Mosh Glass

Again, it’s still Tuesday. Like it was yesterday. Good news, I can probably remember what I did today.

First thing, I went to work out. Not going to meet with the trainer today, just a regular workout alone. Well, I forgot my phone and all my workouts are stored in my phone. What to do? Asked the trainer if he had a handy workout printed. He decided to invite me to workout with another person and him. So I got a guided workout done. Sweet.

Back to home. Emily and Marika are both at home. They don’t usually get moving to quick. Emily is up at a reasonable hour, Marika not till past noon most often. Must be nice.

I went to work. Work was the usual. But, I was too busy to notice. I had a lot to do. Which is strange of late. Been pretty boring last couple of weeks. Today, almost exciting by comparison. Had a few visitors, many calls, feels like old times. Only one check in the mail which makes it less happy.

I did leave early, had to go to the bank and get cash for the concrete guy. He is supposed to finish on Friday. I hope. Gotta get the concrete ready for the buildings which should be going up next week. I hope.

Next up trying to get the special Rx food for the dog. This chore has turned into a pain. The. Pet store we used in Vacaville was super convenient. Now, it’s an hour round trip from Auburn to the pet store and back. Not easy. I went to the closest place to my office, only 15 minutes in the wrong direction from home. Great.

Off to home. Tonight I am in charge of Taco Tuesday. I stopped at a local place that has a poor rep on Yelp. Food was good. And really, really expensive. Maybe that’s the Yelp review I should write. I did enjoy dinner. Emily forced me to make Margaritas for us all too. She’s a meanie.

After dinner, what do you think? You are right, bad TV.

Took a break to put chocolate glaze on the cake I made.

Then off to bed. Favorite part of the day.

It’s Tuesday evening. I can’t remember my entire Monday. Would be a waste of headspace, I think.

I know Monday started as usual. I went to work out. Very exciting. Wore me out. I remember that much.

I went home. Cleaned up and drive to work. Ok. That’s all a definite. I did spend the day at work doing work things like ignoring the phone and staring into space. Love it.

Tonight we are hosting Leahness, her husband Trevor and toddler, Amelia. Leah is a friend since birth of Marika. We have known Leah’s parents since before Leah was born. We’re tight.

Good news. Trevor is a chef and he is making dinner for us tonight. When is the last time that happened to you? First time for us to have a dinner guest make dinner for us. Very nice. All I made was cocktails.

Very pleasant evening. Fun had by all. Time for bed.

It’s Sunday, the last or first day of the week. Today I am going with last. As I lay here in bed, I am hoping I won’t be cleaning or doing other chores all damn day. But I can feel a day of work in front of me. Sunday should be a day of rest. For us, not just god. Am I right? Of course I am.

I did manage to sleep in a little more today. Not much. But I like it. Just a little more.

Instead of taking a shower, I am going to clean the cars. Since I will obvs get filthy cleaning cars it seems pointless to take a shower till after. Of course, coffee first and a Sunday paper. Which finally showed up after many calls and emails. I did not get Friday or Saturdays paper. My delivery sucks. Of newspapers.

Emily is going to be cleaning the house and mopping all floors. That is a fantastic time to be busy outside and not be around her. Two things, one she is always in a foul and angry mood while cleaning. Two, trying to help her really does not help her because no one on the face of the planet cleans as well as her. At least I discern that from her comments over the past few years. Negative comments, about my house cleaning abilities. Or lack thereof. I think I do fine. She doesn’t. So I am outside cleaning cars. Including hers. Win win.

Today the cleaning is a new thing. Yesterday, I went to the gas station for a fill up. Which is not related but there was a product demo at the station for compressed cans of cleaning wax for cars. No water required. Spray on, rub in, wipe off. And it looks clean. I bought two cases. And some interior cleaner and tire shine too.

So at home. The cars must be inside the garage and out of the sun to use the wax/cleaner. Just like waxing a car. What’s the new stuff like? Well, the cars are dirty. I get the feeling it will be much easier the next time I use it and the dirt level is not so high. This time, lots of elbow grease required. A lot. It’s a workout. The outcome? The three cars took four hours to clean and wax (one does it all) and they look great. Clean and shiny. I am brilliant.

After all three it’s shower time. I went in and Emily was just finishing and heading to the shower. As was Marika. I pulled shower #2. Marika used the other shower so I still had to squeege the shower. I hate squeegeeing.

