Slept in today then drove to a place that has famous Po boy sandwiches. Po boys are like a sub with deep fried seafood on them, which got their name from a restaurant owner during the streetcar strike many years ago. She said of the striking streetcar conductors: "these po' boys ain't got nothin' to eat" and promptly made them these easy-to-transport southern sandwiches and delivered them to the hungry striking workers. Anyway, apparently everyone else heard about this place too, as when we walked up, there was a line of over 100 people. So we detoured and wandered until we found a decent looking place called Felix's. Nick and I have Po boy sandwiches and Matt opts for a catfish platter. They had some enormous oysters, but I'm not an oyster lover so passed on that delicacy. Our waitress tells us it's busier in town than usual for this time of year because there is a hip hop festival called the Essence Festival happening at the Super Dome this weekend.
After lunch we head back out for a walk in the French Quarter, which regardless of time of day or night, smells heavily of vomit and urine. We grab tickets for a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of the city (or HO-HO for short). This takes us through the French Quarter, along the river, and through the Garden District. All the neighbourhoods are built in old Spanish style. French Quarter is actually a misnomer; and refers to the former large population of Creole French-speaking residents. We go past Harrah's Casino, which was grandfathered in as a "gaming establishment" while the state banned "gambling" everywhere else. We saw Mardi Gras World, where they build and store all the Mardi Gras floats. See inside at a wide array of them. We hop off at Jackson Square and walk around the riverfront area on the Mississippi then into some shops. There are a bunch of street buskers and artists around this area and Nick picks up some cat art. We walked over to the famous St. Louis cemetery number one but it closes at noon on Sundays. So we just peek through the iron gate at the old crypts and tombs. That's enough exploring for today, so we locate the car again (after a good amount of searching - it's easy to get lost in the French Quarter) and drive to a Starbucks for some good wifi to plan our next days (our hotel's wifi is mediocre at best). Our drive to the nearest Starbucks takes us past the Superdome, which is massive and oddly shaped, and through a ghetto (Matt suggests we invest in the song "in the ghetto" to play each time we go through one, which seems to be getting more and more frequent on this trip). Spend a good while sipping coffee/tea in Starbs and then head back to the hotel to change (getting caught in the rain + humidity = need to change clothes often).
We catch a cab to Frenchman Street and have dinner at a place the cabbie recommends. Frenchman Street is the artsy music district of the city, and is where the locals and tourists in the know go for entertainment; far from the noise and craziness of Bourbon St. Tonight it's chicken burgers for Nick and I and a huge burger for Matt. With sides of salad. Mmmm, so rare to get some greens down here that you need to take them whenever you can find them. We learn that the burger is the top ranked one in the city and Matt says it is in fact amazing. Missed out on that but needed a lighter meal, so probably for the best in the end anyway. After dinner we go across the street to a little dive bar called The Spotted Cat for several hours of beers and fantastic local jazz from two separate bands. Wander down the road to another jazz club called Maison and see a few songs from a soul band. Nick and Matt decide to go down to Jackson Square to a bar recommended by some other Canadians we met. I opt for a dodgy cab ride back to the hotel. They arrive back shortly after me as apparently one place was too lined up and another they had to exit abruptly after a spilled beer incident. Great night in NOLA.
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