"But this I know: If all mankind were to take their troubles to the marketplace with the idea of exchanging them, anyone seeing what his neighbor's troubles were like would be glad to go home with his own." - Herodotus
Traveling is not my thing. I've traveled over the decades - Europe, the orient, several pacific islands, and within the three countries on the north American continent. Still, the place where I'm happiest, least stressed, and most comfortable is home - wherever that home happens to be.
I was informed late last year that it would be a "good idea" to attend a safety conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. I had the distinct impression that they were sending me because they didn't want to go either. While was not thrilled about the prospect of traveling and being away from my happy place, it would be silly to not take advantage of the opportunity to play tourist on the trip.
It's a cool place, especially during Mardi Gras season. There are a lot of wonderful French, Caribbean, and Spanish influences in the culture, food, and architecture.
Below: Mardi Gras, 1885.
There were a couple of bucket-list items that I had in mind during the visit, and a couple of wish-list items as well. But first it was necessary to get there. I woke at 2:00 AM to get showered and out the door to catch a 6:00 AM flight. I drove the old Subie to a co-worker's house and then we took his truck to the Spokane airport - so that we could wait in a loooong line to get through security screening.
The aircraft was an Airbus A320, a smallish jet that competes with the 737 for regional flights. Nicely fitted out interior, but the music was way too loud and annoying - pop country - during boarding and de-icing. The screens on the seat in front of everyone were programmed with commercial messages that changed the image every three seconds, and there was no stopping it. Until they released the screens for use and shut off the music, it felt like I'd gone to hell.
Eventually the jet took off in the dark and climbed out above the never-ending winter overcast. It looks about the same from above, only now you are looking down at it.
Both legs of the trip were pretty bumpy, and the flight attendants continuously told everyone to stay put in their seat and to keep their seatbelts fastened. I just wanted it to be over with, from beginning to end. The company pays for cattle-class seats, so my knees were hurting toward the end. After a couple of hours the plane descended through the clouds into Salt Lake City Utah, and I got a view of what I believe to be Stansbury Island, and the northern end of the Great Salt Lake.
We landed, had breakfast, waited a couple of hours, then got on a Boeing 737 and flew to New Orleans, Louisiana. On the way, we passed over one of the large Colorado ski resorts. I don't know if this is Aspen, Vail, or Breckenridge, but it's certainly one of them. EDIT: After comparing this picture with Google Earth, I think this is more likely Snowmass.
Once we arrived in New Orleans at the Louis Armstrong International Airport, we got a cab.
The drive took us past one of the famous above-ground cemeteries on the way to the hotel. I've seen these cemeteries in movies, but never in person. Unfortunately there was not enough time to go on a tour of one of these interesting sites.
The venue for the conference was lovely, had amazing views, food, and attentive staff. You could not have asked for a better place to stay - all within walking distance of the French Quarter. Two blocks from Canal Street, with its trolleys, and five blocks from Bourbon Street. Nice lodging!
I won't sugar-coat the experience of walking around the French Quarter: The place is pretty seedy. There are holes in the sidewalks where utility covers are missing, people unconscious in doorways, and the place is rife with pick-pockets and panhandlers. That said...
The French Quarter is also vibrant, and festive and full of life. It's not a tent-city filled with desperately poor or drug-addled people. The architecture is beautiful, as are the lights and the sounds and smells. The food is amazing, and the people are charming and warm, if difficult to understand sometimes :).
Below: Appetizers at Bourbon House.
Below: Still jet-lagged after dinner, I took a couple of street images on the way back to the hotel. I should note that there is no law against taking a drink out of an establishment and sipping it as you walk along. Most establishments won't allow you to enter with a drink from another establishment though! There were only a few notably wobbly people walking about, and they appeared to be locals rather than tourists.
So it was a brief night out for dinner, that first one. We had a meet and greet to attend at the hotel's grand ballroom. Once that was over, I retired to my room and discovered that the heel of my shoe was coming loose from the sole! Of course this couldn't happen at home, where I have another pair of shoes.
There were some fancy shoe stores in the mall attached to the hotel - like Allen Edmonds - but I wasn't really interested in spending hundreds of dollars on a pair of fine leather shoes. Instead I located an "Athlete's Foot" shoe store and bought some upscale sneakers - which still cost $200. Sigh.