Had something to eat. Then, off for a little shopping. Needed a hose and some drip line. Not much. Didn’t take too long, maybe an hour. Had to, Emily said, go to Roseville. Not so sure.

I drove the race car, just to show off all the shine I just put on it. The wheels were especially beautiful. Emily noticed people checking it out. Always a bonus. I love the response. It’s like people staring at your wife cuz she is hot. Never gets old.

We did have to stop to pick up a milkshake for my bride. I got nothing. I’m driving the cool car and don’t want to be in charge of a messy drink while driving.

In Roseville, we visited two stores, close to each other. Got our crap and headed home. Not a difficult or extensive search.

Home. I hooked up the hose and started the drip on the tree. Then switched to dinner. I had defrosted a pork tenderloin and put it in a marinade. I have at least 90 minutes to soak it before it hits the grill. Emily and Marika are in charge of the side dishes. I made cocktails. It’s what I do. Raw meat and strong drink. It’s an avocation.

So I just sat and drank my Margarita. Extra strong. Watched some TV and let the meat marinate. I am tired from all the car cleaning. I think it may be more work using a can and no water. There is a tremendous amount of rubbing. Nonnapping though, bad TV keeps me awake.

I started the BBQ at about 715, it will be ready in 10 mins. Sat down again, to relax, I need it.

We got the dinner together and prepared by 8. Eating took only 15 minute. We are that good at it.

We hit the hay not long after. No point in more bad TV. Time for sleep, I hope.

In blog terms, I have posted thru Friday and am now working on current memory of yesterday, Saturday. I feel close to caught up. I feel good. Not James Brown good, but good.

Saturday is the day to sleep in. Did what I could on that front. It’s difficult to say you are sleeping in when you roll around in the middle of the night for a couple hours not sleeping. Finally, fall asleep, and you need extra hours. So, I slept in like that.

Chores today. Of course, it’s Saturday. Clean the house, mop floors, change linens, do laundry, wash cars. And by do chores, I mean start all these chores and finish on Sunday. For instance, I have some new waterless car wash/wax and I am using it on the cars for the first time. So it’s taking longer. I finished one car and started on another. I did start the process very late in the day, around 5, so by 640 it was past the cocktail hour and I gave up. Still have Sunday. Also, on laundry, if you have ever done it, requires a broad swath of the day for all items and the full cycle will take 2 hours per load. That’s a two day job. And floors? Actually only vacuumed the floors. Entire house is tile. So mop today. See. Saturday is for chores and Sunday for finishing chores. Wow, I just have a rundown on my entire day off. Don’t be jealous, it’s not as much fun as it sounds.

I did have a huge errand to run in the middle of the day, 11 to 2. We bought new furniture back a few months, ordered it, 10 weeks for build and deliver. There was damage to the couch, noted upon arrival, and to one drawer in the chest of drawers. Well, the furniture store could not be more helpful. This week drawers (2) arrived to replace my broken one. I drove to Woodland, hour each way, to get them. They loaded the two boxes in my car and gave back the damaged one as well. All is good, yes? No. Should have opened the boxes. Color was off. Drawer front placement on the drawer box was off by enough to be wrong. I contacted the store. They are sorry. Really not their fault, it’s Hooker Furniture that screwed it up. Both times.

On the drive back, which goes through Sacramento, I received a very timely call. Sharif Jewelers, who had my watch in for maintenance, had it ready to go. Btw, Sharif never has customer service issues. I made a small detour and picked up the watch. This is a big deal for me. I wear the watch every day. Every day since my parents have it to me in 1986. I don’t feel right without it. Maintenance on a Rolex means 5 to 6 weeks. Used to be they sent them to Switzerland for work. Now, certified jewelers in US can do the work. Simply put, I was thrilled to finally get my watch back.

To home. Got there and dove into the daily chores. The aforementioned ones. Also, this is when I pulled out the new drawers and took some time to try and make them work till I discovered they were just plain wrong.

As I mentioned above, after these chores I moved on to cars. And cleaning. Waxing. Etc.

Emily was sacked out and snoring in front of the TV when I came in at 640. What to do? I made Mai Tais. Cures fatigue. Sure. I then out together an awesome charcuterie plate, put it on the coffee table and said “dinner”. She was ok with that. Me too. Then it was all alcohol, cured meats and rich cheese. Crunchies. We watched Bad TV (any other kind) for the remainder of the evening. Marika went to a friends house in West Sacramento for her evening. All is fine.

