My Last Memory of the "Big Easy"

Words escape me and I'm all at a lost of the city they fondly call "The Big Easy" this week as I watch the countless sad images & dour reporting coming from the CNN coverage that I have been watching on a daily basis this week. It especially hits home because the Gulf Coast is an area that I consider "my roots"...basically, I was born in Pensacola Naval Airbase & for my parents, this is the FIRST place they called "home" in America when they first arrived from the Philippines...so, every "baby step" they learned about being an "American" they learned while living in the Gulf Coast region...about a couple years later, after moving around, Philippines, Guam, Port Huenueme & Norfolk, VA...they settled back to Pensacola & those years were my formative, pre-teen years living in the Gulf Coast & I have nothing but mostly, fond memories living there...we lived in the largest Naval Base in the country & we had a comfortable living as a family of an Officer there for awhile...anyway, without getting into too personal business of my family history...it was truly the "Camelot" years before my parents went through their separation & eventual, divorce...maybe, I'm seeing it all through rose colored glasses but living in that beach community and because the military base was a town in & of itself with all different minorities and the Caucasians living PEACEFULLY together, I was pretty much sheltered from the "black" vs. "white" mentality that was out there...though, once you stepped outside the confines of the U.S. base, we truly felt the racism...it was overt - harsh words or snickering comments that my mother & father would pretend not to hear & then just quicken their pace & shuffle us along (Passers-by: "What boat did those funny looking Chinamen come from?" Me: "What!" "What mom, dad did you hear what they said!" Mom or Dad: "Just keep walking, look straight ahead, just keep walking...") ; then there were the more subtle, quick, quizzical glances & just long, hard, harsh stares are what stand out most in my mind when we ventured off to areas that were clearly not USED to us...anyway, I'm glad that we did travel, wander on these random spontaneous trips - because, as a child of immigrant parents; this is how you get to know a country's people, their culture and what kind of mettle they are made of...so, driving up and down, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, & of course, Florida, even though we had those harsh experiences - you also, had people who were kind, hospitable & clearly, loved their homes and especially, which stood out the most for me, was their love of family & tradition...how they kept their values down to familial love which I was very akin to even at a young age. So, when I see the coverage of the news, families separated, traditional lives & livelihoods torn apart...my heart cracks like glass split by a random pebble thrown on a car window shield...it's surprising how the impact shakes me up & how its thread permeates & lengthens...


Anyway, it's got me nostalgic about the last time I was in New Orleans; it was about 5 1/2 years ago and it was my previous job working for a tech company & being their Marketing/ Convetions Coordinator...it was our "User Forum" convention & it was the last day...technically, I was suppose to man our customers' "Net Cafe" but I closed it an hour early before noon b/c most people had already left to catch planes that morning...so, my boss, told me to just leave early & take the rest of the next day off & have the A/V sounds guys pack up my booth to go back home..."Cool! I thought..." I had a whole day to myself...I had already tried all the jambalaya I can handle from the previous night's ALL night party that our company had thrown at "The House of Blues"...we had arranged & paid for "The Neville Brothers" to bring the house down the night before...you have to remember now this was at the boom of the whole dot.com thing...so not only did we have them but we also had spent money to decorate the place to look like the exact replica of the French Quarters back in its heyday, along with saloon looking women mingling around with cigars & chocolates for all the guests & then having tarot card, tea leaf & palm readers upstairs on the top floor looking down on the party below; which was people dancing & grooving to the Neville Bros. and/ or eating all the good food catered by K. Paul's Louisiana Kitchen...it was bang-up night; all I remember was working the beginning of the night & then someone grabbing me & telling me to stop working & just dance, eat & then drink some more ...so, yes that 12 hour a day job did have it's perks when all was said & done...


So, back to my last day in NOLA, I had a room at the St. Francis to myself...my co-worker shared a room with me but she was missing her husband & wanted to leave that morning...so, I woke up late, ordered room service, had a full waffle breakfast...showered, changed...then decided that I needed to swim on the rooftop pool since it was so humid and hot on a late October afternoon...after watching some cable, I changed into my makeshift bathing suit of a t-shirt, my sports bra & some shorts & just swam & laid out in the sun for an hour...on the roof of a grand hotel...really, people, this is ALL true...if my boss was going to let me stay all day while he said he'd take care of cleaning up because I had already did the legwork of the great party we threw the night before; who was I to argue? I have a good track record of "EXCELLENT" bosses, so far in my working career...knock on wood, knock on wood...I'll tell you I still rank him as the ABSOLUTE best...


