Day 1

I have to admit something. Initially the thought of visiting New Orleans filled me with childlike excitement, knowing its haunting history and connection to the music scene. However, when researching the city, I was led down a rabbit warren of its negative side, from the socio-economic problems to the rapid increase in criminal activity that has seen New Orleans become one of the dodgiest places in the US, which included a shooting at the Mardi Gras only days earlier. I let this affect me before we departed, so excitement was quickly replaced by apprehension. That was the mindset going into this two-night stay in the ‘Big Easy’.

But first, there was the small matter of a three-hour drive to contend with, which are big parts of our trip. I didn’t realise that during our journey we’d hit four different States: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, then finally Louisiana, all possessing landscapes and scenery that’s an absolute splendour on the eye. From the heavy woodland to the flat plains,to the massive bridges, to the gigantic rivers, the bayous, and the roads themselves that you can see run for miles and miles in the distance. It’s all mind-blowing to see and adds to the journey, especially when coupled with my playlist, that’s still soundtracking the whole adventure via my trusty iPod Classic.

One thing that’s also worth noting is the price of fuel. It’s costing $35 or so to fill up a mid-sized SUV, which is about £30 or so. You can use your imagination as what the equivalent would cost back in the UK.

The long, long roads are littered with service stations, that advertise 3-6 food choices at every stop. It becomes difficult to not eat anything that doesn’t fall under the shitty fast-food banner. Denny’s is always our best bet, but they seem few and far between as they are swallowed up by the financial muscle of McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC that appear every ten miles or so. It’s just so American with the in-your-face advertising.

We landed on the outskirts of New Orleans, hitting a series of freeways and bridges around the centre. The driving becomes a little more hazardous as other drivers seem to have no problem undertaking, or flying out of slip roads, or lane-hop jostling for position to be in the correct lane for the required exit. We make it through unscathed and exit the freeways, where the socio-economic problems are highlighted, with rundown buildings, homelessness, and sketchy characters loitering underneath bridges.

Leaving that behind, we make it to our hotel in the French Quarter, the Wyndham on Royal St, and just one block down from the famous Bourbon St. It’s valet parking, and it’s the first time I’ve ever used it, so that was an experience in itself handing the car off for two days.

We checked-in and our room is on the 20th floor, the top floor. For someone who has a fear of elevators and will always use the stairs, this is a conundrum for Suze, but she has no choice but to get in and hold on tight.

Still a little apprehensive, we set off for a wander to gauge the atmosphere. It’s around 16:30, so is at least still light. We head down Royal St and Chartres St, which have a nice vibe, before tackling Bourbon St, where I’d heard mixed reviews. It’s a bustling strip, full of life and music firing out from a number of bars, whether that be the from the jukeboxes or the live music. You can see why some people may be intimidated by venturing down the street as small groups of youths hang on most corners, but did I see anything untoward going on, or any tourists under any threat? Nope. You just have to keep your wits about you and don’t be naïve, pretty much the same as any other major city.

Having spent a good chunk of time walking around, we were ready for a drink, so instinct drew us to a dive bar called, Chart Room. It was exactly what I look for in American bars, dark and dirty with some token American blues music playing as you enter. That’ll do for us. It wasn’t too busy, so we were able to take up pews at the bar, where we quickly struck up conversations with the bar staff, Julie and Beth, typical southern belles, who’s drawl and hospitality personifies where we are in the world.

The jukebox continues to play great Chicago blues music, and the fella who put them on invites me to use his abundant credits to put a few of my own songs on…cue Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and Muddy Waters….just to get us started. By the end of the night, I’m having to throw more dollars in to keep the credits alive. It was a brilliant evening, just sat at the bar listening to music, chatting with strangers, and soaking up the vibe of the city. Pure bliss.

Day 2

After skipping dinner the previous night because the drinks were flowing a little too well, it was time to sample the local cuisine, that is globally rated. We had breakfast in Café Fleur De Lis, and it’s sensational. Eggs Benedict with hash browns. But given the nature of American portion sizes, it was enough to see us through all day.

After that we had some time to kill before our Ghosts, Vampires & Voodoo Tour of the French Quarter. We spent the couple of hours walking the streets, seeing that it’s no different to anywhere else from a safety point of view, which added to the chilled vibe. From what some people reviewed, I was expecting shoot-outs, fights spilling out of bars and muggings to be happening in broad daylight in a lawless town, but no such occurrences happened in front of my eyes.

What was eye catching was the buildings and the layout of the French Quarter. You could taste the history and understand why it was so synonymous with hauntings. The buildings were mostly two-storey, and rarely exceeded four, and they were complete with French balconies that were ornately fenced, decorated with plants, streamers, flags and beads, of all different colours, probably influenced by the recent Mardi Gras. The buildings hadn’t been polished up or renovated from the outside, so they kept the authenticity of the 18th and 19th Century look, to give the French Quarter a certain gothic ambience and unique feel.

