Daze And Nights In The Big Easy
Some cities entertain you. New Orleans takes over your life for a while.
Okay, I didn’t exactly PLAN on getting buzzed in the middle of the afternoon. On a Monday.
But I was in New Orleans, and if there’s any single thing to know about this town it’s that a party can break out at any time, without warning, like a hurricane suddenly blowing in from the Gulf.
It’s what the city is all about, what makes it so powerful. And I could only react to the situation.
After far too many years removed, I was back in New Orleans and, as it had done before, the place sucked me in as if I were the head of a crawfish. Fer sure! Here are a few examples of what kind of spell Nawlens can put on a person:
• I went for one weekend of Jazz Fest and stayed for two.
• I had intended to go for runs a few times, but the only such activity was a mad sprint to Margaritaville Cafe (which existed at the time) to get an early jump on the line to see to see Jimmy Buffett play there. I succeeded, by the way.
• I tried to take it easy a couple of weeknights but was introduced to a gentleman named Big Mike at The Columns Hotel who was voted the city’s Best Bartender. For five years running. I quickly discovered why.
• Then there was the Buffett show. Wasted away again.
It happens every time I go there. One moment I’m casually strolling through the French Quarter and the next I’m doing Hand Grenades and falling victim to the tube shot girls.
With hospitality fit for royalty, I keep thinking New Orleans must think I am Napoleon brought back from the dead. The people are beyond friendly, they are always smiling and keep asking me if I want a drink. There is nothing special about me, of course; this is just how the Big Easy treats all its guests.
Like most people who visit the Big Easy, I quickly fall victim to the city’s magical spell. Is it voodoo? Bourbon Street? The gumbo? Maybe it was those hand grenades.
Whatever the reason, it is pleasing. But it’s easy to lose touch with the rest of the world. Had the Canal Place Wyndham not left me a USA Today on my doorstep on one trip, I would not have had the slightest idea of any news or sports happenings elsewhere. A group of Los Angeles friends went to Jazz Fest one year and it was only after they got back home did they discover that L.A. had practically burned to the ground in the 1992 riots. This is how focused one can become on this town.
My first trip to the Big Easy was in high school. I was a 15-year-old sophomore and was participating in the Mardi Gras parade. Marching in a band, I was on the end of a row and girls kept running up to me, kissing me and putting beads around my neck. Talk about on-the-spot sex education!
In college, I was here a couple of times as the University of Alabama played in the Sugar Bowl. One was for the national championship. I was up late the night before that game, drinking Hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s by the flaming fountain with a flaming redhead named Sammy Kaye Hughes. Gee, I wonder whatever became of ol’ Sammy Kaye.
Since that time, the city keeps whispering in my ear to return. I’m glad when I do but it is always with some sadness when I depart. Fer sure!
The Nightlife Blogger is the bar columnist for PubClub.com, An award-winning journalist, Kevin Wilkerson has spent more than two decades covering bars, nightlife, destinations and events around the world, always searching for the stories and experiences most travelers overlook.
Next Stops on the New Orleans Party Bus
• New Orleans Complete City Guide
• PubClubbing In The Bourbon Street Bars
• How I Spent $30 In 30 Seconds On Bourbon Street
• Post Party Sightseeing Guide
• Hit Hard By The Hand Grenades On Bourbon Street
PubClub.com covers nightlife, bars, festivals and party events around the world. The Bartender has been to New Orleans many times.