Today I depart for Johannesburg, South Africa. I will be there for five weeks, working for WIZZIT Bank again as well as attending World Cup matches! I have tickets to USA vs. Slovenia and USA vs. Algeria. Look for me on ESPN waving a giant American flag!
I also have a lot of travel planned; I am for sure going to Swaziland and Mozambique as well as tentative plans for Angola, Tanzania/Zanzibar and Zimbabwe/Zambia. Stay tuned!
I just got a new iPad so I am excited to keep my attention occupied on my horrible flight itinerary from Burlington to Detroit to Amsterdam to Joburg. I am almost hoping my flight out of Detroit is delayed enough that I get to spend the day in Amsterdam and not have to jump right on another flight. We'll see!
Talk to you all on the flip side of the world!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Road Trip East Day 7: Schenectady, NY to Shelburne, VT
This morning I had breakfast with my brother at a diner called the Blue Ribbon. I had eggs benedict and he had a cinnamon roll. Their coffee was excellent. We chatted about school, classes and friends and it was nice to see him so animated and happy.
I drove him back to campus and then headed out of town to take I-87 north out of Albany. I took this road so many times to and from college that it was quite odd to be heading this way again. I even remembered where to exit (Ft. Anne, NY 149), then US 4, then VT 22A. The weather was sunny and clear and the drive through the Adirondacks and then with a clear view of the Green Mountains was beautiful.
The Aspen seeds are in the air in VT so the air seems to snow with fluffy white puffs. It was warm earlier this week, in the low 90's. I drove straight to my relatives' house and ended up talking with them and their friend named Ah Ha. Ah Ha is short and round, like a cannonball, and speaks very loudly. She is quite funny, so her name is very appropriate. She doesn't speak English so we conversed in Mandarin. My aunties insisted that I eat lunch, so I left quite stuffed.
I made it to the house and unloaded my car. I also drove to Champ's Car Care Center to wash off 14 states worth of bugs and road grime. Having the roof racks on the car makes it a pain to go to a regular touchless car wash so I did it myself. Champ's has this super high pressure water hose that amazingly blew all the bugs away! I think the car iscleaner than it's ever been!
I'm so glad to not have to get on the road tomorrow!
I drove him back to campus and then headed out of town to take I-87 north out of Albany. I took this road so many times to and from college that it was quite odd to be heading this way again. I even remembered where to exit (Ft. Anne, NY 149), then US 4, then VT 22A. The weather was sunny and clear and the drive through the Adirondacks and then with a clear view of the Green Mountains was beautiful.
The Aspen seeds are in the air in VT so the air seems to snow with fluffy white puffs. It was warm earlier this week, in the low 90's. I drove straight to my relatives' house and ended up talking with them and their friend named Ah Ha. Ah Ha is short and round, like a cannonball, and speaks very loudly. She is quite funny, so her name is very appropriate. She doesn't speak English so we conversed in Mandarin. My aunties insisted that I eat lunch, so I left quite stuffed.
I made it to the house and unloaded my car. I also drove to Champ's Car Care Center to wash off 14 states worth of bugs and road grime. Having the roof racks on the car makes it a pain to go to a regular touchless car wash so I did it myself. Champ's has this super high pressure water hose that amazingly blew all the bugs away! I think the car iscleaner than it's ever been!
I'm so glad to not have to get on the road tomorrow!
Road Trip by the Numbers
1 girl
1 VW Jetta
7 days
3136.5 miles
14 states
10 interstate highways
87 gallons of diesel gas
1 VW Jetta
7 days
3136.5 miles
14 states
10 interstate highways
87 gallons of diesel gas
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Road Trip East Day 6: Charlottesville, VA to Schenectady, NY
Smitha and I got up relatively early (8am) and headed out to the Tavern, which is a classic country diner. The roof advertises that the Tavern is where "Townspeople, Students and Travelers come to Mingle" and that is definitely true. There were some huge preppies, true hicks and old people in there. Smitha had chipped beef, which is kind of like small pieces of corned beef in a gravy with biscuits, and then a side of grits. I had a pecan waffle, which is a crispy waffle with chopped pecans. They even had real maple syrup, so it was pretty good.
