Mobile to New Orleans

Josh and I started our day with a breakfast of scrambled eggs from chickens that lived across the street, so they were fresh and delicious!

We hit the road and somewhere along the way decided to follow the "scenic route" signs through Mississippi... initially we got close to the beaches and water and took some photos, but that was the end of the "scenery"... soon we were in small towns overrun with Wal-Marts and strip malls.

We made it to New Orleans around 3 PM and drove to the French Quarter and walked around; unfortunately Bourbon Street was super touristy with neon lights and expensive drinks, definitely not what we're interested in... though we did see this neat washboard band!

After being disappointed by the French Quarter and their expensive antique shops we headed to our host's house. Our host, Darryl, was living in New Orleans when Katrina hit; his last house ended up twelve feet under water. He helped rebuild his neighborhood and rebuilt his new house complete with a converted garage for Couch Surfing because he hosts so often. He even has a "rule book" for what to expect and how to act while surfing at his place!

Darryl mentioned some local music and of course we were interested! We got ready and left around 7 PM for the Marigny district. Darryl showed us some graffiti by Banksy, a famous graffiti artist, before we headed to our first bar where we enjoyed the great jazz music with dueling saxophonists! We took advantage of New Orleans' lax drinking policy and took our plastic cups to go and headed to the next place, a combination bar and taqueria. The band there was really interesting: there were about seven members and they played a mixture of jazz and ska; it was great!

Josh and I have the same highs and lows for today.. the highs were the live music in Marigny! The lows were seeing how dirty Bourbon Street is... and there is such great history and architecture there, but it's obscured by the men's clubs and sketchy bars. Josh's "ho" was the scammers we met in the French Quarter... Twice, men approached him with compliments about his shoes and then tried to get him to bet that they could guess where he got them, including the city and state. Even though it was obviously a scam, I was intrigued! My "ho" was allowing Darryl to be our chauffeur for the evening... he is definitely a fast and aggressive driver!