Day #5: Makin' Our Way to the Big Easy

We woke up this morning to the sight of dLo admiring the ever expanding inner tube around his mid-section. Soft whimpers escaped his mouth and a tear trickled down his face as Seb comforted him by simply saying "It's still there, no matter what you dreamt".

After a giant breakfast at Louie's Cafe on the LSU campus we hit the road bound for New Orleans and on our way out we swung by a daiquiri joint for a couple refreshing beverages. Tyson the bartender not only served us some great 2-for-1 daiquiris but also gave us a brief history lesson and recommended we swing by Donaldsonville which was the capital of Louisiana at one point.

We took Tyson's advice, took a small detour to Donaldsonville and hung out on the Mississippi River levy. We then hopped back in the car and made our way towards New Orleans hugging the banks of the Mississippi.

Susie demonstrated her superior alcohol consumption abilities when the small daiquiri she was drinking started going straight to her head. Luckily we were passing by a Jesuit retreat where she was miraculously healed after lying amongst some towering oak trees. Typical Asian...

We continued to hug the Mississippi and after passing numerous sugar cane and rice plants we finally made it to New Orleans. We checked into the St. Peter's Guest Hotel and got a massive 2 bedroom suite with a large living room for all of $90 per night.

After checking-in and leaving the car at a shady parkade we headed to Cafe Maspero for some dinner. Susie ordered a muffalatta that was the size of her head and promptly devoured an entire quarter of it. The other three quarters she gave to dLo, Seb and I. The rest of us ordered a mix of Jambalaya, grilled chicken sandwich and a round of $1 daiquiris. Yes you read that right, ONE dollar daiquiris.

For dessert we headed over to Cafe du Monde for some Beignets with a centimeter icing sugar piled on top. When it was all said and done we were completely stuffed.

Next stop was the Maple Leaf Bar on Oak Street to check out the Rebirth Brass Band. While waiting for them to hit the stage we headed next door to Jacques-Imo's to down two traditional southern drinks, a Sazarec and a Hurricane.

Well limbered up we headed back to the Maple Leaf Bar and watched The Rebirth Brass Band put on an absolutely INCREDIBLE show. The trumpet player had cheeks the size of bag pipes and handled that trumpet like he came out of the womb with it in his hand. Jeb got dragged in to a dance-off by some guy that wore his sunglasses around his mouth and Susie attempted to consume another alcoholic drink.

One the way home, in a brilliant stroke of utter idiocy I decided to take a different way back to the hotel and got us so lost that the resulting detour had us on the other side of the Mississippi. There's a reason I'm the driver and not the navigator...

Tomorrow we're off to Mobile and then the sun and beaches of Pensacola. Should be a good day especially with the great weather we're having.