I left the old pair of shoes in the trash at the shoe store, and a replacement pair has already arrived from Amazon at the cost of $59. This is probably the 5th or 6th set of these that I've worn out.
After getting the shoes, it was time to wander about, and then take care of those bucket list items. So a few images of the streets of New Orleans are below.
Nice shoes! I decided not to crop them out :)
So the first bucket-list item: Have a glass of Absinthe at the Old Absinthe house:
"New Orleans has a cultural association with absinthe and is credited as the birthplace of the Sazerac, perhaps the earliest absinthe cocktail. The Old Absinthe House bar on Bourbon Street began selling absinthe in the first half of the 19th century. Its Catalan lease-holder, Cayetano Ferrer, named it the Absinthe Room in 1874 due to the popularity of the drink, which was served in the Parisian style. It was frequented by Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Aleister Crowley, and Frank Sinatra."
I located the place using Google Maps on my phone and found that it was walking distance from where I bought the shoes! Happy day!
The process goes like this: Absinthe is poured over a sugar cube which is placed on an absinthe spoon. Next, the sugar cube is lit on fire for a few seconds to "gather the spirits". Lastly, the flame is put out by pouring water over the sugar cube, which also dissolves it.
It wasn't my thing, flavor wise. No need to do that ever again, but it's done and now I can die happy.
Next up on the bucket-list was a paddlewheel steamship ride. A legit steamer, not a diesel-powered modern fake. I had purchased dinner cruise tickets for me and my travel colleague on the Natchez - a steamship cobbled together from bits and pieces of other steamships in the 1970s.
First photo is a nice stock photo I found on the internet. The bad ones that follow are mine.
On the approach, you can hear the steam calliope playing - a wish-list item. I had read about steam calliopes previously and watched a few videos. They are notoriously out of tune, as steam temperature affects the tuning. The tubes also warm and cool based on how frequently a note is played, and so this also affects tune, heating up the tube changes the pitch, and cooling down the tube also changes the pitch. There is also no volume control, and so they are also notoriously loud.
As a steam power plant guy, I couldn't resist spending a lot of time in the engine room, and I got to spend about 45 minutes alone chatting with the head engineer - because no tourist's wife wanted to spend 45 minutes in a hot engine room, LOL.
The bore is two numbers because the High Pressure (15") and Low Pressure (30") cylinders are attached to the same connecting rod. The stroke is the same for both cylinders, at seven feet.
Below: The boiler room. Operating pressure is 200 psig of saturated steam. I think he said 675,000 horsepower at the stern wheel at full throttle.
Below: Video clip of warming the engines while still tied to the pier. That definitely brings back some unfond memories...
EDIT: I finally got around to putting this video up! Steam power in action...
Once we got underway, there wasn't much point of watching the connecting rods go back and forth, so it was time to get some other pictures, of the skyline and such. The three hour cruise takes the ship quite a ways downriver, and just a bit upriver. Plenty of time to enjoy the scenery and get a great dinner.
Below: At the center is another moored paddlewheel. It's modern, not steam - operating a vintage steamship is difficult and requires a lot of exemptions from safety laws. There are very few old steam ships in operation globally.
We passed by a much smaller tourist ship - not steam powered - on the way downriver. I think she was slowing down and preparing to turn back upriver.
The following day, my friend wanted to go to a specific place for lunch, called "Saints & Sinners", originally a bordello, then a restaurant, and recently owned by actor Channing Tatum.
As always in New Orleans, the menu was interesting.
I chose the Jambalaya, whilst my friend ordered the crawfish pot pie. But first, a Gator Tail appetizer!
Below: Jambalaya
Below: Crawdad pot pie. These people will eat anything LOL
And a beer and a hurricane to go! My buddy doesn't drink, so that was all me, haha
A few street scenes there...
The sidewalks were in pretty rough shape to be accommodating tipsy tourists. Is the wire for the busted out streetlight live or not???
Nice shoes!
Below: Someone's home :(
On the night before we were to fly out, the Knights of Babylon were going to have their parade. I was sorry to miss it, but I'm not able to stay out late and get up early any longer. But I'm sure they put on a great parade.
And on the way back home... Flying past Laramie, Wyoming. Looks a bit chilly. And yes it was snowing when I returned home, LOL - but I got to sleep on my own pillow, so all was good again.
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