New Orleans Garden District, Cemetaries, Restaurants and Oyster Fest '05!

Walking Around the Garden District Rule number 1:
Make sure to wear sturdy shoes. In all of New Orleans, there is no place where the sidewalk is level, straight or negotiable. This is what happens when you build a city on top of a swamp and then plant oak trees along all the avenues. While the city gradually sinks into the mud, the oak trees thrive, pushing up the sidewalk and streets at obscene angles. I have a great admiration for the women who are brave enough to venture out in high-heels, especially the pointy-toed stilettos which are in vogue now. You need some strong ankles and a whole lot of bravado to go teetering around in those...especially after a couple of cocktails...

Rule number 2:
Everyone that you see walking around the Garden District is a tourist. People who can afford to live in the Garden District do not walk. They go to the gym for exercise.

Cemeteries
The other day I was feeling a little homesick, so I took a walk over to the Lafayette cemetery. Nothing gets you out of a blue spell like visiting a cemetery.
No matter how rotten you might feel, at least you're not six feet under, right?
Cemeteries in Southern Louisiana are notable for the fact that they are above ground, which makes it feel like you are walking among small houses. Cities of the dead. The abundance of rain in Southern Louisiana helps all the massive oak trees grow, but causes the cemetery graves to decompose much faster than they would in a drier climate. Marble cracks, water gets in, plants start growing...instant jungle. The crumbling tomb lids give one the distinct impression that the deceased are not actually "at rest" as the headstones may advertise, but instead are trying desperately to get out.

Restaurants
Oddly enough, the Commander's Palace, one of the more famous Creole Restaurants (a.k.a. expensive), is right next to the Lafayette Cemetery. I've been told that on weekdays, during lunch, they offer 25 cent Martinis and Cosmopolitans. Also, their lunch menu is priced much more affordably than their dinner menu, so during the week, mixed in with all the tourists, there is a large assortment of locals who work nights, appreciate good food and who don't have a lot of spare cash. I've heard the food is quite tasty, so we have plans for a inebriated lunch date sometime this week or next. Maybe we'll teeter over to the cemetery afterwards and make sure none of the dead guys have escaped.

Oyster Fest 2005
We did it! Oyster Fest occurred on Easter Sunday 2005. Laura, our good friend, invited a few of her friends over, we invited a couple of our friends and we bought a sack of oysters. We shucked...and we shucked...and we made other people shuck. There were 8 of us hungrily devouring oysters as fast as the three shuckers could shuck them (which wasn't very fast...especially for a newbie like me) and we still had almost 3 dozen oysters left at the end of the evening!

FYI
I finally got my hands on some Bud Extra. I was so excited. Beer with caffeine! Two of my most favorite things in the whole world, together at last! I can't tell you how thrilled I was. I bought some, took it home and...

It's disgusting. Undrinkable. It tastes like Red Bull with beer flavoring. Blech. The creepiest thing about it is that there is no way of knowing exactly what's in it. Because it is marketed as an alcoholic beverage, Budweiser isn't required to list the ingredients. It could contain crumbled worm guts for all I know...and perhaps it does...which might explain the greasy aftertaste...