New Orleans turned out to be fun, overall. My camera wasn't working, so I don't have much in the way of photos, except for a few that I took with my iPhone.

Things were looking a bit bleak when we spent the first night there on Bourbon Street in the world's loudest night club, and Gal in Charge insisted on taking photos of all of us at every bar and restaurant that we wandered into. After an hour or so at the night club, I just moved to the front of the club where I could sit in a chair with a back, play with my iPhone, and watch the baseball playoffs on the tvs.

The rest of the trip was pretty smooth sailing after that - I just kind of did my own thing. There were five of us - two that just wanted to party hardy on Bourbon Street, two of us that preferred to find things unique to New Orleans - like checking out some jazz clubs - and one gal that split her time between the two rival factions. I had a lot of fun at the Spotted Cat jazz club and the Preservation Hall.

Since I was generally home pretty early, I'd get up earlier than the rest of the group in the morning and head over by myself to Cafe du Monde for coffee and beignets. I'm just not use to spending that much time with other people, so I loved my alone time.A couple of hours later, I'd hook up with the others. They'd be hungry for lunch, and look askance at me when I'd order a Bloody Mary.

We did get our palms read by Phil at The House of Voodoo,

And we took a carriage ride to check out some local sights. It's hard to tell, but the mule is wearing a New Orleans Saints hat. Did I mention that the Oakland Raiders were in town to play the Saints? And that the town, and our plane there, were chocked full of Raiders fans? Who knew so many of them are permitted to cross state lines.

The last day we visited the oldest cemetery in New Orleans - all the graves are above ground. I'm not sure why the people in this statue are all headless.I did get to sample a crawfish poboy, a muffaletta, gumbo, red beans and rice, daiquiris, and raw oysters. We also had a wonderful steak dinner at the Orleans Grapevine. We also took the ferry to Algiers, and the streetcar to the Garden District.

So, while I probably won't join them again next year, I did enjoy myself, and enjoyed the City of New Orleans.