New Orleans '07

I am now on a plane heading home to new york, from new orleans. The trip was great. I am a foodie and new orleans is a great place for great food. That whole southern / french thing is great. I had some great po-boys, gumbo, red beans and rice, oysters, crawfish, etoufettee, jambalya, cajun meats and beniets. All of the places we went to were great. I did have a few dishes that weren't spectacular, but still good.
The other great thing about new orleans is the music. When your walking down a street and you hear the classic new orleans brass sound, as you would in a movie, you might stop and think this is the best place for music. But it's not. Living in New York we have the whole street / subway musician thing,too. And I have heard amazing music comming from those subway platforms. People playing everything from Caribbean music to Mozart. But in new orleans i was not impressed with the musicianship as much as I thought I would be. I was prepared to hear non stop amazing creole swing, but I mainly heard the same ten jazz standards that every jazz musician plays all over the country. Although when I heard the tuba, clarinet and banjo start to play, everything started to get right. All the bars have bands playing. Some of the rock bands were lame. Well most of them were lame. The other half of the bar scene consisted of rhythm and blues bands. They were all great. Most had horn sections and really put on a show. We did happen to stumble upon a New Orleans wedding, which was awesome. The bride and groom walking the streets with a New Orleans, creole swing band behind. And then all the guest.
The french quarter is beautiful. The buildings, with their balconies stretching over the sidewalk, with gas lanterns hanging underneath, might bring one to paint a picture, as do many local artist do. There is a lot of art happening here. The antiques shops and courtyards reminiscent of english gardens hide in-between buildings on these small streets. One might get lost in these small streets and forget of the large hotels and casinos casting shadows on this old world area. And that's were the confusion comes in.
Upon my arrival, I looked out the window over New Orleans, and I can see the swamps and marshes that are iconic of this place. But once on the ground and driving on interstate 10 it just looks like any other place in the mid-west. Just flat plains. With the sight of a small group of skyscrapers in the distance I feel like I'm in California now. Canal street is a palm tree lined street, that has trollies rolling down the center. Where am I? I think it's call New Orleans.

****Warning Personal Thoughts Ahead******

I went to New Orleans with a great group of people. Frank, Brandi, Marc, Chrissy, Helena, Chrissy and Kelly to be exact. Over the past few years I have vacationed with different groups of friends, and there is something about this group that works really well. I know it sounds cliché, but I have the best friends in the world.
-Andy