joshua, a fellow flight attendant and friend, and I decided to go to new orleans for the night. it’s not uncommon for flight attendants to do that. to any city, for that matter. we fly for free so it costs basically the same as going out in atlanta. it just takes a plane ride and a few hours more to get there.
regardless, after having got my hair cut at 10:45, I hopped on marta to catch my 12:10 flight. I made it just in time as marta decided for some reason the train needed to stop to catch its breath every few hundred yards… onboard, I had a few cocktails. three to be exact. at noon. no breakfast or lunch yet.
at the airport in new orleans, we hail a cab and make the trip into the french quarters. it’s not a huge distance but their traffic is just as bad as atlanta’s. we stayed at the ambassador on poydras. it’s right across the street from harrah’s casino, which we never made it into, which was probably a good thing.
we were only there for the night so we immediately left the hotel room to wander the district to find food. we decided pat o’briens would be good so off we went. it was a bit windy there and, of course, I had not packed a jacket. wasn’t too bad, though.
the food was awesome, the rainstorm drink left a little to be desired. their shrimp creole was absolutely mouth watering. literally, but still good.
after lunch, we paraded around bourbon street although all the official mardi gras parades were over. we went into a few shops but mainly just took in the sites and sounds of the city.
around three, i suppose, we went in to the cat’s meow, a karaoke bar. there were actually some good singers inside as well as great drink specials: 3 for 1! yep… you pay three bucks for one beer, the chick brings ya three. gotta love it. and that we did.
after sharpening our claws at cat’s, we headed deeper onto bourbon street and into oz for bitchy bingo where i was the first winner and proud recipient of $10. two drinks in atlanta… nine in new orleans.
after bingo was over, we strolled across to the bourbon pub. the kicker in this bar is the fact that my budweiser was neither bottle nor draft… it was a twelve ounce can. hadn’t seen that since statesboro and even there, it was just pbr or natty light.
but, the people were fun although the bar staff left a little to be desired. oh well, the people later made up for it.
about eight o’clock, we were rather wasted and honestly ready to call it a night. Joshua had to keep reminding me that we gained an hour from atlanta and had been drinking since we left. not a quitter, I hung in there although my drinks went from suds to water.
back at the bourbon pub – we left to go somewhere – i met an pilot with american. rather nice, introduced me to the bar owner who suggested i get onto the bar to dance with the dancer already up there. attempting to be modest, i said no but eventually made $34. i was strongly encouraged to get into their student body contest later, too.
meanwhile, since that didn’t start until midnight, we head back to oz and dance a bit over there. throughout the night, we met many cool people and even had a camera but it’s still in new orleans somewhere.
at midnight, i was back for the dance contest. there were five guys, including me. two were professional dancers (one would later proposition me to work for him), one was a cheerleader and the other an attorney.
the strippers were obviously talented but I think the judges were not ready for the butt shots they got… in fact, the guy I thought should have won got two “f’s”. (we were graded a-f by four judges) i ended up winning, which gave me $100 and a free drink, which ended up being a bottled water. i had too much already.
we all went back to oz at this point…. all meaning the different people we’d met and had been hanging out with. joshua was pretty tanked so he sat near me while I danced my ass off. i was having a blast.
at some point, i believe around four am, i noticed joshua was not near me yet his drink was sitting there still. knowing joshua, he doesn’t leave a drink full nor unattended. my search took me around the club, upstairs, in the bathroom and eventually outside to where i found him leaning against a post. obviously, he’d been thrown out but didn’t know for why.
at that point, one of the guys we met took us back to out hotel where joshua immediately passed out and sawed a whole damn forest snoring. i’m surprised windows didn’t shatter.
an early wake-up call aroused us about nine am… not too long before our 10:30 flight out. we wouldn’t have had to leave so early but joshua had to go see his brother in virginia…
i felt – and up until about two hours ago – felt like dog shit. ugh. i drank a gallon of water before leaving the hotel… bought a sprite downstairs… dramamine in the airport… ginger ale on the plane. nothing helped. it’s the worst I’ve ever felt the morning after.
i passed out shortly after take off and didn’t wake up until i was jarred by the landing. i went back to sleep while taxiing and woke up to walk off the plane. i rode marta back to midtown, retrieved my blazer from the metropolis and headed for mcdonald’s for some salty french fries. i thought that might help.
at home, i ate and passed out. wendell told me at some point a realtor came by to show the house and walked in on me asleep. i had no clue. it’s a good thing i was under cover, too… i’ll leave it at that.
around nine, wendell woke me up to eat with jeremy at nikimotos. grant was there eating with a friend. he had called earlier today while i was asleep but i missed his call. it’s funny how i never hear from him the for a week, i can’t get away from him. it happens every few months… weird.
anyway, dinner was awesome but i was terrible company. i was tired, irritable and extremely quite. i smoked my first cigarette of the day before dessert and almost passed out.
home again, i took a long hot bath and watched a movie. i feel better although not good. it’s now almost five am and i’m sure ill get called into work sometime soon. it always happens when you least want it to.
i’m ready to go back to new Orleans… just next time i’ll make sure it’s for more than one day… and definitely will not be on the early flight out.
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