When we finally both decided we would rather sleep in bed than in the front room, we got up and did so.

Though I don’t feel bad. Seems I have not blogged about things since Monday and it’s Saturday night. I’m lame.

Let’s move through my week. At least the week I can remember.

Tuesday I went to my regular workout. First in 12 days. Been on vacay. I can’t say it wore me out but it was work. I felt I had never left, never missed a day. Planning on working out every day through Friday.

Home to shower. No surprise there. Marika and Emily are both home. Doesn’t matter. I got cleaned up and dressed and went to work. Drove the Fit, it’s full of boxes for my work can.

Work. You know how I feel about work. It’s so fun only not, and boring. But I go every day in spite of that. I’m an idiot. Put in a full day and went home. Which is a fun place and not boring. The rest of Tuesday? I can’t remember. It’s Saturday now.

Wednesday. Workout. Again. No surprise there.

Went to work after. Emily, who has been ill since we left for NO last week, finally went to the doctor. She has a sinus infection. She should have gone for meds last week when I suggested it. But she doesn’t listen to me. That’s no surprise.

Went home a little early. Tonight we are taking Randy, our houseguest, our to dinner. He has finished his rotation in Grass Valley, already has a real job back home, and is leaving Auburn tomorrow.

Good enough. We went to Carpe Vino, in Old Town. We brought our own champagne and an extra bottle of red. Had a wonderful dinner. There are five of us because Marikas friend Taylar is visiting. It’s a full house. We went thru a little bit of everything, all courses. Great meal.

What else happened today? Couldn’t tell you. It’s Saturday and that’s just too long.

Thursday. Usual morning workout. And went to work. While at work the concrete fairies showed up and dug out the foundations for garage and shop. Very exciting. I need to schedule the building install too. Won’t be long now.

Went to work, usual day. Slow and boring.

Home at usual time. Tonight, a couple of Marika’s friends are coming by for cocktails. Just hanging out. Seems they want me to hang out with them and make the drinks. I need more friends my child’s age. Sure.

We had a great time. I made a few drinks for all. Emily has gone to bed already, guess they did not want to hang with her. I like her, I hang with her. I did not stay up as late as the kids. I got work. And I’m old. I went to bed by 1030.

Friday. Work day for all. My trainer cancelled the workout. So up as usual. Concrete guys here already. Love it. My landscaper came today as well. He is finishing the property clean out he started a couple weeks ago. We are slowly advancing our property into ship shape.

I left all these people, and went to work. Work was the usual. I did get to go to the bank, that’s fun. Not much else of note.

I left late, due to some late crap coming along. Which is a pain. Emily has taken all day to clean out her classroom. She had thought it would take two hours. Off by a factor of four.

She ended up getting home after all of us. Ended up being so late we decided to dump our plans for dinner at home and go out.

Headed to old town. Italian seemed a good choice. Guess what, we walk up the the restaurant and pg & e is there. And the lights are out and no one is home. I think no Italian. What’s close to Italian? Indian! We strolled 100 yards up the hill to the Indian place. Great food. No alcohol. Too bad. We did have a fine meal.

Home and off to bed. Funny how we go to bed early when we are sleeping in the next day. I don’t understand.

We had plans for today. A few things before we fly out at 742pm.

Well, things changed. Mostly because my daughter woke up with a fine hangover. And, like her mother, it was the end of the world.

She got the waste can from the bathroom and took it to bed so she could puke in comfort. I guess. I felt ok. I ate. I drank coffee. I was dressed and ready to go. Marika was in bed a couple hours more.

Finally she went vertical and took a shower. Got dressed. Mood and health did not improve.

We finally went out to lunch, it was late. We went to a place we had been before, NOLA Poboys. And I got a quintessential NO item, Crawfish Pie. And it was really good. Marika has water. Water is good for hangovers.

After our fine last supper, Marika wanted to go back to the hotel. She is very sick to her stomach. We went back, and since we have no room, she and I went to the pool and she fell asleep on one of the covered chaises. For about two hours. At which point the heavens opened up and the rain really came down. We ran inside.

It was close enough to 4 I figured and we called Lyft. And within five minutes we were headed to the airport. We have flights on United to Sacramento via Houston.

We have super econo fares so we are not allowed to carry on much. United required us to check most of our carry ons at $30 each bag. So much for a low fare. They suck.

And better yet, you only get middle seats in the back of the plane. And you can’t sit together. Lovely. I just know these flights will suck.