I then got on the road to Maryland. Google Maps directed me to take local roads, not the highway, so I got a real tour of some of the prettiest country I've seen so far. I was on US routes almost the whole way, except for a short portion of county road. The drive north mirrored the Skyline Parkway of Shenandoah National Park, which I have made once before in college. The mountains were spectacular when viewed from my perspective, and it was a nice change to be actually driving instead of mindless interstate. The drive from Charlottesville to Middletown, MD, where Grant's family farm is took about three hours. I got delayed because I was stuck behind a line painting truck for about 30 minutes, that was frustrating.
When I arrived at the farm, Grant was busy packing because he was leaving for Luanda, Angola tonight, which was a surprise to him as well as me as he just got the call to leave a few hours before I arrived. I saw his brother Luke who is at Harvard now, and his mom, who looks exactly the same as the last time I saw her seven years ago! He showed me the boat he has been building, it is a Chesapeake Bay boat that will have two sliding seats for rowing and he's putting in bulkheads for storage. He has built boats before, so it's nothing totally out of the ordinary for him, but he wants to go row around Alaska! Apparently he is thinking about leaving his job so that might actually become a possibility. I told him that he wasn't Grant unless he had a crazy scheme.
We had a nice time catching up, and then I had to get back on the road and he had to drive to DC to fly out for London, then Johannesburg, then Luanda. We were laughing at the crazy lives we led!
I then got back on interstate highways to drive up to Schenectady, NY, to visit my brother at Union. The drive from Maryland to Binghamton, NY, on I-81 was stressful. There was a lot of traffic and congestion and only 2 lanes going each way. Once I got on I-88 towards Albany for the last 120 miles it cleared up and I had a nice drive with almost no one on the road.
It was nice to see my brother at college, I met his roommate and some friends. We ate dinner (or at least, I did) at Five Guys burgers, their fries are so ridiculously good! We then shot some hoops outside because the weather is quite nice and cool here. Tomorrow we will have breakfast, and then my odyssey will finally be over as I will arrive in Vermont!
I then got on the road to Maryland. Google Maps directed me to take local roads, not the highway, so I got a real tour of some of the prettiest country I've seen so far. I was on US routes almost the whole way, except for a short portion of county road. The drive north mirrored the Skyline Parkway of Shenandoah National Park, which I have made once before in college. The mountains were spectacular when viewed from my perspective, and it was a nice change to be actually driving instead of mindless interstate. The drive from Charlottesville to Middletown, MD, where Grant's family farm is took about three hours. I got delayed because I was stuck behind a line painting truck for about 30 minutes, that was frustrating.
When I arrived at the farm, Grant was busy packing because he was leaving for Luanda, Angola tonight, which was a surprise to him as well as me as he just got the call to leave a few hours before I arrived. I saw his brother Luke who is at Harvard now, and his mom, who looks exactly the same as the last time I saw her seven years ago! He showed me the boat he has been building, it is a Chesapeake Bay boat that will have two sliding seats for rowing and he's putting in bulkheads for storage. He has built boats before, so it's nothing totally out of the ordinary for him, but he wants to go row around Alaska! Apparently he is thinking about leaving his job so that might actually become a possibility. I told him that he wasn't Grant unless he had a crazy scheme.
We had a nice time catching up, and then I had to get back on the road and he had to drive to DC to fly out for London, then Johannesburg, then Luanda. We were laughing at the crazy lives we led!
I then got back on interstate highways to drive up to Schenectady, NY, to visit my brother at Union. The drive from Maryland to Binghamton, NY, on I-81 was stressful. There was a lot of traffic and congestion and only 2 lanes going each way. Once I got on I-88 towards Albany for the last 120 miles it cleared up and I had a nice drive with almost no one on the road.
It was nice to see my brother at college, I met his roommate and some friends. We ate dinner (or at least, I did) at Five Guys burgers, their fries are so ridiculously good! We then shot some hoops outside because the weather is quite nice and cool here. Tomorrow we will have breakfast, and then my odyssey will finally be over as I will arrive in Vermont!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Road Trip East Day 5: Knoxville, TN to Charlottesville, VA
As I continued northeast out of Tennessee into Virginia, the landscape became even more mountainous and similar to Vermont. The highway passes entrances to Shenandoah State Park and also follows the Great Smoky Mountains. There is a byway of the same name that follows 81 north, but of course it is much slower.
