New Orleans: Mulates.
I'm packing my sandals for the heat, my sneakers for the walking, and my flats for the dancing. And a hat! It is just fun to even think about it!
Have a great day.
