French Quarter POV

Okay, I never heard of this holiday before, either, but it sounds like fun and a reason to have some grog. It’s coming up on September 19^th, so put your tri-cornered learning caps on and brush up on your pirate lingo here: http://www.talklikeapirate.com/howto.html 

If you’re in the French Quarter on friday, you’re in luck. There’s plenty of pirate history here, and plenty of places for pirates to hang out and drink. Having pirate-ish fun is a daily thing here. It’s not unusual to see people in full on pirate gear on any given day of the week.

Okay, it’s not just a rainy day. We are actually under a tropical storm warning and a tornado watch. It seems odd, because the rain has been spotty, then heavy, then nonexistent.

All in all, it’s a good day for a nice cup of coffee, internet access, indie wave music, and people who are too cool to hang out with you off the clock. Where would I be if I wasn’t flat broke from the last evacuation?

Café Envie on Decatur! I’m not getting paid by them to say this, not even with a free slice of carrot cake. For any French Quarter businesses out there: I AM open to bribes, or even job offers. Really.

My current favorite is a drink called a Jittery Monkey. It’s got coffee, banana and Godiva liqueurs, and whipped cream. They serve it hot or cold, but the hot is clearly the best. According to me, anyhow.

Here’s their page: www.myspace.com/envienola

It’s called the Battle of the Badges. This Battle is really a friendly competition between the firefighters and the police to see who can get the most people to donate plasma. The drive is on the corner of Howard and Barronne and will continue until 2 or 3 this afternoon.As of this posting, the firefighters are ahead. The general feeling is that our firefighters get dumped on the most of all our first responders. They get left out of pay raises, haven’t had fire stations rebuilt in a timely manner, and had the crappiest evacuation during the last storm.

When we arrived home from our hurricane sponsored trip, I quickly saw that things were back to normal. People were walking around with drinks in hand. My husband had to inch through the streets, carefully dodging party people who, rather like rutting deer, will step into the street at any point with no warning or thought.

I can’t decide which one sums the situation up the best.

After calling for a manditory evacuation of the city, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is going to stay behind as Hurricane Gustav hits the area. Read more HERE.

It’s not that he doesn’t understand the risk of staying in the danger zone; he knows the facts about this incoming storm better than most. Just last night, I watched him give a speech in which he outlined the worst case scenario. Video HERE .

There’s a certain heroic “Captain going down with his ship” imagery there. Then, there’s the “Damn, that’s stupid” followed quickly by “He must be nuts!”

What’s your vote? Is he brave, stupid, crazy, or all of the above for staying in New Orleans for what he said was the Mother of all Storms and the Storm of the Century?

So far, votes from my sister’s place are 1 for stupid, 1 for crazy, and 1 for attempt to save his career with a publicity stunt.

It may seem ironic, horrible, or sad that on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we’re all looking at another dangerous storm likely heading this way. I say it’s good timing.

This morning, over 80 unidentified people — not remains, bodies, or corpses, but people — who died during Hurricane Katrina or the days that followed were laid to rest. If that isn’t a motivation to get out of harm’s way, I don’t know what is.

Not only do all of the hurricane forecasts show us getting tagged, but there are other equally strong factors that went into our decision to evacuate. Our mayor left the Democratic Convention early, passing on a chance to speak on a national stage. You know, the mayor who was protested by citizens when he got an award last week from his photographer.

Plus, Anderson Cooper is coming to town. I love him and 360, but there are plenty of newsworthy things going on in the world for him to cover, so if he’s coming to New Orleans for this storm, it’s bound to be big!

I’ll try to update this blog from my sister’s place in Texas. If I can’t, then know that we are safe and well. Unless we have too many mojitos while I watch Anderson’s broadcasts.

Like everyone else in this crazy town, I’m waiting to see if this storm is going to force us to evacuate New Orleans. They’ll only call for a mandatory evacuation if the storm strengthens to a Category 3 hurricane.

*sigh* If you go for a walk in the Quarter, you’re bound to run into or witness con men (and women) at work. Don’t fall for the oldest scam:

“I bet $5 I know where you got your shoes!”

The answer? “On your feet” Congratulations! You now owe a scam artist cash, and some of the thugs take reneges personally.

Right behind this one is “ I bet you $5 that I can spell your name”

The answer? Y-O-U-R N-A-M-E.

The best way to avoid this? Tell them firmly to go try that trick on somebody else. I always just smile and say, “I’m a local. Have a nice day!”. If the street is busy, you can always avoid eye contact and play deaf.

In the end, if you decide to wager on the street with strangers, I guess you reap what you sow.

Sure, there’s a ton of information about New Orleans online. Still, there are sometimes questions you need a local to answer. One of the often overlooked resources is the local paper’s website, which has forums for each neighborhood or area of the city.

The one for the French Quarter is called the Vieux Carre forum. (Vieux Carre means ‘old square’ and is what the French called the area when they ran the joint.)

To ask a question, you’ll need to register for a screen name. It’s free. Then post it and check back later for the opinions of the locals. You don’t need to register to read the posts, though.

Be warned, however, that this forum has its fair share of trolls and disgruntled out-of-towners trying to scare tourists with bad advice. These will soon be exposed by the helpful posters, though!

Click HERE for a link to the forum so you can check it out for yourself!

Visitors to the French Quarter can have some pretty strange ideas about our drinking laws. These usually turn out to be based on the vacation stories of friends or family. Many vacation tales are as reliable as a fisherman’s account of the one that got away.