Living (it up) in the Big Easy

Of all the grand and glorious places Chris and I have traversed over the past five and a half months, nothing can compare to New Orleans. With it's rich history, french architecture, cajun food, warm people, street musicians, cajun dialect, and all-around interesting folks it's unbeatable. (Not to mention the daiquiri shops, Bourbon Street and open container law.) It's a little like Chicago, but without all the snow and frigid temperatures. New Orleans is certainly one-of-a-kind and different from anywhere I've ever been.

One of the "interesting folk" that occupy the streets in the French Quarter. Notice the ladder ends right near the top of the picture. Who knows how long he held that position.

So, about a week ago Chris was browsing craigslist.com and came across some apartments in the French Quarter for a very reasonable monthly rate. We decided, what they heck!, we might as well check a few out. The first apartment we looked it was no bigger than the Dod but it didn't even have an engine! Over the next two days we checked out an apartment with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street. We looked at a huge apartment with a fireplace in the middle of the kitchen. We saw a tiny furnished apartment with a hot tub and murphy bed.

After looking at about a dozen apartments, we eventually came across a clean little apartment smack dab between Bourbon Street and the French Market. It was far enough away from all the noise to be peaceful at night. It had three entry doors and a courtyard with barbecues, tables with umbrellas and a POOL! Best of all, the rent was cheaper than most of the places we looked at - and none of them had a pool.

So, we put in our application but didn't let our hopes get up. Because, really, it seemed too good to be true. But wouldn't you know, as Chris was filling out an application at a restaurant he got a call from the landlord to tell us he approved our application. As we skipped around in Cathedral Square all the fortune tellers and street artists stared as I laughed hysterically and repeatedly yelled "REALLY?! NO! Really?! REALLY?!". After a quick call to Deo and Bob & Jan, we signed the lease and that cute little apartment with the pool we can now call our home!

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Right here.

A shot of our building from Chartres Street.

Therefore, kerouaking is on a one-year hiatus. However, we will continue to update the blog with our adventures in the Big Easy and our upcoming trips. The Dod will most likely make her way back to Michigan soon - she's just too big to be parking on these narrow streets. We're thinking about getting a smaller car and/or maybe a scooter.

Our Walmart nights are over... for now.

After only a few days of applying to jobs and passing out resumes, Chris got a job at Marigny Brasserie! It's a restaurant with an impressive menu of po'boys, soup, and seafood. It's just four blocks away so Chris can walk to and from work in under five minutes. He brought home a soft-shell crab po'boy and portabella mushroom bisque last night and it was delish!

Since Chris is working in a restaurant, he trimmed his epic beard and cut his hair. Here's a before and active photo:

Friggin' hippie...

He cleans up good!

I am actively searching for work. I've been applying to hotels in the quarter and I have a second interview as a swim instructor uptown next week. I'm really hoping for a position with AmeriCorps, so keep your fingers crossed.

We can't wait to have visitors so come see us soon! Until you see it in person, here are some photos of the apartment and courtyard to tide you over.

This is the view from the end of our floor, looking out into the courtyard. Michael, our landlord, really keeps up on all the flora and greenery.

This is our view from the balcony. That is the pool at the hotel next door.

Here's a nice shot of our courtyard and pool.

Here's one of the patio tables. There's two barbecues in the courtyard for tenants to use and the landlord provides the propane. There's only about a dozen apartments within the Lanata House so we won't have to worry about waiting in line to go swimming or grill food.

The outside view of our apartment. All the shutters are closed, but they open to a second door with a window. The first door leads into the living room. The second door is the main door and leads into the hallway. The third door leads into the bedroom.

Our bed-less bedroom. Somebody please send us a mattress!

Our living room right after we got done bringing everything up from the Dod.

The living room as it is now. The only furniture we have is two folding chairs and my old wine-tasting table from when I worked at Union Beverage.

Aunt Kiki said we HAD to try some deep fried peanuts and, boy, was she right! They're fantastic. You eat the shell and all! This stand is in the French Market, two blocks southeasterly from our apartment. It's open every day and there are fruit and veggie stands, live bands, jewelry and art tables, tee-shirts, daiquiris and coffee stands, etc.

Love, your favorite kerouakers and newbie Lousianians.

NOLA

We've had some beautiful weather here in Picayune, MS. We've been staying with my old friend and high school wrestling teammate Mike Gassman. You may remember his sister Laura and soon-to-be brother-in-law Wes who hosted us during our stay in Colorado Springs.

Friday we barbecued and played outside most of the day.

Oh, the heat.

Nate, another of our hosts, had his daughter Adyson on Saturday, and we played outside some more. Oh yeah, and we barbecued again. Life is good.

That night we got ready to head into New Orleans for our first real Bourbon Street experience.

We all loaded into the Dod and made our way back into Louisiana.

We didn't have to search very hard for parking and in not too long we joined the party. Little did we know, however, that beers on Bourbon cost about as much as they do at a ball game. so we bought our first, and last, $6 beers of the night. Even though the mechanical whale was quite entertaining, we decided to hit the street and do a little people watching.

Even with Mardi Gras over the streets were fairly packed, which is pretty standard for a weekend, I hear.

Tip #1: Don't buy beers in the bars. You can buy them on the street for $3. Since everyone gives them to you in plastic cups (cups are allowed on the street, but bottles are not) you can walk into most bars with it.

However, some bars are very strict about buying a drink before you can use their bathroom. One woman offered to call the cops to explain the rule for us. Instead, we decided to leave and find somewhere else to pee. Fortunately for us we "found" three Coronas on our way out. So, you win some you lose some.

Tip #2: The restrooms at pizza places are the easiest to sneak into. The staff either doesn't care who's using their bathrooms, even though the signs on the wall say they do, or they are too busy to notice.

You can find all types and all ages ate Bourbon street. There's live music coming out of every other bar, but standing on the street and people watching is just as fun. Crowds form beneath the balconies that line the street as revelers toss their beads. Tip #3: Don't pick beads up off the ground. In fact, don't pick anything up off the ground. It's gross, and you don't need the beads that bad. If you don't catch it in the air consider it gone.

Nikki smoochin' the Bourbon cowboy.

You'll also notice the same bars, trinket shops, and margarita/pizza places appear over and over along the street. This makes it easy to get lost since many of the blocks look exactly the same.

Around two we decided to head back to the Dod and ride home. On our way we noticed that, in lieu of beads, one gentleman was throwing Po'boys off his balcony. (Tip #4: Po'boys are delicious, eat one)

As I watched him toss one down to a screaming partygoer, mesmerized by the sight of a flying sub, I see Rick, another of our hosts here in Mississippi, with his arms raised. Then, like mana from heaven, a Po'boy floats down into his arms from on high.

It was awesome.

Well wouldn't you know it, that night we hear a grinding noise coming from the rear of the vehicle. Guess what, it was the brakes.

After stopping at three other auto-care places we finally found one that would look at our vehicle. And to shorten yet another long car-care story, the Dod is back on her feet and the work was covered under warranty. Tip #4: Be prepared to do a lot of looking if you have a vehicle from up north and you need to get some work done in the South. Mechanics are appalled by the amount of rust on our vehicles.

It's been nice having such nice weather and getting to spend so much time outside. Hopefully it holds up.

Rick and our new friend Mike put on a pretty good show for us.

Nothing beats a good, old-fashioned book burning.

So tomorrow we make one more trip into New Orleans and then begin our trip north into Tennessee.

BRaak! says Beatrice.