NOLA Part 1 [ 2011-06-14, 10:42 p.m. ]

Ok...here goes. My visit to New Orleans for the days Thursday 6/2/11 to Sunday 6/5/11.

Thursday: My cousin,Phil,who is a flight attendant came over to pick me up for my flight. On the way there he pointed to the sun visor and said "That's something for you". It was an envelope with a card that had $50 cash. I couldn't believe how sweet that was. I thanked him several times. He dropped me at the Delta concourse and I gave him a big hug. I had a suitcase to check. I'm a notorious over-packer. And since I haven't flown since 2002 I'm not used to paring things down. I realllly should have. Delta charges $25 for each bag you check. Ridiculous.

I got checked in and then went through security. No problems there. Phil had prepped me in advance on putting my bottles of small liquids/gels into a ziploc bag. The things you have to go through nowadays. (One note:I've been reading my old journal entries and they have a lot of details that remind me of things I'd forgotten about. So I'm putting as many details as I want in this entry. Feel free to skim.)

My flight wasn't leaving till 12:55pm so I had time to kill. So I got a coffee and browsed through my magazines. Once I got on the plane, I was about halfway down and had a window seat as I had requested. I'm kind of afraid of flying but not that much. When I'm afraid of something I like to force myself to face it. I have a fear of heights so that's really the part of flying that gets to me. But I like to look around and just push the fear down. I did take a dramamine just in case though. I was sitting next to a young girl who was from Omaha,Nebraska. We chatted a little to be friendly. But then we sort of let each other do what they want. The flight was only an hour since I had a layover in Memphis.

Once we got to Memphis, my gate was the same one that we arrived at. And the same plane. I still had to wait an hour though. I got an overpriced sandwich and a soda and waited. Once I got back on the plane I was in a window seat again but with a different seatmate. She was not talkative which was fine. The plane got into New Orleans at about 3:30,I think. Remember there's a time difference so I had to set my watch back an hour in Memphis. Very confusing to me. I've only lived in Central time zone once in my life and I still remember how weird that was.

I got my suitcase and the minute I stepped outside..wham...the humidity and heat really hit me. I know Charlotte has both but honestly,it ain't nothing like that. Wow. I got a cab with a driver who barely said two words to me. What's that about? I don't know. I'm used to friendly cabbies. Anyway, I got to my hotel which was on North Rampart St which is right on the edge of the French Quarter and next to Louis Armstrong Park. I went into the lobby and was told my room would actually be in the adjoining hotel which has the same owners. Whatever. Ok. So I went with the lady over there and there was an older man behind the counter to get me checked in. Except the problem was that they expected me to let them put a hold on my debit card till I checked out with an additional $100 for a refundable "authorization fee". Ok,I've heard of something like this so it isn't a scam. But I wasn't told upfront by the hotel.com guy about having to let them do that. I wouldn't have that much money till Saturday when my direct deposit would go in.

I negotiated to let the guy charge me for one night and that I would come down to the desk before checkout at 11am to do something about the next 2 nights. I was not a happy Judith. Anyway, he took me up to my room. It was a small but nice room just off a balcony which overlooked a courtyard with a pool. It was actually pretty damn nice for $89 a night,I have to say. If you want to see some pics go to my flickr account dulligirl2000 and you can see some pics of the hotel along with the rest of my trip.

I called my mom and to make a long story short we finally figured out that the best thing to do would be for her to deposit cash into my bank on Friday morning and I'd pay her back when I came home. Which is what I did. I took care of the next 2 nights the next morning.

But first...the rest of the day... I got situated into the room and tried to figure out the best thing to do for the night. I got some directions and walked the 4 blocks into the the Quarter to look for a restaurant. Let me say that is a lot of walking. I'm used to it when I visit my sister in Charleston but I think I was already tired. I did find a decent looking restaurant and sat at the small bar. This way I could chat with the cute bartender. I ordered a catfish po'boy with fries. Plus, a Hurricane drink. And then another drink that was sweet but strong. The bartender and I talked for a bit and that was cool to just talk to somebody. After I was done I headed out to figure out what I wanted to do. I think by then it was 10pm. I walked a little of Bourbon St and thought about going into the Cat's Meow,a famous karaoke bar. But I didn't have the energy for it. Nor the money,really.

I ended up going back to the hotel and falling asleep by 11. I really know how to party!


My next entry will be Friday. Which was a lot more fun,thankfully.

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