A few years back I won some money. Winning that raffle pretty much told GS an I we would be able to afford to go to the Lions Club International Convention at New Orleans. (Those of you who are familiar with Lions Clubs should finish reading this before you reach any conclusions.) We had been there once before, in 1986 [I think that was our fourth date] and have wanted to revisit ever since
I bring this up because I recently became aware that a swell friend and HIS WIFE have recently returned from celebrating their anniversary, which they only get to do once every four years. He hasn't expressed whether or not they enjoyed it. I'm only going to guess they probably did. I don't know what it's like there after Mardi Gras. I'm guessing pretty tame and a lot less crowded?
So... back to my story. Hurricane Katrina happened between the time I won the money and the dates of the convention. Lions Clubs International made a plea to Lions members worldwide for contributions to the Lions Clubs International Foundation to help the communities on the Gulf Coast. We sent the money instead of going ourselves
In 2006 we went to Boston instead. So did the Lions convention
now there are two
places to which
we want to return
places to which
we want to return
I've never been to N'Awlins and should put it on my bucket list. It seems that all one ever sees on TV is Bourbon Street in the French Quarter but there must be much more. I'd like to sample the food.
ReplyDeleteIf you're gonna sample the food you won't have much time for anything else
DeleteN'Awlins is GREAT fun, Mardi Gras or not. I was fortunate enough to have my first serious love affair there... with a waitress from New England who came to town for Mardi Gras and never left. It ended badly, as most (all) of my affairs do/did... but we digress.
ReplyDeleteI've been many times over the years and hope to get back before I kick it.
Go.
We had a great time in '86. Learned how to make a Hurricane from scratch and enjoyed the barbecued shrimp at Pascals Menale, among other things. Yeah... I think we'll go back.
DeleteThen there's Boston ...we're planning to go back there, too.
The trip was lots of fun, and educational, and filling, and...
ReplyDeleteI intended to write about it, at length, but just haven't found the level of interest in recapping as I have for some other trips we've taken.
In short, though: The food was outstanding, as was the music. We both enjoyed much about the place, although I think the food is more suited to my palate than MY WIFE's (as is, probably, the music.) Surprisingly, I think we can pretty much agree that it is not a city we would be likely to pine away for if we never see it again. Don't get me wrong - we found the people to be one of the most marvelous things about the place, as we didn't encounter a single solitary mean and/or grumpy person, which was astounding. But, we tend towards liking museums and theater more than New Orleans has them to offer. Nothing wrong with the trip, but not too many "WOW!" moments, ya know? Just my two cents, and I do expect I'll expand on these thoughts someday soon.
I have to agree that New Orleans is a pretty much live in the moment kind of place. The real sights are outside of the city at the old plantation homes. GS and I took a bus tour and found out that the property taxes were based on the number of closets in a home so all of the old places had armoires instead of closets.
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