Other than sitting in the middle seat, very uncomfortably, the flight had nothing remarkable. Took forever. Very boring. I read a book the entire time.

We arrived in Sacramento after midnight, had to wait twenty for our bags, and we met Emily at the curb. And off to Auburn. And immediately to bed. We were whipped.

Every year I get a day. This is it. Marika has said nothing. Emily just hung up on me because she feels ignored. No other calls or texts. Happy Fathers Day to me.

We ate in the room this morning. We are on a vacation diet you know. We have a visit to the Cabildo and Presbytere in Jackson Square this am. Both have been turned into LA State Museums. Jackson Square has a monument to the hero of the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson. Seems a central point in the French Quarter. I have been through here every day at least once.

The first museum deals with birth of the city to current. History. The usual. Fun to find out how everything got there. Haphazardly it appears. With plenty of violence and death. Ahhh, history.

The next building, the Presbytere is all Mardi Gras and hurricane Katrina. I guess they ran out of other history. You can see both for about $12 a person. I would say a $7 value. At least to me.

After the museum culture we wandered and decided to find a cocktail. That turned into a trek. Where we were, Royal St, had no bars for several blocks. We started criss crossing. Found a nice gay bar, Lafitte in Exile. No thanks. All the stools were upside down. We wandered more and finally found a bar advertising drinks to go. My speed. I want to go. Marika bought me a drink for Father’s Day.

Next up, Clover Grill which self advertises “worlds best” hamburgers. Took our drinks in and decided to split a burger.. Very good but hardly top o the world. Sorry. Nice people. And they have pie. I like pie. We are post meal sitting here and enjoying the half drunk digest red meat feeling. Always good.

We wandered out. Walked. Stopped in a leather goods store where I purchased four insulting coasters, leather, for my home bar. The store owner, Jimmy, also gave us a few pointers and suggestions. Oh, the coasters never got home. They disappeared out of my luggage in transit. God love the TSA. Can’t keep anything safe.

Ok. Quick trip back to the hotel. Clean, comfortable restrooms. And a quick nap. We are about to go out again. I have a feeling tonight will be legend…wait for it…dary. Or close. We gonna try the Port of Call burger (Jimmys suggestion) and a monsoon (sweet and too much liquor). Then Preservation Hall Jazz. Then who knows. It’s how legends are written. Of course, legends need money so first stop is an ATM.

Up from nap promptly at whenever. We decided to go to the early show at Preservation Hall. That’s a 5 o’clock. Which means you need to get in line by 430, first come first served. We got there and the line was not doable. There is a show at 6. And Pat O’Brien’s Bar is next door. So we got in line by going to Pat O’Briens and having cocktails. We got back in line around 530. This time very near the front. I think it’s the cocktails that did it.

The show was fun. Small room, holds 50 people and the band. The crowd is just a couple of feet in front of the band. I think intimate would be a fine description. They played a couple of their choice and then told the audience to give requests and money to hear what they wanted. I don’t go for shakedowns and I already paid $20. All in all about 8 songs in a 45 minute set. And I can check it off the list.

We again wandered a bit after the show. We are good at it. Finally, decided to go to The aforementioned Port of Call for dinner and drinks. Long walk, about 8 blocks, but we are superhuman, which is because we have been drinking all day. Every day.

Walk was good for us. Still light out and went through areas we had no seen before. Not much different than any other neighborhoods, but new to us. About a 15 minute walk.

Port of call was not overly impressive from the outside, but the area is nice. Inside the place, it was packed. The bar is right inside the front door and two people were leaving and we grabbed their stools. It’s first come first served at the bar and we probably jumped in front but too bad. How it works. The bartender stepped up quick and we had our order in immediately. Burger fries 2 Monsoons. Love it when the planets align.

As a rule, I prefer to eat at the bar if I can. Service is better. I have someone else to talk to, the bartender, folks sitting next to me. It’s a better situation. You can watch a lot going on too behind the bar, which can be entertaining. All positive. Most of the time at least.

The burger was fantastic. Much better than the “worlds best” I had earlier in the day. Very enjoyable. The drink was sweet and strong and ok I guess. Neither of us was able to finish out drink. We took them with us and dumped them. Marika wanted the cups and they were to go. I should mention, this meal was the cheapest one so far, it felt like not paying at all.