Virginia looks a lot like Vermont with rolling green hills and little farms. I reached Charlottesville, the home of the University of Virginia, around 3pm. I had visited once when I was looking at colleges but that was a long time ago and I only remember the main campus plus a trip to Monticello. The interstate that takes you to Charlottesville, I-64, heads over a large mountain that has several scenic views of the Great Smoky Mountains and is very pretty. The weather was perfect, about 75, partly sunny and very comfortable.
I hadn't seen Smitha in person in about eight years so it was nice to catch up and hang out. We went to get an oil change for my car, since I didn't get one before I left, and then we ate crepes and sat outside enjoying the weather at a pedestrian mall that reminded me of Church Street. We met up with some of her friends from law school and chatted for a while and then she and I had dinner at a French place called Bizou. I have been craving vegetables and fresh food as I have had a lot of protein and heavy sauces the past few days! Bizou did not disappoint with a beet salad, blue cheese and walnut salad, tuna ceviche and shrimp and grits. To finish it off we had apple fritters.
I received a late message from my friend Grant who is staying with his family in Frederick, MD right now, so I will drive up there and have lunch with him. It's not out of the way so I might as well see him since he and I won't be able to meet up while he is in Africa this summer.
Virginia looks a lot like Vermont with rolling green hills and little farms. I reached Charlottesville, the home of the University of Virginia, around 3pm. I had visited once when I was looking at colleges but that was a long time ago and I only remember the main campus plus a trip to Monticello. The interstate that takes you to Charlottesville, I-64, heads over a large mountain that has several scenic views of the Great Smoky Mountains and is very pretty. The weather was perfect, about 75, partly sunny and very comfortable.
I hadn't seen Smitha in person in about eight years so it was nice to catch up and hang out. We went to get an oil change for my car, since I didn't get one before I left, and then we ate crepes and sat outside enjoying the weather at a pedestrian mall that reminded me of Church Street. We met up with some of her friends from law school and chatted for a while and then she and I had dinner at a French place called Bizou. I have been craving vegetables and fresh food as I have had a lot of protein and heavy sauces the past few days! Bizou did not disappoint with a beet salad, blue cheese and walnut salad, tuna ceviche and shrimp and grits. To finish it off we had apple fritters.
I received a late message from my friend Grant who is staying with his family in Frederick, MD right now, so I will drive up there and have lunch with him. It's not out of the way so I might as well see him since he and I won't be able to meet up while he is in Africa this summer.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Road Trip East Day 4: New Orleans, LA to Knoxville, TN
I woke up at around 9am this morning and went for a final walk around the French Quarter. My friend Jeff has been to NoLa a few times and he introduced me to beignets, which are a deep fried square doughnut topped with an avalanche of powdered sugar. I texted him and asked for the best place to get beignets and he told me to head to Cafe du Monde. It's just across from Jackson Square, so I headed over there and found a table in their immense outdoor seating patio. The place is crowded and I can see why--their beignets are fantastic! You get 3 per plate and they arrive piping hot, steaming, and drowned in powdered sugar. Everything is sticky because the sugar gets everywhere. I also had a New Orleans style cafe au lait with chicory coffee, which was strong but delicious.
After I snarfed my beignets, I walked around a bit more but it was already very hot and sweaty so I went back to the hotel and checked out. I was so sad to leave the W, but I had to press on. My drive out of New Orleans took me further east on I-10 over the other side of Lake Pontchartrain. I can see why the two main routes out of New Orleans were clogged with traffic during Katrina, as they are only two lanes each way and there's no other way to escape the area. There are signs on the causeway that say "Hurricane Evacuation Route" but that's not going to do any good if everyone else in the city is trying to go the same way as well.
I left I-10 behind after 4 days of only heading east and turned northeast on I-59. About 40 miles outside of New Orleans, you cross the border into Mississippi. The further away from the coast I got, the more the landscape changed. The land became rolling instead of pancake flat and there were pine trees lining the road. The dirt was an orange yellow color that was very bright and unique. 59 goes through Hattiesburg, which is the site of Southern Mississippi University.
