The Big Easy

New Orleans has never been on my list of must-visit cities (and if you know me at all, I have an extremely extensive list). When a dart landed on this town, I thought, well, this should be interesting. A young girl traveling alone out of a car to a city where many people warned me along the way "Don't stay there, it's a dangerous place."

And for a moment, when I got off the exit to stop by a Catholic church, I thought maybe they were right. I was surrounded by sketchy people. To the left, a drunk was being arrested and to the right, at the police station, an unguarded inmate in an orange jumper sat on the steps smoking a cigarette. Even the church was normally gated off by tall, metal spires. I caught the closing blessing of mass and headed to the graveyard behind the chapel. Obviously burying the dead underground in a bayou is not a great idea so all the graves of centuries past are in massive concrete tombs. There is something mystical and strangely peaceful about being just inches away from the ancestors of an old city.

When I was finished getting used to the extra heat, I decided to head to the French Quarter. This was by far the most open and easy-going city I've been to so far. Yesterday when I was in Newton, MS, a town of a population probably not much more than one or two thousand, I was kicked out of a Piggly Wiggly for disturbing the employees. Because in a town that size their work is just THAT crazy. I wasn't sure what to expect from Who Dat as this was the first place on my list with a population of more than 40,000. However, people were so laid back I was even able to stop people on the streets, all types of employees in stores, taxi drives, human statues, palm readers, everyone. I even did a verbal interview while a man walked around the French Quarter hat shopping. Despite the heat so overwhelming it was oppressive, the residents seemed genuinely content and relaxed.

Unfortunately even though I am driving straight towards Hurricane Irene's path, I decided it would probably be a bad idea to get a hurricane at Pat O'Brien's. I did, however, sip on a mint julep while listening to a live jazz band in a garden. The architecture is very reminiscent of Buenos Aires in its strong French influences. Compact, colorful, and old. Absolutely beautiful.

There's only a few cities I've ever been to that have made me want to stay and none of them have been major metros like New Orleans. However, this lively, chill, mixing pot of a city won my heart over within minutes of my arrival.