New Orleans: The Big Easy.....it’s not that easy actually

Well, as mentioned earlier, I will now tell the story of my unfortunate vacation to New Orleans. I have just arrived in Texas after my LA trip when my colleague, after being alone here for 3 weeks, asked about our plans for the long Labour Day weekend. San Antonio was the first choice, but we were told that to spend a long weekend there is really too much. In the end, The Big Easy was selected as our vacation destination.

The trip began with a long leisurely drive, 7 hours inclusive of a BK breakfast stop, along Interstate-10. It was a very nice drive where we started our journey at around 5.30a.m driving eastwards, facing the rising sun. The rising sun over the horizon along the long straight Interstate is truly a sight to behold. Then after hours of driving, there’s this very long bridge on stilts that crosses the vast lake.

Ain't that a nice sight? Though it's a bitch to drive with your face to the sun without proper sunglasses.

This is actually the longest bridge over water on earth. It spans across the Lake Pontchartrain.

It’s almost 12.30p.m when we finally reached N.O. One big problem we found out after we reached is parking. It is freaking expensive!!!!! Garage parking is 20USD per night! That is RM70 at current exchange rates! As true blue Malaysians, we tried to save and drive around to look for cheaper parking options. However, we still end up paying 15USD for parking.

Oh, oh and I forgot to say that we stayed in Hilton! :D. And it cost only about 56USD per night. The secret to this is Hotwire.com.

Our room in Hilton. Sweet eh?

After checking in, we go directly to the heart of tourism in N.O the French Quarters. I really love this place. It is a nice part of the town with narrow roads and alleys, secret gardens within the buildings, artful iron works, etc. Architecture and sights are not the only attractions; food is another must-do experience here. I simply love the fresh oysters, but gumbo (a soupy rice dish) does not agree with my Malaysian palate.

Lunch spot. The oysters are really fresh!

Oysters are so good that I only remembered to take pics of them after I'm finished.

Seafood Gumbo. Not really my taste.

We walked along the French Quarters, went to the French Market (some kind of flea market), and had drinks in roadside cafe listening to live jazz music. It is really splendid, if not for the heat and also the hurricane at the back of my mind.

Pretty French styled buildings along the French Quarters.

The alley cafes, the lampposts ... if only the weather is cooler and I have CH by my side then it would be perfect.

Curious posts along the street. I suppose it was used for parking horses :)

The details of the iron lattice work. Nice...

A small plaza in the center of the French Quarters.

Quaint streetcars, which we sadly did not ride on.

The view around the garden cafe we had our refreshing stop.

The bad news arrived when we step back into the hotel. Hurricane evacuation notice was given out. We were advised to evacuate N.O by the next day and latest by Sunday! We never realize that it would come to this. Weather forecast says that it’ll be bright and sunny for the next 2 days! We thought we had it all figured out by planning to leave N.O one day before the hurricane strikes. Apparently, we were idiots.

Still, the night is still young. We stepped out of the place that gives out sad news into happy land. Back to French Market for dinner! The service was splendid, if all the waitresses work this hard to please the customer, I’d be happy to pay the compulsory tipping in US. They sat next to you to take orders, make recommendations, sounds sincere enough when making small talk and even whoopee when you tell them you plan to hit the bars! After dinner, there’s the famous Bourbon St. Of N.O. Neon lights, live music, live “shows”, lap dance bars and the atmosphere on the street. As ‘nice’ boys, we chose a rhythm & blues bar with live music and enjoyed ourselves there....or rather enjoyed myself as I’m the only person interested in jazz and blues.

The atmosphere is simply electric. Neon lights and throngs of people along the street.

This is what Bourbon Street is notorious for! It's like Patpong Street of Bangkok!

And... urm...the nice views along Bourbon St. as well.

Well, being the unadventurous goody-two-shoes that we are. This bar is where we spend the rest of the night. Accompanied by great music!

After the happy times, we went back to reality. The gas tank was just 1/3 filled, drove to the nearest gas station to find out that the whole neighbourhood is out of gas! Everyone is filling up and getting out of town. For us, we slept over our troubles. Journeyed back to Texas early the next morning. With a stroke of luck, we managed to find a gas pump and filled it up to the brim. The drive home after that is a stop and go disaster that lasted more than 10 hours without actual food other than Oreos.

The freaking traffic jam from the exodus of Hurricane Gustav's Evacuees.