A Week of Firsts

I feel like there can't be too many times in life where you can claim you did something new every day for a week and you didn't even try. I can't say enough that New Orleans is like no other place I have been in the United States. This little island, away from the rest, where there is an abundance of artistic expressions, hot sweaty nights, dark smokey bars, and almost overwhelming celebration. The streets have ample tree coverage and the trees are so important to the city that they would rather have ruined streets than remove the roots to repair. Nothing really makes sense, but you just accept what is. North/South/East/West do not work and I am finding myself saying lake side, river side, uptown and downtown to express locations. I was also lucky enough to have some visitors from the West (and still the best) Coast:

New friends already visiting me down south.  It was so good to have both Nat's in town for a couple of days.. 

Took the Nat's here and discovered my new favorite place to eat.  If the south can have this good of mac n cheese all the time, I think I'll survive.

An example of the bizarre, yet beautiful decay in New Orleans.

Silhouettes at the Fly, a spot on the Mississippi River where people bbq and enjoy a nice little Sunday...

Being a new kid, you have to do a lot of things by yourself.  So, I marched myself down to Cafe Du Monde and indulged in my own plate of beignets with a mug of their signature coffee.

With my stomach full of beignets, I walked around in awe of the French Quarter... Disneyland knew what they were talking about, haha.  I feel like they even have the smell down right.  Gaslamps galore with horse drawn carriages, this place really is a sight to see.  But I will never forget this evening because as I snuck towards the music I heard in the distance, I suddenly and unexpectedly found myself in the middle of Bourbon Street, the infamous street of sin.  Even on a Tuesday night there are a lot of people.