Sunday, June 05, 2005
New Orleans and Ingrid
On Wednesday morning, June 1, Eric and I had to drive back to Bogalusa from Covington so he could start riding again. The drive was uneventful. I worked at the Bogalusa library for a few hours and did some job application stuff. I bid a fair adieu to the nice ladies at the library, after watching a few memorable tutoring sessions transpire at the tables nearby mine and some children sign up for the summer reading program. I then headed on my way to a stop 10 miles south of Wiggins, Mississippi. That is where I was to pick Eric up so we could head to New Orleans for two nights. Meeting Eric at the destination was not as easy as it might sound though because there was really only an Exxon station off the side of the highway and he wasn't there when I arrived. He called soon after though and I met him on some road called 10 Mile Road. We drove off towards New Orleans after that and it took us two hours. We passed by something that had to do with NASA on the way.
Once we were checked in to the Garden District hotel (which, really, was a rip-off), I called my dear friend Ingrid and we met up with her to go to dinner, at La Crepe Nanou. We waited a while to be seated but that gave us time to talk and look at all of the people dining and to make some friends with another group of people waiting. If we'd wanted to sit inside we could've been seated right away, but we wanted to sit outside. The people who were sitting near us, also waiting, were with two little girls (who were friends, not sisters) and a son in sixth grade who had a bit of a surly attitude because he wanted to go to McDonalds. Eric made friends with them though and by 8:30 we were seated for a fine feast of salads and grilled fish and escargot for Ingrid and crepe desserts for all of us. It was deeelish. But Eric and I were totally pooped and Ingrid had to head off to work at the mortuary, so by 10:00, our evening was done.
Ingrid and me waiting to be seated at La Crepe Nanou in New Orleans
The next morning, Eric went to a laundromat/bar called Igor's to do some wash, and I headed to the treadmill. After that, we went by streetcar to Magazine Street, to an Indian restaurant named Nirvana. Eric wanted to give the waiter a piece of his mind because he was not very helpful or very inclined to ever come back with more water, but the food was good and the chairs had upholstery that was pleasing to the eye. After that we walked up Magazine to a new vintage-y clothing store, which had just opened two days before, and I commended the proprietress on her fine selection of vintage slips. We then went back to St. Charles Street and took the streetcar to Audubon Park and to Tulane, where Eric's dad went to college and medical school. Before we made it back to St. Charles though we overheard a woman in a screaming/crying match with someone on the other end of a cell phone conversation. It was clear that it was a break-up gone very badly. She mentioned the other party having sent the new lover to be "the messenger" and there was also discussion of "my values." It was intense.
After Tulane, we walked for a ways back up St. Charles towards the hotel, but it was too far to walk the whole way given our footwear, so we popped into the JCC and got change for the streetcar. Once back at the hotel, we regrouped, met back up with dear Ingrid and headed to Whole Foods where we saw a girl wearing a bandana-print and denim pair of what looked like diaper-covers, but were shorts, and some kind of halter top. She was tattooed and tall and wanted to show everyone her tattoos and skin. It was kind of gross (don't get me wrong, I am not anti-tattoo), but Ingrid and I were thus given the opportunity to talk about it and ponder the notion that it is a free country so that girl CAN walk around that way -- but it being a free country, we should be free not to have to look at it. After Whole Foods, we went back to Ingrid's so I could see her mom and so we could pick up her boyfriend Noel -- and we also saw her kitty -- and then Eric and I headed back to the hotel.
On Friday morning, Eric and I hit the road out of New Orleans and without ado, we made it back to Ten Mile Road in Mississippi, near Wiggins, and I dropped him off for another day of riding.
Once we were checked in to the Garden District hotel (which, really, was a rip-off), I called my dear friend Ingrid and we met up with her to go to dinner, at La Crepe Nanou. We waited a while to be seated but that gave us time to talk and look at all of the people dining and to make some friends with another group of people waiting. If we'd wanted to sit inside we could've been seated right away, but we wanted to sit outside. The people who were sitting near us, also waiting, were with two little girls (who were friends, not sisters) and a son in sixth grade who had a bit of a surly attitude because he wanted to go to McDonalds. Eric made friends with them though and by 8:30 we were seated for a fine feast of salads and grilled fish and escargot for Ingrid and crepe desserts for all of us. It was deeelish. But Eric and I were totally pooped and Ingrid had to head off to work at the mortuary, so by 10:00, our evening was done.
Ingrid and me waiting to be seated at La Crepe Nanou in New Orleans
The next morning, Eric went to a laundromat/bar called Igor's to do some wash, and I headed to the treadmill. After that, we went by streetcar to Magazine Street, to an Indian restaurant named Nirvana. Eric wanted to give the waiter a piece of his mind because he was not very helpful or very inclined to ever come back with more water, but the food was good and the chairs had upholstery that was pleasing to the eye. After that we walked up Magazine to a new vintage-y clothing store, which had just opened two days before, and I commended the proprietress on her fine selection of vintage slips. We then went back to St. Charles Street and took the streetcar to Audubon Park and to Tulane, where Eric's dad went to college and medical school. Before we made it back to St. Charles though we overheard a woman in a screaming/crying match with someone on the other end of a cell phone conversation. It was clear that it was a break-up gone very badly. She mentioned the other party having sent the new lover to be "the messenger" and there was also discussion of "my values." It was intense.
After Tulane, we walked for a ways back up St. Charles towards the hotel, but it was too far to walk the whole way given our footwear, so we popped into the JCC and got change for the streetcar. Once back at the hotel, we regrouped, met back up with dear Ingrid and headed to Whole Foods where we saw a girl wearing a bandana-print and denim pair of what looked like diaper-covers, but were shorts, and some kind of halter top. She was tattooed and tall and wanted to show everyone her tattoos and skin. It was kind of gross (don't get me wrong, I am not anti-tattoo), but Ingrid and I were thus given the opportunity to talk about it and ponder the notion that it is a free country so that girl CAN walk around that way -- but it being a free country, we should be free not to have to look at it. After Whole Foods, we went back to Ingrid's so I could see her mom and so we could pick up her boyfriend Noel -- and we also saw her kitty -- and then Eric and I headed back to the hotel.
On Friday morning, Eric and I hit the road out of New Orleans and without ado, we made it back to Ten Mile Road in Mississippi, near Wiggins, and I dropped him off for another day of riding.
# posted by jnewwave @ 9:43 AM 
