Do You Know What It Means to STOP missing New Orleans

Heya folks. Welcome to I Got The Ways and Means. So your dear old Bugg departs in the morning for another trip to New Orleans. This will be my fifth trip to the city, and over the years NOLA has become my favorite vacation destination. So I thought I would take a moment to talk a bit about why I love the city so much…..

1. The Food: Let’s be honest here. I like to eat, and there are few places you can go and eat as well as New Orleans. One person can dine like a king on 30-40 dollars a day, and that’s if you’re planning on eating 3 three meals a day. I always plan to eat that much, but usually wimp out toward the end of the week because I’m just too dang full. I won’t go into my favorite dishes and places, but if you check back here over the course of the week, I’m sure I’ll be bringing them up. 

2. The Music. After you’ve eaten, there’s nothing better than sitting back and enjoying some good tunes, and New Orleans is the place to do it. There are tons of bars in the area, and many of them have live music nightly. It’s always fun to stroll the streets, stick you head in, and if you like what you hear, go in for a beer or two before settling in or moving on to the next place. Plus you never know when you might round the corner and run into a brass band or a second line parade, it's just that kind of town. 

3. The Places. New Orleans, at least the French Quarter, has some of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. From the lush greenness of Jackson Square to the shotgun houses that line the streets, the massive churches, and the tiny architectural details, there is so much to appreciate and love. It always brings to mind a lyric from Van Morrison’s Veedon Fleece album, “and the architecture that I’m drinking in with my mind, so fine.”

4. The People. You never know who you might meet or see in a city like New Orleans. Needless to say the streets are always full of fascinating characters, and sitting back on a bench and just watching people go by is a great way to spend some restful time. 

I realize this boils the experience of visiting New Orleans to a few bullet points, but I promise I’ll have much more to say over the course of the week. So until then, I’m going to get my last things together to go, and the next time I speak to you folks it’ll be from The Big Easy.