I’m back–my wife and our friends and I had a great time in New Orleans. This was my first trip to the South since a few days in Atlanta four or five years ago.
The pluses in New Orleans? Good music, friendly people, great food, great seafood, drive-through daiquiri bars (why yes, you did read that correctly). The D-Day Museum that Stephen Ambrose helped to spearhead is a moving experience, one I’ll try to write about in more detail later.
The minuses? Bourbon Street on a Friday night is like being in the middle of Animal House, except that it’s an entire street full of drunken louts instead of one small frat house. Seeing flashes of naked boobage is a very big deal for many drunken young American men. Being able to buy black t-shirts with white text that uses the F-word multiple times is apparently a bold and daring move for many Americans of both sexes, as there were numerous stores selling such products. (“F*** you, you f***ing f***” is a particularly hot selling slogan, it seems–sans asterisks, of course. Remember this next someone complains about censorship by the Bush administration.)
While Howard Dean said he wanted to be the president for Confederate flag-waving southern good ol’ boys, there are surprisingly few such flags in Louisiana. I counted exactly two: one attached to a flagpole on a house in the middle of nowhere, and the other, a small rolled up flag being carried into the hotel last night by a 40-ish blonde staying at our hotel.
Regular blogging to follow shortly. In the meantime, check out my newest article at Tech Central Station!
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