New Orleans

Jackson Square

A few Street Cars are Operating Again

Crawfish Boil

Byran, Mark and Alan



Welcome to New Orleans!

The architecture, the culture, the food, the booze and the people. What a place, as soon as you enter the French Quarter you've entered the party.

I went to New Orleans to visit my friend Mark from England. He makes a yearly pilgrimage to New Orleans for Jazz Fest. It's especially important now that we visit New Orleans because of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The City is a wreck.

I met up with Mark and his friends from all over the U.S. These guys are so cool. Everyone gets along, everyone respects others personal space and habits and most important of all everyone is just so nice. After meeting these guys I felt right at home after maybe 2 hours.

We spent most of our evenings eating and visiting the clubs. The music scene is like no other, you can hear jazz in every flavor, reggae and rock. If you don't like one band go down the street and there's more. But, thursday afternoon I experienced my very first Crawfish Boil.

Big deal you say. Eating the crawfish is just a small part of this ritual. First, cooking the boil is a community effort. Everyone has a job. The best part is the eating. It's such a social thing. You claim a small part of the table for yourself and set up with a beer and paper towels and let the eating begin. Everyone shares everything. The discussion goes from joking to yelling and screaming about politics.

I can see why this trip has become an annual ritual. I must try to go next year.