We finished up and started the wander again. Ended up on the far end of Bourbon St. there is a bourbon bar there and we have it a shot. We hardly need more booze, both of us have been drinking all day and are drunk. But the bourbon called our names. We decided old fashions were appropriate and a couple shots of some other bourbon they had on the shelf. They had over a thousand different bottles. Had a nice discussion about bourbon with the bartender. He had far to much information.

By now we were drunk. No lying about it. It was late. We headed to the hotel, and, strangely, passed out. Tough day.

Knew it was the Fourth of July.

I could not sleep last night. Like toss and turn till 2am. Could not drag myself up at 530 or whenever to go workout. I am worthless.

Managed to get to sleep at some point. Woke a couple times to get up. Finally out of bed just past nine. We are going on a ghost tour later this evening, our only set plans We May tour the Garden District as well today but that takes planning and Marika can’t pull the trigger. Which is why we wander around the city drinking cocktails in strange bars with bookshelf doors.

I think I may book a tour for this morning just to make us move in a direction. Makes me feel better. Like I am accomplishing something. I do need better coffee than hotel room coffee. I have not found a good cup of coffee in this city yet. And speaking of mediocre coffee, there are no Starbucks to be found anywhere. And I look. Not sure how they are kept out, but they are. No loss. But I could get an ice coffee, large, a little milk if they were here. That might be nice. All I find here are bars. That does have its place.

Kid is still getting ready. Doesn’t take her long, 20 minutes or so. Gives me a chance to sit and slog through these mental calisthenics. It is waking me up though not like a physical workout. Got to go tomorrow.

I think we are close to leaving. Probably. Yes. We have left. First, went to a coffee joint up the street in search of better coffee. Amazing how the coffee here is not very good.

The Arrow Cafe on Rampart. They sell coffee and that’s it. Almost nothing else besides a poor selection of rancid looking and prob “healthy” baked goods. The coffee, average at best. And expensive. Still searching.

Decided to walk up to the square we crossed yesterday on our way to Cafe du Monde. The central square has a grassy area surrounded by a decorative iron fence about six feet tall. Artists put their work up on the fence for crazy tourists to look at, and they hope, purchase. Not me. We cruised it. Again, nothing truly notable.

We stayed in the square till Marika said she needed to find a toilet, soon. We are so close to the hotel that’s where we went. She is working on it now. And doing a fine job. I know this because she is texting from the bathroom. TMI? I don’t know, I used to change her diapers.

We are lying around doing nothing. Thinking of things to do before we jump in a Lyft and head to our Garden District tour at two. Maybe we will just lie around. Have a snack. Hit the head a couple more times.

We decided to Lyft it to our tour. It’s 2.5 miles and it’s 100% humid today. No walking to our walk. The smartest thing we did was leave an hour and a half early. Not for worms, just to give us cruise time.

An hour early, what to do? Found a local eatery serving donuts. And sandwiches on donuts. Ok. I’m in. Only 19g carb in a glazed and double that in two slices of wheat bread. So I ordered a monte christo on a powdered glazed donut. Wow, tasty, and so good for you. I think this is a fantastic way to kill 45 minutes. And we had to walk a half mile to get there. So it’s like calorie neutral. That’s my spin. Marika and I split the sandwich cuz who needs all that food.

The walk back was twice as hot. I think the day is going that way. Only word for temp here is oppressive. 3 cheers for AC. Got back and met our guide. He is from Chicago. Has a hipster moustache. Poseur perhaps. I think so.

There is a coffee shop on the corner by our tour spot. Back 15 min early. We went for coffee. No, we went for AC and bought a bottle of water so we could use the restroom. A fine rule. Easier to just pay an attendant. This place will come in handy later.

Back at the meet up. It’s really hot and we are jockeying for shade. Our guide is a master of local history. He spent the first 15 minutes of the tour talking New Orleans history. He knows too much.

The first hour of our tour was spent in Lafayette cemetery #1. We looked at all the famous and infamous graves in The place. Learned about burials and how they are paid for and lots of arcane info I may be able to dredge up at a later date. Cool tour. Except it was hot as hell.

The cemetery is in the Garden District. Home to politicians and movie stars. Lots of famous homes from 1800 and on. All historic. We got a speech in front of each one, who owned, owns, still owns, why they live there, etc. very cool stuff.

A side note about NO weather. We are in summer. About 3 pm every day it clouds over. Then it cools. Then the heavens open and a deluge occurs. Today was no exception. The last 45 mins of the tour was a downpour of crazy proportions. Crazy. I saw a guy gathering animals in pairs. I mean it was RAINING. Wet.

