Written by Kathryn
The Beast
“The gold one.” –Rental Car Rep.
“Uh…so which one?” –Colin
“The GOLD one.” –Rental Car Rep.
“Oh…ok…well I’m colorblind so…”
The Beast. The Tank. BRUCE…is the biggest S.U.V. I’ve ever
seen. It’s not very practical for the streets of New Orleans, but we take what
we can get.
Upon our attempted departure from the parking garage (one
group in the S.U.V. and the other in a slick white Hyundi), we first couldn’t
seem to understand why there was a “Do Not Enter” sign, that was followed a few
feet behind with an “Enter” sign. HOW DO
WE EXIT? Mind blown.
“So, where’s the car?”
Then, we’re trying to get out of the gate, and the woman
just does not understand why our paperwork says we’ve rented an S.U.V. and
we’re riding in a Hyundi. We eventually
were able to explain…
Mother’s (est. 1938)
We all love mother’s cooking. Whether it’s your mom or someone else’s, the
food just comes out so much better when they do it. We
waited in the beautiful sunshine at Mother’s Restaurant, which I overheard is
the place to get the best food in New Orleans, and according to the sign it has
“the best baked ham.” It’s cafeteria-style,
popular, and run like a tight-ship.
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| Look at the line! |
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| They're jazzed we're here. We're jazzed we're here! |
I can now attest to the truth of the sign for best baked
ham, as I ate an entire Freri special, which is a renowned and LOADED po’ boy with baked ham,
roast beef, and “debris” (the little pieces of the roast beef that fall off
when you’re carving), lettuce, mustard, and au ju gravy. It wasn’t my absolute favorite sandwich, but I was
hungry and it was authentic New Orleans food.
Other orders among the 10 adventurers ranged from shrimp or debris po’
boys to salad, to a big-as-your-face stack of pancakes with blueberries. We were stuffed.
1PM Disaster: Luggage Down/Colin’s Panic-Stricken Face
The fast-forwarded version of this mini-slip up: We left
Mother’s, and Beth was doing her thing and driving the Beast, when all of the
sudden…Colin beeped frantically. Bruce’s
trunk was wide open to reveal a gaping hole where THREE of our prized luggages
should have been. Where were they now?
In the middle of the street. According
to Colin, the people that luckily stopped their car to allow him to gather the
stray luggage laughed and welcomed him to New Orleans. Everything had gone oh so smoothly up until
now, this was bound to happen! ;)
Arrival at Molly’s House
We’re staying at Molly’s House, which is a house owned by
Trinity Church, built after Hurricane Katrina to welcome service groups.
A series of “oohhs” and “aahhs” carried us across the
threshold into our spacious abode at which point Colin commented, “Welcome to
the Real World: New Orleans.” Everyone
erupted in laughter.
Beth and Colin (our leaders) took beds upstairs, while the 8 girls quickly chose bunk beds downstairs, put sheets on them, and “tested
them out.” Aka everyone was asleep
within the half hour. Unsurprisingly,
Kathryn was up within 30 minutes, with Casey not far behind.
Everyone else rested awhile longer while
Beth, Colin, Casey, Kathryn, and Abigayel took to the streets to find a coffee
shop and check out the local grocery store.
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| "Don't go anywhere!" Don't do anything. -Colin |
And all that JAZZ…
[Side note: Kathryn faced a very heart-attack-like scare
when a skate-boarder came right at her and squealed like a girl while Kathryn
was taking a picture. Kathryn threw her
hands up and jumped a foot in terror.
Everyone thought it was funny.
Kathryn did not. ;) ]
The venue was packed.
We sat right in front, on floor cushions. I was so close that I could’ve polished the
musicians’ shoes. The band filled up the
room with it’s swingin’ sounds of the city’s iconic jazz.
Each musician closed his eyes and tapped his foot to the
rhythm that whisked away to another time in history. Although the musicians (trombonist, trumpet
player, clarinetist, bass player, drummer, and a very young pianist) all told
their own musical story, the music interlaced in the air and reached our ears
in a pleasing, toe-tapping melody. The
music was in and around us. It could’ve
gone on and on… Staple songs included “The Basin Blues” and “When the Saints Go
Marching In.”
Visitors drank beer from the neighboring renowned Pat
O’Brien’s, sipped coffee, sat contentedly, clapped to the beat, or simply ogled
in amazement (the last was Kathryn). The
experience was unparalleled.
A man at the back of the audience summed up the show
well. “#worthit”
10pm Beignets and Café au Lait
Beignets (ben-yays) are a mouth-watering doughnut like
piece of heaven coated in powdered sugar.
Café au Lait (cafey-olé) is coffee and milk.
We reveled in the extraordinary taste of this combination
at the well-known “Café du Monde.” No table nor guest left without powdered sugar all over it/him/her. You can guess what the most popular and
basically only order might be…
[Yes, Mom, I got decaf.
xo, Kathryn]
This has
been a reflection brought to you by Kathryn.
Over and
Out.
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