New Orleans 2022: Laissez Le Bon Temps Rouler

When we started this website in December 2017 I promised fresh posts five days a week. That means when I travel I take you with me. What follows is a somewhat disjointed and definitely amateurish pictorial journal of my weekend.

So, welcome to New Orleans! Yes, I spent New Year’s weekend in the Big Easy with two pals, in packed stadiums, in the middle of a pandemic. Don’t judge.

Even with widespread flight cancellations, Southwest Airlines got us out of Norfolk and into Louisiana on time Friday night. Let’s hear it for the best airline in America: SWA! (I reserve the right to retract this Monday if our return flights are cancelled.)

The reason for our trip? The 2022 Sugar Bowl. Ole Miss v Baylor.

What better way to kick off the New Year than with a big bowl game?

First mistake: Our hotel turned out to be the Baylor team headquarters. I never saw so much hideous green and gold in one place. That’s OK, I figured. We’d sashay through the lobby in our Rebel Red right after the win Saturday night and try not to gloat.

Instead, we tiptoed back to the Marriott and meekly congratulated all the Baptists in their gaudy clothes as we impatiently waited for the elevators.

Fact is, the Bears played lights out and the Rebs didn’t, after a terrific 10-2 regular season. There’s always next year.

Second mistake: Booking tickets through the university athletic office. We wound up in the Superdome’s cheap seats. I mean the super cheap seats.

“Guess you didn’t give enough to the athletic foundation this year either,” joked a guy in my row as we settled in and gasped for oxygen.

Oh, did I mention that before the loss there was an Ole Miss parade? The colorful marchers and band are way up front. Drink was taken. Spirits were high! Kickoff and heartbreak were still eight hours away.

There are many places to drown your sorrows in New Orleans. My friend Kathy always makes a pilgrimage to Pat O’Brien’s. That was her late mother’s name and once, a very long time ago, her father found her mother dancing on one of the pianos in her namesake’s piano lounge. We toasted Kathy’s fun-loving mom in the French Quarter landmark’s courtyard on Sunday.

It was balmy most of the weekend in NoLa, where Christmas decorations still hung from balconies. Yes, this photo is blurry. A real photographer who had not stopped first at Pat O’Brien’s would have been able to focus. Sorry.

I love the shabby chic of New Orleans.

Shotgun house in the French Quarter. Not shabby at all.

Spotted in a New Orleans restroom. Admit it, you always take your phone to the bathroom, don’t you?

I never post food photos but these red beans and rice with alligator sausage were as pretty as they were delicious. From a dive restaurant on Canal Street. I’ve never eaten a bad meal in New Orleans. Wish I could say the same for Virginia Beach.

You can’t watch too much football, so we scored tickets to the Saints game Sunday afternoon. Much better seats on the sidelines this time. Rowdy crowd and a big win for Who Dat Nation.

When we left the Superdome Sunday evening, the weather - which had been tropical - gave way to high winds and frigid temps. It’s 39 degrees outside right now. We’re warming up in our hotel which is quiet and mercifully free of Baylor fans.

Beignets for breakfast then flying home Monday afternoon. IF our flights aren’t cancelled, that is.

Happy New Year, everybody! Back to business on Tuesday.