Hello, Dolly, well Hello, Dolly, it's so nice to have you back where
you belong
The following day got off to a fairly slow start. I
headed to the public library late morning with Casey to use their wireless internet and
catch up on some admin and correspondence. I knew I was doing a bad job at
keeping in touch with my family and friends back home but I also knew that good
friends would understand and be there for me when I finally get back home. Afterwards Casey
and I headed for some lunch before returning home. I needed a little siesta.
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| Burly-esque at The Pub |
Monday night was Preston's quiet night at home so Casey and I headed downtown that evening to enjoy coffee and
beignets at the renowned Café du Monde. The beignets (which apparently are the
official state doughnut of Louisiana) were amazing, once I had found them under
the mound of icing sugar. As we sat watching the world go by we were
entertained by a couple of street performers. One played guitar, the other a
washboard. They must have know that there were gays in the vicinity as they did
a great rendition of Hello, Dolly! I was tempted to get up and sing to earn a
few dollars but thought better of it.
Well hello, Dolly
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| Rihanna? |
We continued into the French Quarter, once more
heading to The Pub. There was a drag show on that night, Burly-esque, and a friend
of Casey’s was one of the acts. We had a couple of drinks downstairs while
waiting for the show to start at 10pm. The performances were good and the
costumes spectacular, but the compere did way too much talking in between acts
(and he was not very funny either). Casey told me that they had around 20 performers
lined up so it could go on for some time. After an hour and a half they had got through 6 acts. Luckily Casey’s
friend was in the first half dozen.
Neither of us were up for a late night so we left
around midnight but not before I had chatted to a Russian guy who had been
stood next to me for the show. He had his camera with him and was busy snapping
away. I explained my travel plans to him and that it would be great to get a
couple of his photos of the drag act if he didn’t mind sending me some. I gave
him one of my cards. I wasn’t sure it would come to anything but he very kindly
sent me a link to his photos a few days later and said I could have whichever photos I wanted. There are some nice people out
there. Thank you
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| House in the Lower 9th Ward |
The next day Casey took me on a tour of the Lower 9th
Ward. It had been the area most affected by Hurricane Katrina, some 6
years earlier. I had expected that the city would have been back to how it was
before Katrina after all this time. As we toured the Ward though it was
possible to see the empty lots where houses once stood. Sometimes there would
be two or three stone steps leading up to nothing. It was eerie to see where
houses had once stood, families had once lived and now see nothing but the concrete foundations. There were whole streets where
there were no houses, just empty lots. There was also the occasional damaged
house which really brought home the massive impact Katrina had had on the city.
I was pretty quiet for the tour, not really knowing what to say. Casey pointed
out the “Brad Pitt” houses to me. With their modern design they looked a little
out of place but it was interesting to see them.
After lunch we headed back to the library. I hadn’t
quite made it from NOLA to Savannah like I had planned as I’d not been able to
find a gay able to host there. Casey had mentioned that he was going to be
driving to Jacksonville, Florida which would get me a lot closer to Savannah
and Atlanta and that I could get a ride with him. I decided why not! I asked
Casey if there was much to do in Jacksonville. He said that there wasn’t that
much but he had some friends there he would be seeing so there would be gays to
hang out with in the evening. I decided a couple of nights in Jacksonville
would work.
I looked at flights from Jacksonville to Atlanta and
set about booking one. My OCD kicked in during the booking process and I
checked, rechecked and triple checked all the flight details to make sure I had
everything correct. I pressed the confirm button and a little window popped up
telling me that the price of the flight had changed in the time I had spent
faffing around. I scrolled down to see the damage. The price had actually
fallen by $40. Bargain!
With my admin finished we headed home via the store
and Preston cooked dinner for the three of us. It was our last meal together
and I felt a little sad at the looming departure. I had been made to feel so
welcome by my hosts and their friends. I also knew however that I needed to
move on, even if just for the sake of my liver. I asked Casey and Preston how
they had coped sharing a room. They looked at each other, neither wanting to be
the first to speak. I offered to sleep on the sofa again. It had become the
catchphrase of my stay in NOLA.
After dinner I was picked up by a friend of Casey
& Preston’s, Matt, for a couple of beers. We had chatted in The Pub every
time I had been in there and he had dropped me a message saying he hoped to get
chance for a drink before I left to toast my onward journey. We had a couple or
beers at a local dive bar before they kicked everyone out ahead of a band
playing. We didn’t want to pay the cover to get back in to listen to the music
as we weren’t planning on having a late night. Matt suggested The Pub. I said I
didn’t think it was a good idea gin (1) the size of the gin measures, (2) the
lack of self control I clearly had when in The Pub and (3) the big road trip
that I was making in the morning. We found a store and bought some beers and
headed back to Casey & Preston’s instead. It was a very relaxing way to
spend my last evening in NOLA.
The following morning I was up early, ready to hit the
road. I said goodbye and thank you to Preston, giving him a massive hug before
he headed off for work. I told him to make sure he kept in touch and to let me
know if he had any ideas for blog titles from his vast musical theatre
knowledge. I finished packing my suitcase, had a coffee and prepared myself for
the drive to Jacksonville.
“Well Hello, Dolly, it's so nice to have you back where you belong”
Lyrics from Hello, Dolly! from the musical Hello, Dolly!
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