Nola/Mexico Cruise Adventure Part 4
Tuesday 1/30/18 8:30am
Gulf of Mexico, Carnival Triumph, Promenade (near the coffee bar).
I left the Booze Bar on Bourbon Street, buzzed, with bourbon drink in hand. I walked the street for only a short time when someone hollered at me about my shoes. Before I could realize what was happening, this dude started cleaning my shoes and telling me some stupid tale about shoes and kept saying “ten and ten.” I went to give him a dollar and he started to get aggressive, asking me for “ten and ten.” I pointed out his gold teeth and explained that I couldn’t afford gold teeth so maybe he should give me “ten and ten.” He walked away.
Shortly after that, my friends texted me and invited me back to the hotel so that we could walk to dinner together. I was preoccupied with “ten and ten” guy and wasn’t really too excited about Bourbon Street anymore, so I told my friend’s that I’d be right there.
We returned to Decatur Street and ate at BB Kings BBQ Blues Bar (wtf is with all the B’s?!). When I met up with my friend’s, they realized right away that I was buzzed. Apparently, I wear impairment quite prominently. There was a band playing – blues, of course. They were good, musically, and each wore different levels of excitement on their faces as they played. The drummer wished he was somewhere else. The bass player was chillin’ and diggin’ it. The lead guitarist/singer’s facial expressions were WAY over the top. He made another face just about every other note that he played. I mostly watched the bass player as I ate my pulled pork and cole slaw after sharing fried pickles as an appetizer with McKenzie and Kylie.
I made a friend in the bathroom. Out of nowhere, this guy told me that he was going on a “drunk history tour” after dinner. I told him that I was going on a ghost/voodoo/witch tour and that I was going to be drinking during it...
My friends and I left BBs and had about an hour to kill before meeting for the tour. We headed in the direction of where we needed to meet with the intention of finding drinks along the way as I was feeling completely sober at that point. We stopped at a daiquiri bar and McKenzie got a Hurricane. It was too sweet for me. So, we stopped in a bar on Bourbon Street and I ordered another Manhattan. It was not quite as good as the previous ones I had that day, but I finished it and ordered another one to go so I could nurse my buzz for the length of the tour.
We met our group on a corner somewhere in the French Quarter at our scheduled time. There were several groups assembling there as our guide, Christo, gathered everyone up and handed out stickers. Then, he led us off in a direction and started telling scary stories.
I really don’t remember anything from the stories. Basically, we would walk and then stop at various buildings while Christo told a ghost story. He was dynamic and engaging. I made friends with a group of people on our tour who were also in the buzzed realm and we snickered and made comments about one guy in our tour group who was definitely drunk and kind of annoying.
What I liked about the tour was that it forced us to stop and look around at the architecture of the buildings in the French Quarter. The architecture is certainly unique and interesting. Mostly, you’ll find two and three story buildings with these verandas all around.
Halfway through the tour, we stopped at a bar for “refreshing.” I was nearly finished with my drink and thought briefly about getting another one, but ultimately decided against it.
I had the funny idea of taking pictures of my friends unbeknownst to them with this Lego ghost at various points on the tour. However, most of the pictures didn’t come out good and my friends eventually caught me.
One thing I noticed during the tour was that the streets were mostly empty of anyone other than tour groups. In fact, every street we turned down had at least one or two ghost tour groups either walking along or standing together. As I noted this, it began to become comical to me every time we turned onto another street.
The walking tired us out and when it ended at 10pm, we went straight back to the hotel. I was asleep by 10:30pm.
We woke up at 8am on Monday 1/29/18, got dressed, and walked a few blocks to the Ruby Slipper, a diner, for breakfast. I had a tex mex omelette and real orange juice. After breakfast, we returned to the hotel, stopping only to take some pictures of Canal Street and street cars. One thing that we had wanted to do on this trip was ride a street car around to see some sights. If only we had more time!
We packed up our things, checked out, and ordered a Lyft to the cruise port.
The port was overwhelming – lots of employees directing lots of people. Everyone was frustrated and everyone seemed in a grumpy mood. Eventually we found ourselves at a counter where we were given our Sail and Sign cards and wished bon voyage by a less grumpy employee. We were seated in a row by a particularly grumpy employee and waited for a little bit before our row was chosen to board. We followed the crowd that eventually led to the gang plank and the ship.
We entered into the lobby of the Carnival Triumph. My friends weren’t interested in a picture with the towel elephant, so we passed by. I advocated for us to go to the Lido Deck for drinks and to see what was happening as far as a Sail Away Party would be concerned. So that is what we did. I had a pina colada (finally) and my friends wanted to sit down on loungers because they were wiped out. I wandered around the deck a bit, taking pictures. A man was playing acoustic guitar and singing in a very nasaly voice.
