NOLA

This weekend we traveled to New Orleans so that Stuart could run in his second marathon.  If you remember from an earlier post, I was supposed to be running the half-marathon.  Alas, a few days prior I had to have some small medical procedures done (I'm ok - no worries!) and the stitches weren't exactly running-friendly.  Regardless, I accompanied Stu to the Crescent City to cheer him on!  And, since the only time I had been to NOLA was for Katrina cleanup, I considered this to be a mini vacation.

So on Saturday around noon we headed out.  When we arrived downtown our hotel room wasn't ready, so we used that opportunity for Stuart to sign in for the race and for us to see the sights!  After signing in, we took a stroll down the Riverwalk.  This is lined with mall-ish restaurants and shops, and on the other side you can see ships chugging down the Mississippi River.  If you're "lucky", like we were, a few rats might even scamper across your path as you pass by.  We finally made it down toward the French Quarter and got in the block-long line for Cafe Du Monde.  If you've never heard of it, the cafe has a pretty simple menu: Cafe au Lait and beignets (French Donuts).  If you've never had one, a beignet is basically a hand-sized funnel cake that is even more delicious.  

Our last half-eaten beignet with it's bath of powdered sugar

The atmosphere there is pretty cool, too.  It's an open air cafe where you seat yourself (if you're lucky enough to find a table).  The tables are tiny and round and so close together that you can literally bump elbows with people at the table next to you.  Conversations are loud but you can still hear the street musicians playing right outside.  Once you sit down a waiter somehow notices and comes to take your order (ours was two cafe au laits and 1 order of beignets).  A few seconds later the food arrives and you pay, cash only, right there on the spot.

Along with the conversations in the air, you also will notice little specks flying around in the sunlight.  I first thought it was dirt or debris from the street, but then after Stuart took his first big bite of French donut, I realized it was powdered sugar floating around!

Stu's first bite.  He had to load up on the carbs for the race, you know!

My first bite!  I didn't race, but loaded up on carbs anyway.

To lick the sugar off the plate or not?

After we ate our fill we headed back towards the hotel.  We didn't make it far before we saw a huge crowd forming around Jackson square.  There were people lined up in the streets and sidewalks watching 4 guys in matching Adidas sweatsuits do some sort of routine.  We stopped to see what all the hullabaloo was about, and wound up getting the show of our lives!

Although I can't confirm this online, apparently these 4 dudes used to live on the streets of New Orleans doing who knows what.  Then they discovered they could dance/do gymnastics and also were hilarious, and decided to do these routines on the sides of the street.  As far as I know, this is their only occupation, and based on the numbers of people that watch and give tips, they probably make more than we do.  I have to admit I was a bit jealous!

We watched for at least half an hour as they jumped and danced and spun around.  Even though that was entertaining enough, the best part was how they would mock people in the audience/bystanders.  For instance, a lone Hispanic man in a cowboy hat and denim got called the Marlboro man and asked where his familia was.  An elderly lady in a wheelchair was told if she took the chair to the ghetto where they lived they could fit it with 24 inch rims!  I think she was confused, but it was hilarious!

Head spins!

 After the show, we grabbed a bite for dinner and then headed back to the hotel for an early bedtime and what we hoped would be a restful night.  We got settled in and were just about to doze off around 9pm, when all of a sudden we heard, "BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!"  At first I thought our neighbors were watching a loud movie, but then we realized it was coming from outside our 2nd floor window.  I walked over to peek out the curtains and what did I see but ...

What did we do to deserve this?!

 A MARCHING BAND!  Just parked outside our window in a random alleyway, banging their drums.  Why?  I have no idea.  There definitely was not any parade nearby.

We finally settled off to sleep amidst the drumline.  However the slumber didn't last long.  As luck would have it, the white building in that picture was actually A BAR.  And not just any bar.  A New Orleans bar.  AKA a place where people drink a lot, stay up til all hours of the morning, and have loud Cajun accents. The event that actually woke us up was a Cajun "gentleman" named Curt who was loudly cursing at someone and dropping the F-bomb at every opportunity.  His girlfriend/wife was trying to get him to stop, but unfortunately for our sleep schedule he didnt.  I never went to the window to peek, but figured things would settle down after I heard the police siren 20 minutes later.

False.  An hour later another similar scuffle broke out.  This one also involved dragging wrought Iron chairs across the cobblestone alley.  Fortunately Stuart is a heavier sleeper than I am.  I slept about 3 hours and he got about 5.

Whether we were rested up or not, the morning of the race came early!  Stuart got up at 5:45 and got ready to run!  I walked him down to the start line to give him a good send off (and to take pictures of course!)

Look at the intensity!  He didn't know I took this  =)

Over 16,000 people ran the marathon and half-marathon

He's up there somewhere running at the start line!

He got off to a great start and I headed back to the hotel to chillax a while before picking him up at the finish line.  When time came I was a bit nervous since I had to find my way around NOLA having never really been there before.  With some driving advice from the valet at the hotel and a newly found NOLA-inspired rap radio station to give me confidence, I found the finish line pretty easy!  A parking spot on the other hand was a bit more of a challenge.  Without divulging too much embarassing information, I wound up parking at the wrong end of the mile-long city park, not finding the finish line until he had been finished about 25 minutes, and then making the marathoner walk 2 extra miles back to the car.  To top it all off, I was going to try and be a good cheerleader and sit at a spot on the course and give Stu some water and good cheer!  I camped out for a while and he never came by.  I was beginning to think he just walked for a while and was being slow until he called me to let me know he was already finished.  Turns out I was on the half-marathon track and not the whole.  Oops!  Anyway, I found him eventually and after he recovered a while we headed back home to Daphne!  An interesting weekend for sure!