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First off, let me say that this week has been awful. It was the week of "The Big Audit" so needless to say I went to work early, got home late, and even broke down in a flood of awkward tears on my home two days ago. Miserable. All I could think about was getting off early on Friday and heading straight to the sofa with a glass of wine and some peanut m&m's. (Because honestly, who can think calories in a time like this. Celery sticks? Not exactly comfort food.)
But of course I didn't leave early.
Well, I did leave early. One hour early. But I didn't quite make it to the couch--only to the kitchen counter where I found an envelope with my name on it. I immediately ripped it open to find a hotel reservation for NEW ORLEANS! My superfantastic boyfriend had the suitcase packed and the convertible all ready to go! As exhausted as I was, I figured I could just sleep in the car. Roadtrip!
Side note: As much as I love convertibles, I would like to mention that it started pouring down rain fifteen minutes outside of Destin... but hey, it's the thought that counts.
Let me just say that I love pretty much everything about New Orleans- the food, the music, the streets that force you to wear flip-flops so as not to sprain an ankle. And of course, the local people are amazing...
And it's not just the ones in drag that are amazing. I was also quite fond of the man who pulled his rolling desk chair all the way down the street to the park to watch a concert. Of course he didn't have a ticket, so he just sat outside the gate with his brown bag bottle in tow.
I will never understand people who don't like New Orleans.
Nick and I actually had our first date in NOLA so it's always nice to spend a romantic night away where it all started. And by romantic, I mean walking down the streets until the wee hours of the morning, hand-in-hand, arguing about which one of us is currently more intoxicated. Only in New Orleans.
Since we have been to the city a few times now, this trip was all about venturing off our normal beaten path and trying some new local flavor. First, we ate pizza at a funky little Italian place called Mona Lisa. The pizza was so good that I literally wrapped the leftovers up in tin foil and put them in my purse for later. Don't judge. Later we checked out the oldest bar in New Orleans, a place called Lafitte's Blacksmith where we discovered lots of hipsters and didn't last past our first drink. Though I enjoyed the atmosphere, this is definitely not the place to go for people-watching. The crowd is far too normal by New Orleans' standards. After our run-in with the swanky crowd, we made it over to Harrah's for a little gambling. I was up by $20 on the nickel slots (big spender), but then got bored and tried out the "Max Bet" button. After approximately 3 minutes I had lost everything and was over it.
Needless to say we ended up with the masses on Bourbon, sipping on hurricanes in the street and soaking up the scene. I would share more details, if only I could remember them.
In the morning we woke up bright and early (10am) to get ready for our bike tour. Back in September 2008 we took a city tour through Boston on bicycles and have been hooked ever since. Getting the street view of everything makes it much more interesting, so long as you don't get pummeled by a moving vehicle (or horse, other bicycle, gypsy, etc). This one was especially exciting, since our tour guide got screamed at by locals pretty much the entire time. "Can you believe he charges these people fifty bucks in an economy like this?" Apparently they do this every day, as he often used their rants as a segway into talking about local cultures and attitudes (more frequently the latter). Considering he is probably the most laid-back person ever (not to mention he actually does charge $50 a person), something tells me he doesn't mind the chatter.
After 24 short hours in The Big Easy we loaded up the car and headed back back to the Sunshine State. The funny thing is that after having what I thought was the worst week of my life, somehow all I can think about now is what a fantastic weekend it has been so far. I could totally get used to the whole weekend getaway thing and am considering resigning from my current position of "Weekend R&R Extraordinaire" to "Weekend Warrior." I'll keep you posted.
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