We stopped for a coffee on Bourbon St at Café Beignet, located within the Musical Legends Park, that had statues of some of the famous jazz musicians that helped put New Orleans on the map from a music standpoint. There was a three-piece jazz band playing too. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of jazz, but there’s something about the way New Orleans draws you in that makes watching these musicians play quite a different experience than if they were playing back home.

Time for the Ghost Walk. Without going into too much detail about each stop on the tour, all I’ll say is that it was phenomenal and extremely interesting. It wasn’t so much a ghost walk in the conventional sense, but more a history tour that included many of the dark stories that New Orleans has been privy to since the mid 18th Century. Our guide, Mac, was brilliant, keeping us intrigued and entertained for two hours as we meandered through the quirky streets of the French Quarter to hear about some of its dirty secrets, that did include what is known as America’s most haunted building, and its oldest bar (continuously being a bar without changing to be something else for a brief period), called Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar. What was a cool piece of history that was pointed out to us was the building that The Animals sung about in ‘House of the Rising Sun’. Naturally we had to have a picture taken in front of that piece of rock n roll history. If you ever find yourself in New Orleans, this tour is worth taking. It’s called ‘Ghosts, Vampires & Voodoo Tour of the French Quarter’ via getyourguide.com.

Full of high spirits (see what I did 😉) after the Ghost Tour, we spent the afternoon bar hopping, getting a proper feel for the city through a variety of drinking establishments. We started in Lafitte’s Blacksmith given its history and quirky exterior. Pictures on the walls highlight the celebs who’ve visited, including such names as James Gandolfini, Muhammed Ali, Nic Cage, Miley Cyrus and Scarlett Johansson to name but a few. So, with all these names visiting, we hoped that we may be fortunate enough to see someone of similar fame. But no, only we could run into a couple who lived in Salford of all places. Can’t go anywhere.

We also had a drink in an old Pirate Bar, which was kind of cool. The barmaid asked if I wanted an absinthe… at 5pm. Given I had to be up early the next day, I had to decline.

We ate in Kingfish for some fine Cajun dining that didn’t disappoint. Their legendary cuisine and portion sizes came up trumps and we both couldn’t finish our respective meals. We had to walk it off before visiting the next bar.

We ended in Chart Room, as usual on our trips we hone in on a bar and find that we end up there every night, but Chart Room possesses a certain alluring charm that you can’t resist. Again, we spent the evening perched at the end of the bar chatting to the bar staff Julie and Beth, and anyone and everyone who sat next to us, all intrigued by our accents and our reasons for being in the Deep South. I had full control of the jukebox too, which added to the experience. Having exhausted my own music, I started to play random music from blues artists from the local scene that I’ve never heard of. It was amazing and suited the vibe. The bar staff even complimented me on my music taste, despite me not knowing half of what I was choosing, but this has encouraged me to delve deeper into the local blues scene to check out such artists as JJ Grey & Mofro, Walter ‘Wolfman’ Washington, and Dr John to name but a few.

By the time we arrived back at our hotel, we felt completely immersed and at home in New Orleans. I will miss the place. Part of me wanted to stay another night, but it’s better to leave a place wanting more as opposed to exhausting its charisma.

What I said at the start of this blog about New Orleans possibly being a little too intimidating turned out to be false. I’m sure things do happen, and the outskirts and beyond probably experiences unprecedented levels of violence and criminal activity, but the average tourist has no business being there. Don’t believe the fear factor of some of the internet reviews. Be mindful, be respectful, don’t do anything stupid and you’ll be fine, and I guarantee you’ll love it, and we only scratched the surface of what we could do there.

Louisiana Swamp Tour

Our last morning in Louisiana was an activity that was probably the thing I was looking forward to the most the whole trip – a Louisiana Swamp Tour that included observing Alligators in their natural habitat. THIS was going to be something special.

We boarded our airboat and had to put headphones on to muffle the sounds from the huge fans at the back when the boat hits high speed. We fired over the Bay and within minutes stopped in the swamplands where immediately I saw an alligator popping its head up just above the water line. It started to swim towards us and I felt in awe and privileged to witness such a spectacle. From there we meandered through the swamp and were constantly greeted by gators. We were fortunate to have seen so many, because when the temperature drops (which by rights for the time of the year it shouldn’t have been as warm as it was), the gators sleep and there’s a possibility of not seeing any. To see about fifty in total was mind-blowing.

Aside from seeing gators, I loved sailing through the bayous. What awesome imagery to behold, one that encapsulates what I’ve seen depicted in films/TV Shows down the years. I couldn’t help but have ‘Born on the Bayou’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival playing in my head. Once again, it was a worthy tour, where the guide was super informative about how gators live. The tour was called ‘New Orleans: High Speed 16 Passenger Airboat Ride’ that can be done through getyourguide.com.

Once we’d finished riding the swamp playing hide and seek with the gators, we were back on the road for two much needed days of rest and relaxation in an Airbnb in Madison, Mississippi.

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