I returned to my friends and told them that I was hungry and was going to get a taco. My friends joined me at the Blue Iguana Cantina (taco bar) and were surprised at how amazing immediate tacos are.
After lunch, I announced that I wanted to go explore the ship. My friends were lukewarm to the idea and didn’t really agree or disagree to go with me. I was getting antsy because I was excited. I grabbed my bag and my friends tagged along.
We walked the promenade and ended up in the showroom. Kylie and McKenzie took seats while Kylie worked out how to stay in contact with her daughter while at sea. I left them and went exploring… (to be continued)
Gulf of Mexico, Carnival Triumph, Promenade (near the coffee bar).
I left the Booze Bar on Bourbon Street, buzzed, with bourbon drink in hand. I walked the street for only a short time when someone hollered at me about my shoes. Before I could realize what was happening, this dude started cleaning my shoes and telling me some stupid tale about shoes and kept saying “ten and ten.” I went to give him a dollar and he started to get aggressive, asking me for “ten and ten.” I pointed out his gold teeth and explained that I couldn’t afford gold teeth so maybe he should give me “ten and ten.” He walked away.
Shortly after that, my friends texted me and invited me back to the hotel so that we could walk to dinner together. I was preoccupied with “ten and ten” guy and wasn’t really too excited about Bourbon Street anymore, so I told my friend’s that I’d be right there.
We returned to Decatur Street and ate at BB Kings BBQ Blues Bar (wtf is with all the B’s?!). When I met up with my friend’s, they realized right away that I was buzzed. Apparently, I wear impairment quite prominently. There was a band playing – blues, of course. They were good, musically, and each wore different levels of excitement on their faces as they played. The drummer wished he was somewhere else. The bass player was chillin’ and diggin’ it. The lead guitarist/singer’s facial expressions were WAY over the top. He made another face just about every other note that he played. I mostly watched the bass player as I ate my pulled pork and cole slaw after sharing fried pickles as an appetizer with McKenzie and Kylie.
I made a friend in the bathroom. Out of nowhere, this guy told me that he was going on a “drunk history tour” after dinner. I told him that I was going on a ghost/voodoo/witch tour and that I was going to be drinking during it...
We met our group on a corner somewhere in the French Quarter at our scheduled time. There were several groups assembling there as our guide, Christo, gathered everyone up and handed out stickers. Then, he led us off in a direction and started telling scary stories.
 |
| (Christo) |
What I liked about the tour was that it forced us to stop and look around at the architecture of the buildings in the French Quarter. The architecture is certainly unique and interesting. Mostly, you’ll find two and three story buildings with these verandas all around.
Halfway through the tour, we stopped at a bar for “refreshing.” I was nearly finished with my drink and thought briefly about getting another one, but ultimately decided against it.
The walking tired us out and when it ended at 10pm, we went straight back to the hotel. I was asleep by 10:30pm.
We woke up at 8am on Monday 1/29/18, got dressed, and walked a few blocks to the Ruby Slipper, a diner, for breakfast. I had a tex mex omelette and real orange juice. After breakfast, we returned to the hotel, stopping only to take some pictures of Canal Street and street cars. One thing that we had wanted to do on this trip was ride a street car around to see some sights. If only we had more time!
We packed up our things, checked out, and ordered a Lyft to the cruise port.
The port was overwhelming – lots of employees directing lots of people. Everyone was frustrated and everyone seemed in a grumpy mood. Eventually we found ourselves at a counter where we were given our Sail and Sign cards and wished bon voyage by a less grumpy employee. We were seated in a row by a particularly grumpy employee and waited for a little bit before our row was chosen to board. We followed the crowd that eventually led to the gang plank and the ship.
We entered into the lobby of the Carnival Triumph. My friends weren’t interested in a picture with the towel elephant, so we passed by. I advocated for us to go to the Lido Deck for drinks and to see what was happening as far as a Sail Away Party would be concerned. So that is what we did. I had a pina colada (finally) and my friends wanted to sit down on loungers because they were wiped out. I wandered around the deck a bit, taking pictures. A man was playing acoustic guitar and singing in a very nasaly voice.
I returned to my friends and told them that I was hungry and was going to get a taco. My friends joined me at the Blue Iguana Cantina (taco bar) and were surprised at how amazing immediate tacos are.
After lunch, I announced that I wanted to go explore the ship. My friends were lukewarm to the idea and didn’t really agree or disagree to go with me. I was getting antsy because I was excited. I grabbed my bag and my friends tagged along.
