Things to Do Before Leaving NOLA # 10: Have Four Days' Worth of Horrible Car Troubles

This story is probably as long as the horrible day that the system beat us in Thailand.  In an effort to consolidate, I'm going to bullet point the story:

Friday, September 30:

• last day of work
• return one rental car to the airport
• park other rental car on Tuesday-street-sweeping street.  (No matter, we'll return it Monday.)

Saturday, October 1 - Monday, October 3:

• do lots of moving errands
• do lots of fun stuff, as outlined in the previous 9 posts in this series
• run out of time to return rental car

Tuesday, October 4:

• sleep until noon
• lollygag about the apartment for a few hours
• get a tan in my living room

• inform Summer that I don't feel like leaving the apartment so she leaves to go to her appointment alone
• get phone call from Summer
• "where is the car?"
• realize rental car has been towed
• make 357 phone calls trying to see if tow lot will release car to us, since we are not owners. nope.
• make 432 more phone calls trying to see if rental company will call on our behalf
• resolve, finally
• walk to tow lot two miles away through bad, bad neighborhood
• talk loud and fast to Summer through bad, bad neighborhood so nobody gets any ideas about robbing us
• finally pick up rental car, $193 later 
• drive it to the office to pick up Summer's car which has been stored at the office and not driven in 7 weeks
• follow each other to drop rental car off at the airport
• ride together back to apartment
• break down two miles from apartment on off ramp
• Summer steers and I push car 
• a few good Samaritans help as she pops the clutch and starts the car and it runs for two blocks
• repeat for two miles
• finally give up and call triple A
• wait for triple A driver
• drive car no problem with help of triple A driver's power pack attached to battery
• it's the alternator, he says
• leave car overnight with voicemail to mechanic, who advertised Foreign car repair
• stay out until 4am dancing with Lionel Batiste

Wednesday, October 5th:

• wake up late and find out Foreign car repair place does not work on cars over 10 years old
• discover Enterprise rental car company would have come and got all of our rentals, we wouldn't have needed to drive to airport
• pick up another rental car
• push/pop clutch on Summer's car for three blocks
• jump car with new rental car

• drive car two blocks again
• give up
• leave Summer with her car, drive rental car to ATM to withdraw $70 cash, in order to leave deposit for alternator shop's power pack so we can drive Summer's car there for repair
• return to Summer and her car, drive 3mph the two miles to alternator shop, who has graciously stayed open just for us
• leave car with adorable cajun couple
• REALIZE THAT ALTERNATOR SHOP IS 45 YARDS FROM ORIGINAL OFF-RAMP BREAK DOWN LOCATION:

Photo taken from alternator shop.  We broke down at that traffic light the night before.

Thursday, October 6 - Friday, October 7:

• cross fingers, hoping car will be ready for our cross country journey on Saturday  (it was)

Saturday, October 8:

• drive to South Carolina, only to be informed part-way through the journey that the destination had been changed to Birmingham, MI.  

The Adventure Continues...

Things to Do Before Leaving NOLA # 9: Go to City Park Sculpture Garden

Unfortunately the sculpture garden was closed, but the park was still open, and it was a fabulous day, so we walked around and laid a blanket out and read and stuff. 

Spanish moss grows on all these amazing old trees.

I already lost these sunglasses :(

I was innocently enjoying the beautiful scenery when suddenly, somebody started urgently knocking at my back door.  Thank GAWD for the stone bench and it's poop-stopping characteristics.  If not for that bench I might have had to go and sit on one of those tree roots:

Fortunately they had a few disgusting port-a-potty's, by the name of "Pot-O-Gold".  Indeed.  Crisis averted.  

The End.

Things to Do Before Leaving NOLA # 8: Have a Shish Kebab Party

We decided to throw a party so we could showcase our fabulous apartment, and shish kebab was the theme.

Summer and I provided all the fixins and have a "build your own/grill your own" situation.  It helps if your roommate is the queen of sauces and marinades.  She marinated the beef in a mixture of soy sauce, chopped garlic, honey, sesame oil and agave nectar (but you could use brown sugar or molasses).  Stir, heat a little if you have to get the mixture to melt into itself.

The chicken was marinated in fresh chopped garlic, fresh rosemary, white wine and olive oil. 

The shrimp was marinated in triple sec, tequila, canola oil, lots of lime juice and cilantro.

Then we just chopped up and provided all the other ingredients for kebabs.  Peppers, poblanos, pineapple, onion, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms.  Build and grill your own kebabs!

Oh how I miss this balcony.

