Cat sent me her pictures from the trip to New Orleans two weeks ago, so this seems like a good time to finally write about it.
I arrived on Friday evening, and, after some brief discussions of geography, we immediately set to drinking. We implemented an innovative interlaced approach — a shot of tequila, followed by a pint of Guinness, followed by more tequila. After that, I wanted another Guinness, but you know what they say about mixing beer and liquor. So we compromised, and drank our pints of Guinness as shots. Maybe the tequila can sneak the Guinness into my stomach. "It's cool, he's with me." Anyway, from there the night apparently devolved into belly-measuring, as they tend to do. Finally, we took some vitamins and then went to sleep.
Saturday we ate breakfast at IHOP and then drove into New Orleans to see what shape it was in. It's still pretty rough. One creepy thing is that every house has a spray-painted code on the front indicating what date the house was searched by rescue personnel, and how many dead bodies and animals were found there.
In town, we explored and took pictures. In one plaza we came across one of the most impressive musicians I've ever seen. He's a one-man band named Dave Gregg (though he had a drummer with him that day). Aside from the drums, he plays all the other instruments himself. He's got one guitar strung behind him, and one in front, and he plays each with one hand, while tapping out a bassline on the bass with his toes, and singing as well. I was impressed.
After that we ate at Hard Rock, wandered around some more, and eventually found our way to an Irish pub that had both Guinness and Woodchuck's on tap. We enjoyed delicious alcohol and played a few games of pool. When we tired of that, we got in the car and headed back home.
Sunday we ate breakfast at Waffle House (oh, delicious Waffle House), then went home and gave Bryan his cake. After that we spent most of the day hanging around, playing music, and watching episodes of SpaceGhost on DVD. That evening we went to Buffalo Wild Wings where I enjoyed yet more Guinness along with their awesome Buffalitos, which seem to consist of little more than lettuce and barbecue sauce and a tortilla shell but are incredible even so.
After an hour or so Kelsey arrived to pick me up. We went and hung out at O'Henry's and threw many many peanut shells on the floor. Soon, however, our time was up and we headed back to the car. She dropped me off at Buffalo Wild Wings and then Bryan and Cat and I headed home.
Monday I insisted we eat breakfast at Waffle House again (hey, I have to stock up like a camel). There wasn't much time after that for hanging out, so we went to the store and I bought a few 4-packs of Guinness, then we drove to the airport, I said my goodbyes, and flew back to PR.
It was awesome getting to play music with someone again. It's been so long since I got to really jam with someone, and Bryan and I have always meshed well musically. Cat's even learning some drums, and can keep a simple beat, so we jammed with her a bit too.
It was also really cool finally getting to see Kelsey again. In the last year we've talked a lot on IM and have become quite good friends, so it was cool to get to hang out in person.
In February I'm flying up to Clemson for Meg's birthday, which is great because I haven't seen those friends since last February. Man. I can't believe it's already been a year. A return visit was long overdue. Also they have Waffle House. Mmm.