I then passed into Alabama, and the landscape became even greener with big trees lining the highway and the road even more hilly. I went through Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. Both had higher traffic than outside the cities, but no traffic jams. A lot of construction, however, which was sort of annoying.
After Birmingham, the road goes through Georgia for about 20 miles and then crosses into Tennessee. Overall I covered 5 states today! The scenery in Tennessee is very pretty, with tree covered hills and green valleys. It reminded me of Vermont or upstate NY. At one point I saw some hills that look like Mohonk.
The only reason I have heard of Chattanooga, TN is because of the Glenn Miller jazz song, "Chattanooga Choo-Choo", but apparently it is a real historical train. It was just around sunset when I arrived in Chattanooga and I saw a billboard advertising Sugar's Ribs, Voted #1 in 2008! I knew I had to try this place. Sugar's is located on a high cliff overlooking the valley and the highway so it had a great view of the sunset. I had a half rack of pork ribs, cornbread and corn on the cob. It was so good! They had all different kinds of sauces to try, including super hot, vinegary, sour and sweet. My favorite was the Tennessee sweet style sauce. I also got to watch some of the USA/Czech exhibition soccer game on ESPN weirdly enough.
After the ribs I got back on the road and ended up in Knoxville, TN for the night. Just as the sun was setting I kept seeing these little flashing lights by the side of the road and I couldn't think of what they were, until I realized they were fireflies! It's been so long since I saw them!
Tomorrow I will spend the night with my friend who just graduated from UVA Law. She lives in Charlottesville, VA.
After I snarfed my beignets, I walked around a bit more but it was already very hot and sweaty so I went back to the hotel and checked out. I was so sad to leave the W, but I had to press on. My drive out of New Orleans took me further east on I-10 over the other side of Lake Pontchartrain. I can see why the two main routes out of New Orleans were clogged with traffic during Katrina, as they are only two lanes each way and there's no other way to escape the area. There are signs on the causeway that say "Hurricane Evacuation Route" but that's not going to do any good if everyone else in the city is trying to go the same way as well.
I left I-10 behind after 4 days of only heading east and turned northeast on I-59. About 40 miles outside of New Orleans, you cross the border into Mississippi. The further away from the coast I got, the more the landscape changed. The land became rolling instead of pancake flat and there were pine trees lining the road. The dirt was an orange yellow color that was very bright and unique. 59 goes through Hattiesburg, which is the site of Southern Mississippi University.
I then passed into Alabama, and the landscape became even greener with big trees lining the highway and the road even more hilly. I went through Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. Both had higher traffic than outside the cities, but no traffic jams. A lot of construction, however, which was sort of annoying.
After Birmingham, the road goes through Georgia for about 20 miles and then crosses into Tennessee. Overall I covered 5 states today! The scenery in Tennessee is very pretty, with tree covered hills and green valleys. It reminded me of Vermont or upstate NY. At one point I saw some hills that look like Mohonk.
The only reason I have heard of Chattanooga, TN is because of the Glenn Miller jazz song, "Chattanooga Choo-Choo", but apparently it is a real historical train. It was just around sunset when I arrived in Chattanooga and I saw a billboard advertising Sugar's Ribs, Voted #1 in 2008! I knew I had to try this place. Sugar's is located on a high cliff overlooking the valley and the highway so it had a great view of the sunset. I had a half rack of pork ribs, cornbread and corn on the cob. It was so good! They had all different kinds of sauces to try, including super hot, vinegary, sour and sweet. My favorite was the Tennessee sweet style sauce. I also got to watch some of the USA/Czech exhibition soccer game on ESPN weirdly enough.
After the ribs I got back on the road and ended up in Knoxville, TN for the night. Just as the sun was setting I kept seeing these little flashing lights by the side of the road and I couldn't think of what they were, until I realized they were fireflies! It's been so long since I saw them!
