Getting the Band Back Together

On Wednesday, both Amy and Ari met Greg in New Orleans. Ari arrived a few hours earlier than Amy, so Greg and Ari went barhopping around the French Quarter (!). After dinner and a drink, they went for beignets at Cafe du Monde, which is open 24/7/365. There was almost as much powdered sugar as dough, and Greg was slightly disappointed that the beignets aren’t in Mickey shape.

As they meandered some more, they passed by Pat O’Brien’s, where Ari had to get a Hurricane. Ari got carded at the entrance to Pat O’Brien’s, and he had the sense to use his real ID and not his 3D printed fake ID.

On Thursday morning, Amy and Ari returned to Cafe du Monde for beignets, while Greg did his morning run. Next, a walking tour of the French Quarter that was mostly history, not much walking. Still, we learned many legends and stories, including that much of the architecture comes from the Spanish period, not the French. Next, lunch at Central Grocery for muffuletta sandwiches, of course.

After lunch, we took the streetcar along the river to Mardi Gras World. It’s nice that New Orleans still maintains the historic streetcars, rather than replacing them with generic-looking modern ones.

Turns out that Mardi Gras season starts on January 6, so it’s already underway. Since it’s Mardi Gras season, we got a taste of king cake, which was just as delicious as Greg remembered. (If the sarcasm isn’t clear, suffice to say that king cake is not worth the calories). The parade floats, however, were impressive: large and ornately decorated. Some are fun, others quite disturbing. This got us talking that the only place in the USA where Carnival is observed is in New Orleans. Ari got to sit in the throne made for Shaquille O’Neal when he was the King of the parade. Ari may be tall but he’s nowhere as tall as Shaq.