So, we stayed with the group, listened and looked and got soaked. At the end, what? Remember the coffee shop? We went there and attempted a dry off. It sorta worked. I got a coffee. I used (abused?) the restroom, blogged a little, rated the tour, and evaporated as much as I could. Not enough. I am thinking of a car for hire to get back to the hotel, dry. I will need to swap out my clothes when I get there. My shirt is quite wet. And my shoes. And my underwear.

So we sat. For a time. Finally I called a Lyft. We went outside to meet him and it wasn’t raining. What to do? Dismiss the Lyft, tip the driver in cash, and walk through the garden district to see what’s up.

Walking around is still fun even without a tour guide. There is always the magic of discovery and the unexpected. And being as wet as a sponge in the sink. We found a bar that sold Po boys and went in there. The bartender, not very good bartender, put the Giants game on for me. Liking it. Cocktails were $5. Yay. We split a shrimp Po boy $17. Fuck. That is mean. It was tasty. But $17 for a sandwich? Lobster rolls in Maine don’t cost that much. We hung out in the bar for long enough to have the game end and become relaxed. That’s when we headed out, caught a Lyft back to the hotel.

I think my shoes will remain wet till l get back to Auburn. There is nothing dry in this city including my shoes. I changed clothes to dry and hung my wet clothes to, I hope, dry. We relaxed awhile until our nighttime ghost tour at 8.

We decided to leave early which turned out to be prescient since the tour guide started 20 minutes early. Tour is two hours long and goes all over the French Quarter. Supposed to be about ghosts and vampires.

Turns out, the tour is fun but it’s really all about the stories. Guide takes us to a house or business then tells a story about some crazy person and story ends with that person is. Ow haunting the house he told the story about. I admit the stories are entertaining. Guidebself admittedly made things up too. But, still entertaining.

We were not quite done after the tour. We went back to the hotel, a short walk, so Marika could use a clean toilet. Then we went out for another Po boy for our dinner. This time spicy catfish. It’s 11pm but no worries the Po boy place is open till 4am, as is most of Bourbon St. the street is an all night party with nothing but bars lining the sidewalks. And you can wander around with a drink. I had a cocktail to carry around during tonight’s tour. Bourbon St is full of drunks, thieves and whores and is fully entertaining to just walk around and people watch. And of course, quietly judge all you see. After tonight I feel much better about myself.

After the wander down a stinky and disgusting Bourbon St, we retired for the evening. It’s now 1am and about time for bed. No, time for bed.

Friday. Out the door by 915! Have a tour of the oldest, 1789, cemetery in NO. Cemetery St Louis. Tour at 1030. Kid wants beignets first. So up and go.

We walked to the world famous Cafe Du Monde, near the river. The Mississippi, for those of you keeping score. There were about a million people here when we arrived near 920. Ok, maybe only a thousand. The to go line had over 50 people in it. So we took a table. Getting a table here is a contact sport. You have to find your own then the waiter will show up. So we had to act like lions on the Serengeti searching for prey. Fortunately Marika is a aggressive hunter and it took no time at all. And all the tables were full. Amazing.

Had to wait three minutes or so for waiter to show up and clear old dishes. We ordered at same time. No menus. Hey, it’s cafe au lait and beignets only. An easy order. Took 3 more minutes for food and bev. Man do they keep it moving. And, this shit is really good. I would eat them every day except for the high carb and grease content. Million calories. That thing.

So we have successfully eaten quickly, which was our goal. We are off, table claimed immediately by another lion. He had that look of hunger. We walked north to St Louis St where the tour meet up is at. I have still not told Marika where we are going. Just for fun.

It is really hot. Like Africa hot, today. We are melting. We got to meet up and moved to the opposite side of the street to the shade. Took awhile for tour guides and guests to get there. We were off to the cemetery pretty quick once all was accounted for.

The St Louis cemetery is the oldest one in use in this country. Since 1789. A place that old has many stories. All told by our guide whose name I have forgotten. Heck, I have forgotten the stories. Cemetery has a famous voodoo priestess buried there. Actor Nicholas Cage purchased a tomb there for later use. That’s weird, he is not from there and only visited. But wants a crypt in NO? Strange.