Tomorrow I will spend the night with my friend who just graduated from UVA Law. She lives in Charlottesville, VA.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Road Trip East Interlude: New Orleans, LA
I started my time in the Big Easy by wandering around the French Quarter. Since my hotel is on Chartres Street, I was well located to do so. I went to Jackson Park, where there is a huge statue of General Andrew Jackson (we are in the Deep South after all) in front of St. Louis cathedral. I also saw the gold statue of Joan of Arc but she's pretty shiny and sparkly. Wandering around the French Quarter is fun, the buildings are picturesque and pretty with their wrought iron balconies and decorations. Chartres Street is not as ticky tacky as Bourbon Street; there are a lot of cute shops and galleries. I did the requisite walk down Bourbon just to see it, there are a lot of bars with funny names, shops selling Mardi Gras beads and strip clubs.
I ate lunch at Cafe Maspero's, which is a New Orleans staple and is housed in the old slave auction building down by the Mississippi river. I had a muffaletta sandwich, which is a heart attack disguised as a sandwich with salami, ham, melted provolone, olives, garlic, anchovies and spicy sauce all on an italian roll. It is enormous, filling and delicious.
After my lunch I decided to take the street car to the Garden District, which has beautiful, tree-lined streets, a cemetery and is close to Magazine Street, which is a cool un-touristy shopping district. The street car stop is at the end of Bourbon Street at where it meets Canal, and then the street car continues west from that point. It costs $1.25 to ride one way and you have to get off at the termination point, no riding back. The street car is a real antique--it rattles and bags furiously as you clatter along and it squeaks hideously around turns. The inside is almost all lined with wood and the seats switch backs for when the car heads back the other way. The drivers are all funny and friendly and some of them even spout off random sayings. One of mine pointed out to everyone, "Life's not that bad, hunh? You're in New Orleans and it's a wonderful day!"
I got off at the 6th street and St. Charles intersection in the garden district and walked to Lafayette Cemetery. The houses in this area are all beautiful plantation and southern style homes with verandas, porches and little yards. They are all really cute and have a lot of character. I saw lots of really nice houses and I wished I could call one of them my own!
Lafayette Cemetery was founded in 1833 and is one of the oldest cemeteries in the city. Some of the graves looked familiar to me as scenes for the movie Interview With the Vampire were filmed here. Various interesting characters from area history are buried here and the cemetery is also said to be haunted. The atmosphere is certainly mysterious and a little sad, with the tombs above ground for all to see. It was very hot and humid, so I was sweating profusely as I wandered around the tombs just poking around. It was definitely a picturesque, although creepy, place.
After my time with the dead I walked to Magazine Street and got an iced sweet tea since I was so hot and thirsty. Magazine Street has some cool little shops and restaurants and is just a neat little funky neighborhood. I found a cool tshirt shop called Storyville (which is a nickname for New Orleans) so I bought two shirts. I could have bought half the items in the shop but restrained myself!
I then walked back to the streetcar and went back to the W to swim in their little pool and rest a bit before dinner. The afternoon thunderstorm did not happen, although a large thunderhead did build up and I heard thunder at one point. As I was sitting by the pool the sun came back out so that was nice. The pool was empty except for a pack of Frenchmen who sat in one of the bungalows and chatted animatedly in French whilst smoking. You can smoke in public (and in bars) in New Orleans, which is not so great, but at least I couldn't smell their smoke and it wasn't blowing onto me.
After my time at the pool I showered (this is a horribly humid place) and then made plans for dinner. I got several recommendations from friends, including several traditional New Orleans fancy places in the Quarter, such as Antoines or Galatoire's, but I wanted something less fancy and more jovial. Let's face it, when you are traveling alone eating by yourself at a fancy place is kind of boring and awkward!
My friend Matt, who went to Tulane, recommended a place called Jacque-imo's which has traditional New Orleans style food but in a very convivial atmosphere. It is in the Uptown district which is on the same street car line I took before but past the Garden District. Uptown is where Tulane is so it is another fun, non-touristy area. I got back on the street car and rode it almost to the end to Oak Street. Jacque-imo's is a couple of blocks west on Oak.
The place was very crowded and I was offered the chance to sit at the bar without a wait. I took it, of course. I ended up chatting a lot with the bartender, Chris, who was blown away by my solo cross country trip (he said it was "ballsy") and then even more blown away by my plans to go to South Africa for World Cup. I told him to look for me waving a big American flag on ESPN.
