Back to last week...

I'm sitting at the pool while Bella gets going with Synchronized Swimming, and am thinking about where I was just one week ago...

Where we left off was a great week, leading into the weekend:
We got up early and started the 13 block walk from Canal street to the funky arts area on Frenchman Street. We met the whole gang and set out on a guided tour of New Orleans neighborhoods on cruiser bikes (single speed, fat tires, comfy seats). We visited the artsy neighborhoods, the upper ninth ward, Treme,, and skirted through part of the French Quarter too: We talked about the history and culture of the area, learned some things about Katrina, architecture, and more... In 3 hours we only rode about 8 miles total, but we snaked through areas that were beautiful and rich in culture, but off of the beaten path. We all agreed this was maybe one of the best tours we'd ever been on.

If you're ever down there, these guys are worth every penny: The Confederacy of Cruisers

Pamela and I sort of forgot that the bike tour was taking place OUTSIDE, so we didn't properly apply sunscreen. We were good and red by the end. We all set out to find lunch, and were stymied time after time to find a table for our group of nine... So after 45 min of trying, we agreed to split up and catch as catch can.

Of course within 15 minutes, we were all at the same restaurant, sitting at two tops and the counter, mere feet from one another. It was pretty amusing.

In the evening, we piled into a cab (literally - it was 10 of us in one minivan cab, sitting on laps), and headed to the Garden District. After a little walkaround, we had dinner. An aperitif on the menu I couldn't pass up: BACON INFUSED BOURBON. It was actually pretty delicious, but you don't want to think too hard about how it was done.

To close the evening, we went back up to Frenchman St to the Spotted Cat (or the "Potted Cactus" as I malaproped) jazz club, where the brass band was veering between T-Bone Burnett style "brother where art thou" country jazz numbers and wild Klezmer songs, with the crowd breaking into impromptu hora dancing.

It was a raucous end of a fun week, and it was the "perfect" New Orleans music experience to end the night on (much better than the burlesque from the night before). We stayed FAR FAR away from Bourbon Street on our walk home, to keep the good feeling going.

Sunday we slept in and had a nice late breakfast at the Stanley restaurant off of Jackson Square, then met up with Papa who had driven for two straight days to attend a conference down there plus do some pro-bono gold leaf work for a church. We wandered through some royal street antique stores, and parted ways for us to head to the airport.

We got home, with Isaac asleep and Bella waiting up for us. I got to cuddle her to sleep, and it recharged my batteries.

At least until I got up at 4am to head back to the airport for my week in hell. But that's another update.