After reading Mr. Bulba's brilliant and heartwarming stroll - actually more of a dance with some girl named Desiree, fresh off the main stage - down memory lane (which in reality is a sordid little boulevard populated by horny businessmen and besotted frat boys), I couldn't help but think of the business trip I made to New Orleans last week.
It was my first trip back to the Big Sleazy since Hurricane Katrina did her best to wipe clean that cesspool of fun and frivolity. Now, don't get me wrong - I've always loved the place. I mean, great food, good local music, and a continuous live-action guide to the Seven Deadly Sins. What more can you ask for? I couldn't wait to see how things had changed.
Had they changed? Yes and no. The French Quarter still has that godawful smell that thankfully just can't be described. Food was as good, if not better, and I chose some of the newer restaurants. The music was still smokin' - I stumbled into some nondescript bar, paid no cover, and listened to one of the best blues guitarists I had ever seen or heard. The SDS? Oh yeah, and in full view. Hell, I saw more breasts than Russ Meyer. I bumped into more drunks than a German farmboy at his first Oktoberfest. I heard language that made me blush, and that was just the stuff coming from a senior citizens tour bus.
The difference? Strip joints. The French Quarter used to be one of the most decadent places on earth, and did it without the help of "Gentleman's Clubs". Sure, there were a few places to see women prancing about half-nekkid, and some of them were even indoors, but they weren't your garden variety titty-bars. Not like the ones that clog up the quarter now. Seems like every few steps brings you within earshot of another hawker pushing yet another room full of naked girls. What a shame. Fewer blues/jazz clubs, few restaurants, fewer bars, and more places that want to charge you for what you can see on the streets for free.
And for the record, that look them dancers give you? Well, they really mean it when they look at me...
3 comments:
Nimdok said: "And for the record, that look them dancers give you? Well, they really mean it when they look at me..."
You, too?
Drink any good beer? Where did you eat?
Abita Amber was the beer of choice - most places had it on tap. Plus, we kept the room fridge full of it.
At mostly in the warehouse district - Jimmy's, Rio Mar, several others that I can't remember. All good.
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