For an appetizer I had the famous Alligator and Crab "Cheesecake" which is really a crab cake made with alligator as well served in the shape of a cheesecake. It comes with spicy stewed beets and a delicious creamy tomato sauce. As you can imagine it was rich yet amazing! Chris kept laughing at my faces as I pretty much inhaled the whole thing. Then, I had a spinach salad that came with a fried oyster, which I did not eat, but the fresh, crisp spinach was a welcome change from my road food and lack of veggies. The salad came with two fabulous cornbreads that seemed to be mostly butter, but totally tasty. They had a spicy jalapeno salsa on top as well! For my main course I had the paneed duck with sweet potato and shrimp sauce with mashed sweet potatoes and more of the stewed beets. It turns out paneed is apparently a fancy creole word for "breaded and fried" but it was of course also very, very good. I totally stuffed my face and was extremely full, but very satisfied. I washed down my meal with a classy can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. I'm so glad I decided to take up my friend on his recommendation as the place was exactly what I wanted!
I then took the trolley car back to the French Quarter and walked from one end to the other to get to Frenchman Street, which is a relatively unknown to tourists section known for its bars and music venues frequented by real locals. I'm glad I went there as once you pass the road that marks the edge of the French Quarter the atmosphere changes and you see crowds of clearly non tourists hanging out in the street and outside of bars. There were even several people grilling hot dogs or selling bbq from their cars! I ended up at Cafe Negril where a band was performing bluesy rock, just what I wanted. After two songs, the drums player got up and the guy sitting next to me stepped in! It turns out that this band allowed people to sign up to come and play with them--how cool is that? It was like a giant jam session! I drank a tasty Abita Raspberry Wheat beer and enjoyed the show. At one point a guy showed up in a pith helmet and started playing blues harmonica along with the band! He brought his own amp and a special microphone that includes a handle so you can play the harmonica and hold on at the same time. He also had a box full of multiple harmonicas! How mysterious!
After about an hour of local music I was tired, so I intended to take a cab back to the hotel (as per local recommendations) but there was a large crowd of people heading back in the direction I was going so I followed them on foot. In the French Quarter, Decatur Street where we were is pretty safe, but I figured safety in numbers was a good idea.
I'm now about to go to bed after a wonderful day in New Orleans. I wish I had more time to explore this city further--I'll have to come back!
I ate lunch at Cafe Maspero's, which is a New Orleans staple and is housed in the old slave auction building down by the Mississippi river. I had a muffaletta sandwich, which is a heart attack disguised as a sandwich with salami, ham, melted provolone, olives, garlic, anchovies and spicy sauce all on an italian roll. It is enormous, filling and delicious.
After my lunch I decided to take the street car to the Garden District, which has beautiful, tree-lined streets, a cemetery and is close to Magazine Street, which is a cool un-touristy shopping district. The street car stop is at the end of Bourbon Street at where it meets Canal, and then the street car continues west from that point. It costs $1.25 to ride one way and you have to get off at the termination point, no riding back. The street car is a real antique--it rattles and bags furiously as you clatter along and it squeaks hideously around turns. The inside is almost all lined with wood and the seats switch backs for when the car heads back the other way. The drivers are all funny and friendly and some of them even spout off random sayings. One of mine pointed out to everyone, "Life's not that bad, hunh? You're in New Orleans and it's a wonderful day!"
I got off at the 6th street and St. Charles intersection in the garden district and walked to Lafayette Cemetery. The houses in this area are all beautiful plantation and southern style homes with verandas, porches and little yards. They are all really cute and have a lot of character. I saw lots of really nice houses and I wished I could call one of them my own!
Lafayette Cemetery was founded in 1833 and is one of the oldest cemeteries in the city. Some of the graves looked familiar to me as scenes for the movie Interview With the Vampire were filmed here. Various interesting characters from area history are buried here and the cemetery is also said to be haunted. The atmosphere is certainly mysterious and a little sad, with the tombs above ground for all to see. It was very hot and humid, so I was sweating profusely as I wandered around the tombs just poking around. It was definitely a picturesque, although creepy, place.