For an appetizer, one of our guests brought and fried his own fresh-caught shrimp.  He breaded them with a little egg, flour and spices.  He made regular and buffalo (by adding pepper flakes and Crystal hot sauce) and they were FANTASTIC.

Things to Do Before Leaving NOLA # 7, Knock That Beret Off That Guy's Head

As you recall, I absolutely hate this guy's beret.

Seriously?

So, I decided to take action.  I marched right on down to his little "chess lesson stand", (where I have never seen an actual lesson taking place), and did what I had to do.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Things to Do Before Leaving NOLA, #6 See Charmaine Neville Play at the Snug Harbor Lounge

When Summer and I asked around to find out what we "simply must do or see before leaving New Orleans", we were told by more than a few people that we had to go and see Charmaine Neville perform at Snug Harbor on Frenchmen.

Charmaine is part of the great big Neville family which includes the Neville Brothers.  Her band plays every Monday night at 8 and 10pm.  I definitely agree that you can't go to New Orleans without going to this show.  Swallow the $15 cover charge, it's worth it.

This is our new friend Jason, who appears to know everyone.  I went to the bathroom and came back and he was gone.  Because he was on stage, of course.  Playing with Charmaine and the band.

She does a great Louis Armstrong impression too...

Then look who showed up!  I about fell off my chair.  Turns out my boyfriend Lionel Batiste is a bit of a famous jazzman in these parts.  He's the bass drum player for the Treme Brass Band and makes his rounds to all the clubs in the French Quarter.

LOVE

And by the way, Snug Harbor also makes a mean mushroom cheeseburger which comes complete with a loaded baked potato for no extra charge.  




Snug Harbor
626 Frenchmen Street
New Orleans, LA 70116-2002
(504) 949-0696

Things to Do Before Leaving NOLA, #5: Take The Ferry to Algiers for Brunch

I love ferries.  And so does Summer.  And both of us love brunch, so what better way to spend one of our last mid-mornings than to take the free Canal Street ferry across the Ol' Mississip to Algiers Point and Tout de Suite restaurant?

New Orleans' central business district as seen from the ferry.

Tout de Suite is only about a five block walk from the ferry

But it's an adorable walk.  *Summer's photo

*Summer's photo

I love outdoor seating on a jacket-and-scarf day.

*This photo stolen from gettinglostinlouisiana.com

*This photo stolen from yelp.com

The church across the street.

St. Louis Cathedral

Tout de Suite Cafe
Algiers Point 
347 Verret St
New Orleans, LA 70114

Things to do Before Leaving NOLA, #4: Go on a Date with Uncle Lionel Batiste

I told you he was a semi famous figure down here in the Quarter.

And he's everywhere.  The other night we went to The Spotted Cat to see a show...

Even the bathroom at the Spotted Cat is 'cool', complete with a piano that Summer played for 10 minutes.

...and there he was.  Uncle Lionel Batiste.  I've never seen him wear the same outfit and I've never seen him without his sunglasses.  He told me that when he was a young boy, they would wear monogrammed belt buckles, and the ladies would dance so close the belt buckles got a good shine.  So they had to wear sunglasses all the time.

If you look closely in the mirrors, you can see Lionel and me canoodling.

He also told me that he was the first black man sent to jail for DWI.  He was driving with his niece in the car and was pulled over.  This was in the days before disposable diapers, and so he had a burlap sack with her cloth diapers in it.  The cop was convinced there were drugs in the bag.  Lionel tried to warn him not to put his hand in that bag, but the cop wouldn't listen.  He stuck his hand in, and pulled it out.  I'm quoting Lionel here: "his hand had baby yellow sh*t on it.  Like stickin' a paint brush in a paint bucket."

I asked if he got some measure of satisfaction from seeing that cop with baby yellow (beep) on his hand.  Lionel said, "It was a joy for me."

When asked how many children he has, he pauses, then says, "a considerable amount."

I asked him to hold my chair while I went to the bathroom.  He said, "if somebody more attractive comes along, she gets the chair."




He kept laughing at my Lindy Hop dancers.  "Every song that band play, they do the swing dance.  If I was dancing, I'd do the shuffle."
I said, "Let me know if you want to dance, Lionel."
He said, "You step on my feet I'm gonna get off the floor."

I caught Summer's eye and mouthed the words "I'm. So. Happy."

It's clear that you don't want to upstage Lionel.  It's also clear that I wasn't quite getting what he wanted me to do.  He doesn't so much dance with you as for you.  But it was a blast, and afterward he told me, "you did pretty good.  You didn't step on my feet."

OMG!  Our knees are touching!

There, that's better.