I’m Baaack!
I’m so sorry about the delay in contacting you, my friends, but New Orleans was a lot more fun than I previously anticipated! After three solid days of sleep and discovering I’d brought bronchitis home with me, I am now sufficiently recovered to at least sit upright. Damn, Bourbon Street rocks!
So, I gotta just share a few of my experiences with you, okay?
This is hubby and I preparing to tour the oldest cemetery in NOLA. Fascinating stuff! If you ever get a chance–go!
We saw decrepit old tombs like this one sitting next to marble beauties like the one below. Apparently the church leases the property to families, and if the family dies out, nobody keeps up the lot.
Near the end of the tour we visited the grave of the famous voodoo queen, Marie Laveau. Legend says if you knock three times on her tomb, make a wish, and leave an offering, your wish will come true . . . of course we did!
What made the tour extra fun was our guide, a lovely lady who told us she was a witch, and her husband was a voodoo, which made living in the rough part of town a lot easier for the both of them! Here we are at the end of the tour. (She was hilarious!)
Yeah, we did a bunch of other things in between actual work. Here are a few images from our wonderful trip to New Orleans (may we return ubersoon)!
Now that I’m home, I’m feverishly answering questions for two upcoming interviews, finishing off the final edit for Bitten in Two, and trying to figure out what my next big project will be.
Got any questions for me now that I’m an “expert” on New Orleans? (snort!)
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 13th, 2010 at 10:16 am and is filed under Musings . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
July 13th, 2010 at 11:53 am
Welcome home Jen!
You can bet thats my dream vacation. Seeing those pictures makes me want to pack my bags right now. but I was wondering if you had a meal that you would suggest trying. I’ve been getting real good at cooking and I’m looking for recipies to try.
July 13th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Welcome back!!!
The pics are beautiful! If I were less afraid of flying, I’d go there now… It seems to be an interesting place!
July 13th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
I’ve just noticed the name of the boat…
July 13th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Welcome back Jen!
Your trip must have been fantastic, that cemetery looks awesome! Love your robot tshirt by the way
Would love to go, seems like such a vibrant place!
My question is, apart from where you got your t shirt, is what would be your ultimate must see place for future visitors?
July 13th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Are the beignets as good as they always write about? I wish I could change the colour of the font green so you could see how jealous I am
July 13th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Always seems like your system holds off getting sick till ya go on vacation, don’t it? -_- I got the flu real bad last summer. I was so sick you’d of thought I was being punished for killing the Easter bunny in a past life or something! Lol. Good to hear you’re feeling better though!
I am curious about your trip, particularly the locals effected by Katrina. Did you get to talk to anybody that was, or still is, for that matter?
July 13th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Caitlin, we especially loved the red beans and rice (just did our own version at home last night–yum!). Also enjoyed the jambalaya and shrimp creole.
Kalimera, you could not possibly be bored in NOLA. Just absolutely fascinating every single moment, and we spent most of them in the French Quarter. Which means when we go back we still have so much more to see!
Thanks, Sophie! I think future visitors to New Orleans must absolutely try out Bourbon Street. Make sure you’re over 21 and not easily shocked, though!
They’re delish, Zita, though (strangely) only after midnight, at the Cafe du Monde, and you must eat them with either coffee or cafe au lait. I dunno why…
Too true, Nicole. A couple of people mentioned Katrina. One lady said all she really missed from the hurricane was the books she lost. She also said to let the world know they are recovered (as in, it’s now a beautiful place to visit again) and not drowning in oil (i.e. the gulf spill) so please don’t hesitate to come and see them if the spirit moves you!
One of the tour guides talked about how there was no work for a while after the hurricane, so when he first got back his job was to look for bodies.
What I did notice re: the hurricane was some of the humor related to it. They’ve found a way to laugh at it down there, which I found surprising so soon, and incredibly wonderful as well.
I did hear an attendant on the train (on the way back) tell someone “if anything else happens” she’s moving to Chicago. So, while they’re dealing with the aftermath in what I see as a healthy manner, they seem to be fearing another disaster on that scale too.
July 13th, 2010 at 11:17 pm
Good old New Orleans! My momma is from Louisiana, which is why I love it so much despite its quirks. I do most agree with your suggestion of Bourbon Street as a place to visit. It’s where my dad got some of his first education on gays back when a lot of people didn’t know what they were! It’s also where my mom decided to take the whole family, even though I was just 13 and my sis 16. It was odd seeing the scantily clad women dancing sexually on the balcony throwing beads. Even stranger when my momma got into the crowd and waved to get thrown beads! It’s a whole different world down there, but still awesome! Maybe for your next book you could feature New Orleans? Do ghosts, or witches, or voodoo, or even vampires again. It’s such a neat place any of those would fit. Glad you had a great trip!
July 14th, 2010 at 7:32 am
Glad you’re back and feeling better! Pics are much fun
. can we now start begging for early printing releases??
July 14th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Great Pictures!!!
NOLA is one of my most favorite places to photograph, I‘ve done a lot of silkscreen photos of the area this year from previous trips.
Like New York there’s just so much to see and experience.
Glad your feeling better, there’s nothing worst than getting sick on or just after a holiday.
Counting down the months till the next book release!!!!
Thxs again 4 the great pics :}
July 15th, 2010 at 7:47 am
I’m definitely planning on basing one of my future books in New Orleans, Andrea. Lots of research under my belt now!
You can definitely beg, Tori, but I don’t know that it’ll do you much good. November 8th is pretty firm for “Bitten in Two.” But you know how they do. If you guys pre-order, you’ll probably get your copies a week in advance of that.
How cool, Lola! I’ll bet your pics are lovely!
July 15th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Welcome back, Jen!! I’m sorry to hear you’re sick, though. I hope you’ll get better soon!
The cemetery tour sounds like fun. But why are there crosses on Marie Laveau’s tomb?
July 16th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Thanks, Vale! I’m feeling much better today now that my coughing has subsided enough to allow me to sleep. Our tour guide told us it was a scam begun by another tour guide in the 70s. Basically she told her groups to mark the tomb and then to come back the next year to make another mark to ensure that their wishes came true. That way she could guarantee herself at least two tours from the same people. Our guide told us that, oddly enough, X’s on a tomb actually bind the spirit to the place, so unless Marie left that spot long ago, she is now stuck there. (Another cool tidbit about the voodoo queen–she was incredibly generous and many in the Catholic church wanted her to become a saint after her death. Apparently she spent much of her time nursing yellow fever victims and would often let poor travelers sleep in her yard.)
July 16th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
Bronchitis truly sucks, am just over a bout of it myself. Have ya been warned it can come back for the next 6 months…..
New Orleans is a place I want to visit, mainly to see if the French Quarter is how Robert Asprin writes it in his dragons wild series. Well, that and the beignets