New Orleans - An American City Unlike Any Other

I just returned from a some-expenses paid work trip to New Orleans, a city I hadn't been to since my bachelor party in 2015, but a city that I really enjoy visiting.

The main thing I love about New Orleans is that it holds a uniqueness that is sadly missing in many American cities. Most American cities are everchanging landscapes following the latest in value-engineered building trends. Most big cities start to look generally the same. But not New Orleans. 

I've always posited that if I fell asleep and work up in New Orleans that I would instantly know exactly what city I was in (San Francisco would also fare well in this exercise). It has held onto its history better than nearly every other city I've visited, and that historic architecture is generally unique for American cities. The number of pre-revolutionary war buildings and pre-civil war buildings in New Orleans must be unmatched in the USA.

This trip I was able to spend some time in the Garden District and it was such a delight to walk around that neighborhood. From the mansions to the shotgun shacks, some beautifully restored some in a more dilapidated state, but all held beauty and charm, with nary a modern McMansion in sight. I also quite enjoyed hanging out in Igor's on St. Charles street drinking $2 Miller High Life and watching the Olympics on a steamy Louisiana afternoon.

A house in the garden district

That leads to the other reason I like New Orleans, it's a great drinking town. Of course things get skewed with Bourbon St. which is a fun time unto itself, but there are many great bars all around the town. Most of those bars are in old buildings, which I love. I spent a long time chatting with the owner of one of my favorite Bourbon St. Bars, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, and he told me about the history of the building going back to the 1720s - and they still don't have lights!

I'm not sure the next time I'll be making it back to New Orleans. I'd still really like to go to the WWII museum, and explore a few other areas outside of downtown/garden district. Unfortunately nearly every local I talked to said unsolicitedly that the city seems to be going in the wrong direction. This was confirmed for me when I looked up the population losses and crime rate. I felt that a little bit from the last few times I visited, but chalked some of that up to being there midweek during the summer. It felt a little dirtier, and a little rougher around the edges, and the sidewalks were atrocious. I'm amazed the city isn't getting sued every day by people being injured on the sidewalks. Hopefully the city will continue to attract visitors to enjoy one of my favorite places to walk around with a beer in the US.

Christmas, NYE and The Sugar Bowl

I took quite the Christmas vacation.

It started with me flying home the night before Christmas Eve. I did my usual route to the airport which involves a mile walk to a bus, which takes me to a ferry, which takes me to a light rail, which takes me to the airport. From the airport I hopped on a nice little flight down to Phoenix. From Phoenix I slept during my flight to Chicago, and from there it was a quick jump to Detroit. I arrived home a little more than 19 hours after I left. And then I had to go do Christmas Shopping.

A week at home was just enough to remind me why I never want to live in the Detroit suburbs again. So despite the free beer, pool table and hot tub (not to mention family) I left Detroit the day before NYE and flew down to Houston. Of course on this trip it could never be that simple. To get to Houston, I had to fly through Washington DC and Jackson Mississippi. Once in Houston, I spent several days with Mark and Dave. One day we decided to wake up and go to a bowl game. So we grabbed some beer and went down to Reliant Stadium and scalped some tickets for about $17 each to the Texas Bowl.

After the game we went to this liqour store called Spec's. The only reason I mention it is because it has over 80,000 square feet of selling space. The place was an alcoholic's Disneyland.

For NYE we went with a big group out to a local bar. The great thing about Houston is that since it is so warm the bars are mostly patio's with the actual bar having large openings to the outdoor areas. It was a pretty good time but would not hold up amongst some of my better NYE's.

[FREE SIDEBLOG TIME]

Brian's Top 5 New Year's Eves
2008 - Ann Arbor, Michigan
2006 - Windsor, Canada
2010 - Washington, DC
1993 - Bedford, PA (I ate a bunch of chocolate fudge that year and puked everywhere around 12:15)
2009 - Seattle, WA

[END FREE SIDEBLOG TIME]

New years day was spent sitting on Mark's rooftop porch watching the Michigan Basketball game, smoking cigars and drinking whiskey. Pretty solid day.

The next morning Dave and I got on a flight from Houston to New Orleans to attend the Sugar Bowl. It was my first trip to New Orleans and I came away very impressed. There is just something about Bourbon street that makes me really like it. I haven't been to Beale Street in Memphis or downtown Savannah Georgia, so I can't provide another free sideblog of top 5 favorite streets in America. (Having no open container law is the only criteria for making my list of favorite streets in America)

 but I must say, it ranks high on the list so far. I can only imagine what it is like when the weather is above 55 degrees. Before going there my only real knowledge came from watching the Cops specials from Mardi Gras. That's how I knew that it's okay for girl to show their TaTa's but guys can't show their trouser snakes.

Before the Sugar Bowl we pre-gamed in the French Quarter with about 20 of my college friends and then went to the Superdome. I sat in the Student section which was great. The game was ugly but since we won, that meant a big party on Bourbon Street.

If there is a big party, you know that Craig will be there.

Side note: The previous morning he woke up next to a vending machine in a hotel he wasn't staying at.

Gratuitous David Cone shot with fellow Lahser alum Justin:

On the way back to the hotel a girl called my name. It just happened to be Mark Hugye's girlfriend who used to date my roommate, who was good friends with Mark. So I got to talk to Mark a minute and congratulate him on the season. We walked past many of the players on the way back. I even had my picture taken for a terrific Tumblr.

I did a lot of drinking in New Orleans. The 2 days we were there felt like 5 because we would go out and drink all afternoon and then take a nap and go out again at night. Great food, cool city. 5 Stars would visit again, A+++++.

The next day I flew back to Seattle (Through Denver of course). The following day I found myself sitting through an all day design review. It was quite the transition from partying on Bourbon Street to listening to a bunch of nerds talk about Delta T equations.

It was a pretty good vacation. I got to see lots of old friends and do many cool things. And doing cool things is cool.