There is a House Way Down in New Orleans

 

Kids, I've been so bad about writing in here. This past month, I've been killing myself trying to get everything planted in my gardens, and I'm STILL not done yet. Sigh.

Anyway, I'm still trying to write about our vacation two weeks ago. On the second day, we made it to New Orleans at around 1:30. We stayed at a VRBO in the Bywater area. It was perfect for me. It's kind of the artsy/ hipster area. There are dive bars, a larger gay population, and murals painted everywhere. The houses themselves were works of art

The house where we stayed was incredible. It was old and full of character. It had a parking spot, and a great outdoor area.

We all have said that we want to go back to New Orleans sooner rather than later. I really wish that we had had a couple more days to explore our neighborhood better, but I guess we'll just have to plan to do that the next time we head down.

Okay, so we got all settled in our place and then walked to a cute little brew pub for lunch. It was a late lunch. I think we ate at around 3 or so. Which is important later on in the post.

We stopped to take photos on our walk home. Check out this house!  Power to the people! But also, I don't think even John would be okay with me painting our whole house like that, and he's pretty damn cool about the kind of shit I propose to do to our house.

Since we didn't know the city at all, we took an Uber to the French Quarter about an hour before our Voodoo/Ghosts/Vampire tour was supposed to start so we could wander around Bourbon Street a bit. It was a crazy zoo, but a very fun place to people watch. The kids all got drinks, and then we headed to meet our tour.

It was Friday the 13th, PLUS it was dark and stormy, so it was perfect for a creepy ghost tour.

The Oldest giving me the stink-eye for taking pictures.

Taylor was our tour guide. We knew we were going to love him when he came walking up wearing a Cramps t-shirt. He really knew his shit too. 

The next night we were walking past him, and Stinky yelled to the people on the tour, "Hey! Taylor is the BEST tour guide. Be sure you tip him well."

He turned around us and saw us. Then he yelled at John, "I remember you, Silver Fox! Making you laugh last night was even better than the $80 your kids tipped me."

I asked Stinky if she really tipped him $80, and she said, "No. It was probably closer to $30, but he's smart, so he exaggerated it to give today's tour the right idea."

While we were on the tour, we got to see a couple of Second Line processions. Usually, they are for funerals and weddings, but this was graduation weekend, so they were doing them for the graduating seniors. A Second Line procession is basically a little parade specific to a certain event. Most the processions we saw were for weddings. I love watching them. I still haven't seen one for a funeral, but the wedding ones, are great fun.

So, as our little tour went on, we heard a lot about all kinds of evil people, voodoo curses and beliefs, and then they got to the Kathy Bates from American Horror Story house (otherwise know as Nicholas Cage's former home). As we walked, I started feeling worse and worse, by the time we got to the American Horror Story home, I was downright peaked. I think it was a migraine, but John thinks it was because I was hungry. I did say I was starting to get hungry, but when I'm REALLY hungry I get cranky and hard to take. This was me seeing stars, and starting to pass-out.

I told John I had to sit down, but this is New Orleans. There are no benches, and who knows how much puke and urine are covering the sidewalks on any given night. The Oldest's boyfriend came to rescue. He took off his sandals, so I could sit on them. I sure hope he was up to date on his tetanus shot after standing barefoot in those streets.

Anyway, Stinky called us an Uber, and the kids went back to the tour. They said it was almost over, so we didn't miss much. I felt better after I got home and could lid down. Again, I'm pretty sure it was a migraine without the pain part. They have made me throw up and pass-out in the past. I had only had two beers, so it wasn't too much alcohol, and storm fronts can give me migraines, so that's my guess. Although, The Oldest's boyfriend thinks it was the ghosts of the tortured slaves at the Lalaurie House haunting me that made me feel faint. It WAS Friday the 13th, so you never know.