Gary and I went to New Orleans along with four friends for our annual Easter weekend in New Orleans. I am happy to report that the city was crowded with tourists. There were many events including the annual Crescent City Race, a volley ball tournament and some kind of dance championship.
EASTER VIDEO LINK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egb8_zS1GNA
The Bad Armoire
We stayed at the JW Marriott on Canal Street at St. Charles Avenue. We paid about $57 per night for each room through Priceline.com. This was a huge bargain for this nice hotel across from the French Quarter. Unfortunately, this is the only four stars hotel I stayed this year that does not have a flat panel TV. I have come to the conclusion that it was due to the expensive armoire that sits in each room which had just enough space for a tradtional small TV. I am sure that the reason JW Marriott is reluctant to get rid of these wooden armoires is that they probably paid too much for them and no longer have the budget to replace them. This is what happened when you do not use a designer who is up to date with modern technology. Why am I writing about a bad TV? Because the JW Marriott proudly presents itself as a four stars hotel and I am giving it only three stars due to the bad TV. I have stayed at many two stars hotels that have flat panel TV such as the Holiday Inn El Paso, a two stars hotel!
The Streets of New Orleans
The Saturday before Easter, Gary and I sat in the back of Lewis’ brand new car and together with Stella, we were chauffeured to a sight seeing trip of New Orleans. My friend, Peggy, spent the day at the World War II Museum instead.
Lewis took us to Liuzza, a local eatery that he and Stella like to go to. This was a mere two hours after Gary and I ate gyro sandwiches for breakfast at Dixie Gyro on Carondelet Street. My advice is for people to skip the gyros and eat the traditional breakfast at this small and charming place.
Back to Liuzza. We arrived right before the runners from the race took over the place. My belly was still full of bad gyro so I just ordered a bowl of creamy shrimp and eggplant soup. This soup was good and the half oyster po boy that came with it was ok. Nothing special. I tasted Lewis’ stuffed shrimp with squash and it was a dissapointment. The dish sounds much better than it tasted. To me it was a salty stove top version of a stuffing dish.
After lunch, we drove around the surrounding neighborhoods including Sixth Ward and the Bywater. We then went to NOMA (New Orleans Musuem of Modern Arts) and saw the glass collection exhibit of Jack M. Sawyer. His collection was in his house when Hurricane Katrina came to the coast. Fortunately, 90% of the collection was recovered. There were many pieces in the collection that I would love to have so I can use them at my parties. Who would ever know that a set of Libby glass vase would be so priceless (dates back to the early 1900).
Groped by a Bear
After a full day of saturated social activity, Lewis decided to show us where he used to live. Due to several street constructions, we could not find Lewis’ former place and ended up in the Marigny district near the Quarter. As the brand new Mazda drove by a bar full of bears (big burly men) in Easter Bonnets, one cute bear came up to the car to talk to me and when I rolled down my window, he grabed my chest and tweaked my nipple and told me that I was cute and that I need to abandoned my friends and come and party with him. I have to tell you that I wanted to bolt out of the car and let myself be captured by this cute bear and his buddies but I graciously declined. I was too tired and needed a rest before I visit my slot machines at the casino.
Rolling High in the Big Easy
Gary won within the first ten minutes that we arrived on Friday evening. I was still in the hotel room waiting for our luggage when Gary visited Harrah’s Casino and put a total of $200 into a $5 Double Diamond Deluxe slot machine. Within minutes, he won $1,600. When I met up with Gary, in the true tradition of Peggy Bundy, my right hand was extended toward ” Big Poppa” and I was given enough money to eat, gamble and come home with.
The Gay Easter Parade
There was a severe thunder storm in Baton Rouge on Easter Sunday. Watching TV, it was inevitable that the storm would arrived to New Orleans at 4 PM, the same time as the Gay Easter Parade. We put on our bonnets anyway and headed out to watch the parade on Bourbon Street and St. Ann. We needed the walk since the 6 of us had a giant Easter Brunch at the Casino’s buffet. It was Gary’s treat.
I made the bonnets on Saturday night. I created brand new bonnets for Peggy and Stella and I added more things (wings, flowers) to Gary and my bonnets. Ian and Lewis decided not to mess up their hair and did not wear their hats.
The rain did not come and we all had a fun time watching the parade.
The Return
Ian has moved back to New Orleans and is now living in Metarie. Lewis and Stella stayed for the whole week in New Orleans. Gary, Peggy and I headed back to Houston on Monday after a delicious Vietnamese lunch at a restaurant on Chef Menteur Highway in the Versailles, east of New Orleans.
Our next big trip will be to Paris. It will be Gary and my first time. We will be traveling on May 12 with Lewis and two friends, Carl Mc and Khoi. I will also write a report on my 4th Annual Love Party “Beautiful”.
Carl Han