After my time with the dead I walked to Magazine Street and got an iced sweet tea since I was so hot and thirsty. Magazine Street has some cool little shops and restaurants and is just a neat little funky neighborhood. I found a cool tshirt shop called Storyville (which is a nickname for New Orleans) so I bought two shirts. I could have bought half the items in the shop but restrained myself!
I then walked back to the streetcar and went back to the W to swim in their little pool and rest a bit before dinner. The afternoon thunderstorm did not happen, although a large thunderhead did build up and I heard thunder at one point. As I was sitting by the pool the sun came back out so that was nice. The pool was empty except for a pack of Frenchmen who sat in one of the bungalows and chatted animatedly in French whilst smoking. You can smoke in public (and in bars) in New Orleans, which is not so great, but at least I couldn't smell their smoke and it wasn't blowing onto me.
After my time at the pool I showered (this is a horribly humid place) and then made plans for dinner. I got several recommendations from friends, including several traditional New Orleans fancy places in the Quarter, such as Antoines or Galatoire's, but I wanted something less fancy and more jovial. Let's face it, when you are traveling alone eating by yourself at a fancy place is kind of boring and awkward!
My friend Matt, who went to Tulane, recommended a place called Jacque-imo's which has traditional New Orleans style food but in a very convivial atmosphere. It is in the Uptown district which is on the same street car line I took before but past the Garden District. Uptown is where Tulane is so it is another fun, non-touristy area. I got back on the street car and rode it almost to the end to Oak Street. Jacque-imo's is a couple of blocks west on Oak.
The place was very crowded and I was offered the chance to sit at the bar without a wait. I took it, of course. I ended up chatting a lot with the bartender, Chris, who was blown away by my solo cross country trip (he said it was "ballsy") and then even more blown away by my plans to go to South Africa for World Cup. I told him to look for me waving a big American flag on ESPN.
For an appetizer I had the famous Alligator and Crab "Cheesecake" which is really a crab cake made with alligator as well served in the shape of a cheesecake. It comes with spicy stewed beets and a delicious creamy tomato sauce. As you can imagine it was rich yet amazing! Chris kept laughing at my faces as I pretty much inhaled the whole thing. Then, I had a spinach salad that came with a fried oyster, which I did not eat, but the fresh, crisp spinach was a welcome change from my road food and lack of veggies. The salad came with two fabulous cornbreads that seemed to be mostly butter, but totally tasty. They had a spicy jalapeno salsa on top as well! For my main course I had the paneed duck with sweet potato and shrimp sauce with mashed sweet potatoes and more of the stewed beets. It turns out paneed is apparently a fancy creole word for "breaded and fried" but it was of course also very, very good. I totally stuffed my face and was extremely full, but very satisfied. I washed down my meal with a classy can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. I'm so glad I decided to take up my friend on his recommendation as the place was exactly what I wanted!
I then took the trolley car back to the French Quarter and walked from one end to the other to get to Frenchman Street, which is a relatively unknown to tourists section known for its bars and music venues frequented by real locals. I'm glad I went there as once you pass the road that marks the edge of the French Quarter the atmosphere changes and you see crowds of clearly non tourists hanging out in the street and outside of bars. There were even several people grilling hot dogs or selling bbq from their cars! I ended up at Cafe Negril where a band was performing bluesy rock, just what I wanted. After two songs, the drums player got up and the guy sitting next to me stepped in! It turns out that this band allowed people to sign up to come and play with them--how cool is that? It was like a giant jam session! I drank a tasty Abita Raspberry Wheat beer and enjoyed the show. At one point a guy showed up in a pith helmet and started playing blues harmonica along with the band! He brought his own amp and a special microphone that includes a handle so you can play the harmonica and hold on at the same time. He also had a box full of multiple harmonicas! How mysterious!
After about an hour of local music I was tired, so I intended to take a cab back to the hotel (as per local recommendations) but there was a large crowd of people heading back in the direction I was going so I followed them on foot. In the French Quarter, Decatur Street where we were is pretty safe, but I figured safety in numbers was a good idea.
I'm now about to go to bed after a wonderful day in New Orleans. I wish I had more time to explore this city further--I'll have to come back!
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