Mardi Gras in April

I have to be honest and say that I really never had any desire to go to New Orleans, especially after Hurricane Katrina. I heard the town had become the "arm pit" of America. And lets be honest people...after Vienna, nothing is going to look quite as appealing ;)! But none the less, duty called and I headed to New Orleans for a cardiology conference.
















It took me two planes to get there and two to get back. Lets just say, I had no clue planes could land sideways ;p! Though I felt I was going to die 3 out of the 4 flights, I'd say my friend Kelly Dieterle, who was flying at the same time, had a worse experience when a flight attendant sat down beside her, buckled in and goes "This is not good". Good thing she is a frequent flyer because she laughed, I would of cried!

It was a quick trip, down one night and back the next. We went to the show when we got there on Monday and then of course with only one night to experience the city we headed where any "tourist" would head....down the street to the French Quarter!






















I was told it's a MUST to walk down the street with a "Hurricane". It was delicious and if someone would of struck a match in front of my mouth I would of looked like a fire breathing dragon lol! Seriously...WOW.






















The first place I saw as I entered the French Quarter was "Hustler". What really caught my eye was their tag line... "Relax..It's just Sex". The phrase all men have tried once in their lives...





















We then ran into this street performer. And by performer I mean he takes pictures with you and you are supposed to tip him! As you can tell, I am a little leery about this awkward pose he tried to put us in. The guy had a foul mouth...even for me lol! He was talking about beads coming out of... nevermind let's keep this PGish!






















Also I noticed they blocked off the streets so people could stumble from side to side. Aggieville on steroids!

















My co-workers did a great job of showing me all the "must see places" in the Quarter. We went to Pat O'Briens and had Hurricanes, cherries soaked in Everclear at Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar (oldest pub in the country), and a weird vodoo shop where I swear they were sticking pins in our look alike dolls after we left!

Speaking of Jean Lafitte...don't you think the piano player at "his" bar looked like the modern day version of him?!













After we had jumped from bar to bar, experiencing everything we could in one evening, the night ended with a few co-workers taking Absinthe shots. Seriously the shot smelled like gasoline and later they found out it's not the "real stuff" so no green men for them...just really bad hangovers!










I took the easier route of "experiencing" New Orleans by buying a "Mardi Gras" mask.















It was a great trip and I am glad that I can now say I have been to New Orleans.

What are my thoughts on New Orleans (specifically the French Quarter) now that I have been there:

• Vacation place...Not for this girl!
• One night debauchery with your craziest friends...Absolutely for this girl!
• The streets in the "French Quarter" just reek! Someone next to me put it in perspective when they said "Just think about how many people have puked on these streets". Ahhh...that is the smell :(
• AND blackened alligator tastes like popcorn chicken from Sonic mmmm yum!