Katrina may have taken some of the people away but the feel good vibe had survived to some extent and whilst the bars may not have been heaving all over town there were places that still seemed to be thriving.
Whilst Bourbon Street may be the main tourist trap and home to bar after bar packed with tourists its still worth an evening spent supping on a bottle of MGD or Bud and catching some of the live music that thrives here. Jazz can be heard all over town, some of it annoying enough to give you a splitting headache in a little over 5 minutes. Jazz may not be my thing but being in New Orleans I gritted my teeth to sample a few bands hoping that somewhere along the line something would click with me. It still hasn't yet! Luckily jazz didn't fill every bar in town!
On my first evening in my new City I'd wound up going into town with a large group from the hostel and we'd taken ourselves away from Bourbon Street to Frenchman Street. Things here were a little different. The bars were full and there wasn't the sleaze around that was synonymous with Bourbon Street. Suffice to say the drinks flowed and as the hours flew past the group had split and I'd wound up supping a pint of "Purple Haze" - A local fruit beer in a place called Mi-Mi's where I had absolutely no idea where I was! That's what good nights are made of!
A few days into my stay in New Orleans and most of the people I'd been with, including me had felt like we'd seen Bourbon Street and hung around the French Quarter for our entertainment enough now. We wanted to get away from the tourists traps and get to actually meet some locals. The decision was made to head into the Downtown area, one we were strongly advised to stay away from, for an evening in the hopes of experiencing something a little different.
What we found was quite unexpected in a lot of ways but makes perfect sense the more you think about it. Initially we dumped ourselves in a couple of bars, these places were packed out and full of local spirit. There was a slightly uneasy feeling that we hadn't been invited but were never made to feel unwelcome. Some of the woman seemed a little wary of us and we couldn't help but think they were wondering why we weren't in the French Quarter with all the other out of towners.
A couple of people were kind enough to point us in the right direction for a decent club for the remainder of the night. If was a mixed bag of an affair and I had a feeling of being well and truly ignored for the most part, then as I was just about to call it a night it all changed. I was stood at the bar about to grab a soft drink before going home when the guy stood next to me got wind of my Nationality. "Let me buy you a drink". I was unsure, but he continued insistent "I wanna introduce you to some of my friends". The next thing I knew I had a bottle of beer in my hand and was chatting to a top bunch of people.
Whilst they wanted to know what the hell I was doing out here they were, all of them, thanking me for being here. I didn't really know what to make of it all. Suddenly we'd become mini celebs for a few moments. "Hey this guys from England, come and say hi" seemed to reverberate around the room despite the noise levels only allowing it to carry to the person next to the man shouting it.
The whole night was turning out to be quite surreal and without doubt exactly what we had been looking for. It didn't stop there either, as we were leaving I was caught and grabbed by a lass outside who, it seemed, had taken an instant shine to me. I have to admit to being totally taken in by her. We spoke for no longer than 30 minutes and I couldn't tell you her name but it was, strange as it may seem, one of those unforgettable moments on an unforgettable night.
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