In the evening when their sessions for the day were over, I met up with Dan and Kevan for dinner... at IHOP. Yes, International House of Pancakes. :) I guess you could call it comfort food, especially for nerds (we saw several others there.)
After dinner I insisted that we had to explore more of the city, so we turned down Bourbon Street. I don't know what I can say about Bourbon Street that isn't probably already well known. It's a party, fo'sho. It was not until this point that I realized it's legal to walk about the city with an open container of alcohol (as long as it's not a glass container). This means that basically everyone is carrying a drink, and basically every restaurant/bar will give you your drink in a plastic cup. Or a giant plastic tube. Or a plastic fishbowl. I would say that at least 25 percent of the people walking around were noticeably impaired. Who knows how many were hiding it better!
Bourbon Street was also wet, even though it hadn't rained. There was water (or liquid, at least) running down the street in some places, and puddles in other places. My assumption was that the street had to be regularly hosed down thanks to people peeing, vomiting, spilling their drinks, and doing whatever else. I stepped into a puddle, wearing a sandal, and was thoroughly grossed out for the rest of the night just imagining what could have been in that mix. Ugh.
So Bourbon Street was definitely interesting!
After a while we turned down another street, towards the river. We ended up on Royal Street at the back side of the St Louis Cathedral. The spotlight on the statue of Jesus cast a very cool shadow on the church. I read that during Hurricane Katrina, an oak tree fell over in this courtyard and Jesus lost a thumb and a finger. Can't tell if they have been replaced...
We walked back towards the hotel along Royal Street. Most of its businesses seemed to be upscale antique dealers and art galleries. Since it was rather late, they were all closed (unlike the businesses on Bourbon Street, which were thriving!) I had a good time window gazing, though. At one art gallery I was happy to find many more pictures of the dog I had seen in the windows of the Sheraton on Canal Street.
Turns out, his name is (not a surprise) Blue Dog, and he is the creation of artist George Rodrigue. Much of the art I saw in the various galleries was a similar style -- bright colors, black lines. Maybe it is a Cajun thing.
Another really cool thing about the city is that there are real gaslights. They are everywhere on the streets in the French Quarter. It creates a very romantic feel, to stroll along with the gaslights flickering and street performers playing music. We passed guitar players, harmonica players, saxophone players, and even a cello player.
Here's a pricey restaurant.
Dan and Kevan sighed every time I wanted to stop and look in a shop window, but they spent a good while peering into this antique guns and swords shop. Hmmph.
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