Happy Christmas From The Road

Hello to all, and a very happy holidays. I'm here in New Orleans, blogging courtesy of Mr M, who paid an additional extortion fee to get the internet service in the hotel room.

And speaking of Mr M, he's had the most quotable line of the trip so far. "So much for the sunny goddamn south."

It was cold yesterday when we arrived, about mid-30s. Funny how finally getting out of the car and into your room and the heady excitement of being someplace new will take the chill right off. We walked parts of the French Quarter, and to lunch and dinner, and were fine.

This morning, however, we woke up to something a little different. Ice. At first we thought it was just raining hard on the windows, but when we ventured outside to find the Christmas Jazz Parade, we discovered that hard sound on the window was ice chips being hurled at us by none other than Mother Nature herself. When I got off the street car and started down the stairs into the French Quarter today, it was like walking on an Icee. Little bits of ice condensed into the wetness.

And needless to say, or maybe needed to say, I don't know, the Christmas Jazz Parade didn't come off. Mr M and I did get to hear a nice Dixieland combo playing at what would have been the parade's beginning point, though, and while the sister, bro-in-law, and Taytie explored other venues, we stayed there to listen.

You know where this story is going, and you're indeed correct, Mr M and I were at our meeting-back-up place at the appointed time, but were not met up with. After waiting around a freezingly uncomfortable amount of time, we headed back to the hotel on our own, deciding to forgo the streetcar for a trip on foot. Which was a good thing, as we found out once we were back in the hotel that the ice had downed all the streetcars in town - I could have still been there waiting, thus depriving you all of this mind-numbingly boring blog entry.

The sunny goddamn south indeed. But tomorrow's supposed to be better. And I did get a nice shot out of the hotel window of snow covering the tops of the buildings here.

What I've done so far in New Orleans:
* Drank seven cups of coffee
* Had my picture made with a giant shrimp
* Drank my first-ever martini, followed by my second and third-ever martinis which got Auntie Bet quite bombed. R Sackerson, I'm right there with ya.
* Wondered how I was going to deal with all the food I've been confronted with
* Run through the revolving door at the Wyndham Plaza (several times)
* Drank a beer
* Been allowed to pick out any CD I wanted at Tower Records courtesy of Mr M (I went wild and picked something by the Brian Jonestown Massacre)
* Been in a lot of shops that sell things that say New Orleans on them

Yes, it's been a riveting day and a half so far.

Tomorrow I'm going to the movies even if I have to go alone (the shops at our hotel include a theatre, which is showing "Sideways"), am probably making a foray into Saks Fifth Avenue (also attached to the hotel) because I haven't spent enough money yet and I thought I'd waste some on hair care products, and then Mr M and I are going exploring and band-hunting.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* You know, if they'd sell those olives at the bottom of a martini, they could make a fortune. I know I'd buy them.