One of cool things about moving away and now coming back to visit New Orleans, is seeing my hometown through perspective of an outsider. There many things which I used to take for granted, such as the beautiful live oaks, unique architecture, and diverse culture, that I appreciate a lot more since I don’t see/experience it on a regular basis. Perhaps the thing I miss most of all is the slower pace of life. People really take time to slow down and enjoy life. Perhaps the one thing that embodies the pace of life in New Orleans are the stately and historic streetcars which can be found rumbling down the streets of New Orleans. They are not the most efficient nor fastest form of transportation. But it’s the perfect way to sit down, relax, and cruise while enjoying the scenery along the way, which is something I don’t do often enough in life. “Rush, rush, rush” is my motto! Anyways the streetcars are always a fun to see, and that day we were able to catch a sight of a red liveried car of the Canal Street line on its way back toward the CBD.
I had planned to meet a friend in the French Quarter for a drink before heading out to the airport. Since time was not an issue, I decided to take the scenic route and loop around City Park and down the tree and mansion lined St. Charles Avenue before finally heading to the Quarter.
Cruising down St. Charles Avenue
The French Quarter might be known to be an epicenter of debauchery, but there is much more to the Quarter than that. It is has a lot of historical value and is the cultural center of the city where many artists and musicians ply their trade. And the unique architecture is a story in itself. Although it is known as the French Quarter, the architecture you see throughout the area is of Spanish colonial style. Large scale fires in 1788 and 1794 destroyed nearly all of the original French architecture. Since Spain owned New Orleans at the time, the buildings were built in the Spanish colonial style. Ironically, the name French Quarter still stuck.
Street artists and musicians
Jackson Square with the St. Louis Cathedral in the background
The Cabildo
Beignets at Café du Monde
Our last stop before drinks was at Café du Monde for an order of beignets, which we devoured it in seconds. In fact, that isn’t actually my picture. I had to grab it off Google images since I forgot to take picture before I scarfed a couple of them down. So damn good, yet so damn bad for you. After that, we headed to the bar at the Rib Room in Omni Orleans Hotel for a couple of drinks with a friend and some of his relatives from Germany, who were an absolute pleasure to talk to. Unfortunately, it was all over too soon and I had to head back to the airport.
It was a very short drive to the airport, which was made a little longer as I had to gas up the rental. I returned the car, and headed to the ticket counters to get my boarding pass printed before going through security. As I taking off my shoes (no PreCheck), I heard one of the TSA screeners ask if I was
dat4life. Naturally, the first thought was whiskey tango foxtrot. When I looked up, I realized that a friend of mine from middle school was one the screener in question. We haven’t talked or seen each other in years, in fact probably not since the last day of 7th grade. So we chatted for a bit since there wasn’t much of a line before parting ways and promising to catch more over Facebook. Such a small world.
My flight itself was fine, nothing to talk about in that regard. My flight was fine, not much to talk about in that regard. Pushed back early, drank a couple glasses of water, arrived early. We pulled into gate D31 next to a shiny new 77W, which gave me my first chance to see the beauty up close. What a perfect way to cap off a great weekend.
