CENT Day 24
We arrived in New Orleans mid-afternoon and swiftly headed to find the nearest oyster bar. An impromptu jazz band played in the street near our table while we sipped wine and ate our way through a selection of raw and cooked shellfish.
People watching on this trip has proved intriguing and New Orleans certainly took the prize for the oddest mixture of characters. Hard pressed to concentrate on a single scene, we took in the whole cornucopia of the people dressed in period costumes, the various clowns plying their talents on street corners, artists painting or drawing caricatures, and musicians striking up a song, and a soft-shoe dancer winding his way through the crowds.
Wandering from stores to galleries, peeking into various bars blaring pounding rock, we came across a band playing the 70s and 80s tunes of our generation. After grabbing a couple of bar stools, we ordered more wine, listened to the best of Creedence Clearwater, The Eagles, and The Doobie Brothers, and reminisced about our college days.
The volume of the music escalated to the point where reminiscing became shouting into each other’s ears and our stomachs growling could almost be heard above the mayhem. So we exited, found a quiet spot on the second store balcony of a Bourbon Street restaurant, and had dinner while watching the sunset and the revelers below ramp up their bead throwing activities.
A tad disappointed he didn’t see a breast bared, the DH reluctantly let me lead him back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.
Cheers,
JC