The cemetery is behind tall walls, no air flow. And it’s real hot. At the end of the tour we went across the street to the NO visitors center. It’s air conditioned and has nice restrooms. Also a small cafe amongst other things. We hung out there for an hour. The AC was awesome.

We finally left and returned to the hotel. I have some office work to do and I’m sure Marika would like to nap.

I worked for an hour or so and she did power nap the whole time. She is an amazing napper.

We had nothing planned for the rest of the day so we figured wander around New Orleans. Which is what we did. It was close to lunch so we went in search of Po Boys. It’s an NO thing.

We managed to find, not hard, a restaurant serving authentic Po Boys. We, as is our habit, sat at the bar to have lunch. We each ordered a different sandwich, here catfish and mine oyster. And, of course a Sazerac and a modified French 75. We are sitting at a bar you know. And we sat quite awhile after we finished. Food was great and pleasant to just sit. And drink.

Once we were good and rested, and full, we decided to explore. Which means walk off into the distance and wander. Which pretty much describes what we did. We walked for miles, out of the French Quarter through other districts along the mighty Mississippi, and on. Long walk. We finally got so tired and hot we decided to head back home.

On the way back we made a pit stop at the Toulouse Dive Bar. Well named. Has the absolute coolest restroom doors in America. I didn’t check the list but cool as hell. I had to go, and was confronted by bookshelves lining the back hall. Just bookshelves. I stared awhile and found a handle amongst the books and grabbed it and pulled. The shelves parted and revealed a restroom behind. Like a secret passage to the shitter. But, way cool.

We sat in the bar, had only one cocktail, much ice water. We watched a bad Johnny Depp movie where he played Dillinger. Not very good but after our epic walkabout we were tired. So we just sat until we were ready to move. Over an hour. Perfect.

We were 3 blocks from our hotel so we sauntered back for some clean up and so Marika could nap. Actually, she just fell asleep. She doesn’t just lay on the bed ever. Always, she gets under the covers. So obviously she is gonna fall asleep. So again we sat (lied down) for a bit. And she went to sleep. I didn’t, I did some work.

After the rise and shine, Marika searched online and found a place that serves gumbo and jambalaya and red beans and rice. Acclaimed food. No swill for us. So by 830, we headed out again. For dinner.

The Gumbo house, so called, was an excellent choice for dinner. There was a very long line when we got there but they sped right through it and we were seated in no time. For a change, no cocktails I could use a rest. The dinner was very good. I had no room for dessert.

We are now back at the hotel, both too tired to go do anything. I nodded off a few times typing this. I need sleep. Maybe I will be able to get up and work out tomorrow.

Our Thursday started late. Marika did not wake up till 1030. She is just very tired. Like a sloth.

I was awake two hours prior to her. I was going to go workout but could not drag myself there. Too tired. I probably got the fatigue from Marika, she has some to spare.

We decided to go out to lunch today. Not sure why. My friend Hal has given me several suggestions, via text, all are forwarded from Yelp. There was one in particular which looked good for lunch and not to expensive. Faubourg Bistro. The place is located in the back of a bar, rents space from them. So we sat up front in the bar and had a cocktail, not to expensive and went to the back to order. They drop off at the table. No service except from the bartender. Turns out, this place is a gay bar. No problem. Seems the few diners were all straight, all the guys at the bar were not. Obviously. This is a good place for my friend Cissie. Food arrives, looks good, a loaded French fry plate and a firecracker cauliflower sandwich. We were hungry but could not finish all. Strangely, the food filled us up so full we did not eat the rest of the day. No dinner. No snacks. Must have been plenty of salt in it too cuz we were both drinking lots of water.

Next order of business, what to do. Well, we wandered all over. A little. Stayed in the French Quarter, but traveled a larger circle.

When you drink two cocktails at lunch, you need to rest. Back to the hotel.

I had a nap and Marika went downstairs to happy hour. Something she is good at.

I was asleep off and on for over an hour. It had to be the cocktails. Regardless, when I woke I joined Marika downstairs in the bar for happy hour. I had a daiquiri, a happy hour special, not very good. The hotel bar is not very good. Service is bad too. It is convenient.

Happy hour ended at 6. We were still full from lunch so no dinner.

We decided to go out. Wandered the town, did a little retail action and looked at stuff. Neither of us is a buyer, just look.

We did stop for the occasional drink on our wander through town. Don’t remember how many. That’s a bad sign.

We went back to hotel, late, and had snacks. Still full from lunch so no dinner. Eventually we fell asleep.