We took a break from house building to laissez les bons temps rouler in NOLA. The Big Easy. The Birthplace of Jazz. Crawfish Town… or just plain N’Awlins as the locals say. The trip didn’t start off big and easy – our flight was canceled 26 hours prior to departure. CANCELED. That’s it! Direct quote: “sorry for the inconvenience this causes your trip.” Excuse me?! There is no trip without a flight, a-holes!! After losing my shit for approximately five minutes, I knew the only thing to do was book another flight immediately. We had a wedding to attend, friends to see, and some well-deserved relaxation to enjoy. I didn’t look at the price; I just hit purchase and about an hour later checked us in. First time – and hopefully the last – buying plane tickets like that!
After a full day of travel we landed in N’Awlins, dropped our bags in the Elvis Suite, and made our first stop the dive bar on the corner (foreshadowing of what the rest of the week would look like?!). Drinks and food came quickly and we were laissez-ing les bons temps almost immediately.
We hit up Jazz Fest the next day, only to be sidelined by the stifling temperatures and humidity of the deep South. We spent most of the day (unsuccessfully) looking for shade, but managed to catch a few good acts as we wandered about hallucinating from the extreme heat. (I’ve actually never seen Tache drink so much water!) Highlights include Jimmy Buffet, Lukas Nelson, Chris Thomas King, and Ricky Skaggs and the Kentucky Thunder. I’d like to say the festival was amazing, but to be honest, we were overwhelmed by the crowds. People everywhere! And these days, people = COVID.
The next few days were a mix of “swimming laps” in the pool, eating incredible food, and drinking at every bar in the Bywater neighborhood. There was an airboat swamp tour – where we all risked our fingers to pet cute little friendly alligators – and a trip to the French Market, but most of the time was spent lounging at the pool with new/old friends. A true highlight of the trip was getting to know the super fun, appropriately named Party Katz!
The wedding celebrations began on Wednesday (same day I started to get a tickle in my throat), with more friends arriving. Old friends from Colorado, way-back friends from Michigan and Ohio, and new friends from all over the country. And all these friends meant – you guessed it – more drinking! Just when one night couldn’t get any more insane, we would blow it out even more the next! The wedding was one for the record books – so many incredibly fun people, a Second Line parade to the bar, and dancing in the street once the heat broke and the sky opened, dumping rain and cooling us off.
We hit Bourbon Street the last night, just to ensure we’d drank enough alcohol and interacted with as many people as possible. The next day we put on our masks, got on our flight, and tested positive for COVID as soon as we got home. So, two years of doing everything safe and one week of pure debauchery… that’s all it took. Luckily we both had mild symptoms, and it’s almost like a new freedom to know we’ve had it.
COVID or not, I’d do it all over again. I wouldn’t miss this wedding for the world – even when the airlines try to keep me away! I’m so happy for my dear friend Art and his amazing wife Erin. Wishing you all the happiness together. Come visit anytime… sooner or later (let’s just go with later), we’ll have a guest room for you.
Love you both!
Shout out to Deals for a lot of the pictures! XOXO