Then, I decided to go venture downtown & walked just 5 blocks away from the hotel & found a shop that selled the most scrupmtious po'boy sam'wiches, which were dirt cheap, too!


Then, my co-worker told me I had to grab a beignet & chicory coffee from Cafe du Monde...so, I hopped on one of the open air green street cars & took it towards the Garden District...once, I got to Cafe du Monde; I felt like was in another time & place in the area...very, Southern, very "genteel"...the beignets were made straight/ hot out of the cooker - lightly dusted with powdered sugar & it WAS DEEE-VINE...after people watching & licking the last of the yummy, French doughnut, I hopped back into the street car & decided to soak in more of the historic atmosphere...I took the train, all the way down to Tulane University...at Tulane because there were surrounding shops and eateries around there, too...I decided I would "blend in" & just pretend I was a regular student walking along the campus & the college neighborhood...the campus was bustling & I had grabbed another coffee from another nearby cafe (can't remember which) & just people watched/ and yes, eavesdropping on people's conversations that day...


After doing that for awhile, I took the train back to the French Quarters & grabbed some hot sauce as souvenirs for my family...then, went down Bourbon Street (which the funky, crasser bars would try to recreate Mardi Gras EVERYDAY to attract the tourist crowd) and stepped into a side alley to listen to some lilting jazz pianist that I had followed from outside...again, I'm sorry if my memory escapes me about the exact location because, I LOVE traveling this way - it's the stuff you can't find off the guidebooks & the EXPEDIA.com sites that give me the most joy when I do travel...it's the unexpected that gives a dose of originality & substance when you start learning about a unique, vibrant & beautiful mesh of cultures New Orleans had to offer...


The other highlights in New Orleans:


1. If you have to party with your co-workers, having a "Hurricane" or Mint Julep or another "Hurricane" at Pat O'Brien's was one of the most relaxing & entertaining times I had on the trip. Relaxing b/c the Hurricanes are jumbo drinks that can put a giant, abomindable snow man in a mellow mood & entertaining b/c when your co-workers drink Hurricanes, the funny, real, uncensored things coming out of their mouths that night were absolutely priceless! Incidentally, I'm not being insensitive, the reason they called the fruit rum drink a "hurricane" was b/c the glass they served it in looked like an "upside down hurricane lamp glass" - that's what the good ol' waiter told us when we ordered it...it's so gigantic, too...do I keep mentioning that or what???


2. Magazine Street - A great street to shop if you love to shop if you drop. I bought most of my souveneirs for friends & family there...


3. A Gator Tour by a real Cajun guide - that was the most weirdest, yet most interesting tours, I've ever taken...largely because, our guide was an authentic Cajun & we could barely understand him when he would point things out but me & my friends were too polite to speak up & just interrupt him...for awhile, it didn't matter, it lended more to the atmosphere that he would have his musical, lilting accent color commentating us down the rivers and pointing out the alligators to us...very memorable, too because on our bus ride over there...b/c of their open container/ plastic container rule that allows anyone to drink alcohol out in the street - we just laughed out loud when we saw a drive through drinking shack on the way to our tour...busted a gut actually, the guys in my group, almost made the tour bus driver stop b/c they were contemplating on checking the shack out...


4. The gracious locals - No matter where I went, the locals were polite and gracious...yes, mam & no sir...unendingly polite & I'm told very, very Southern.


5. The food - from the crawfish/ crayfish, which just cooked simply in salt & pepper & bit of butter was spectacular to the Andouille Gumbo, Shrimp Etouffee to my very first, best tasting (STILL) sweet potato pie - New Orleans is one area in the U.S. that I'm glad I didin't miss tasting as a sheer foodie & restaurant goer...hopefully, as a food lover, they will be able to rebuild & I can sample it once more again...I went to about 5 different restaurants in the 6 days I was there, too - ranging in prices & atmopshere but all genuine New Orleans cuisine & all amazingly, tasty & scrumptious!

Anyway, again, I'm trying to remember the unique, wonderful aspects of a historical city that we are ALL mourning over...again, I can't emphasize enough how wonderful the people were out there...I wanted to state that since I'm seeing all this negative imagery of the looting & some of the tension going on between people there...hey, it's catastrophe; it will bring out the worst but again, it will also bring out the BEST in people in a very, tenous, difficult situation...may we all PRAY for them at this difficult time.

I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend by the time you read this...