Alright everyone, so I know I have been a huge slacker/procrastinator and that is ending NOW!! Well that's a lie, but basically I'm going to start catching you all up on everything since New Orleans. That was such a long time ago that it's going to take me a while but we're looking at baby steps here, people. Ok so this is the post that I wrote right when we got to Austin but never put up. Also, look for lots of pictures from Austin and the Southwest on my Facebook group page!
Enjoy!
Greetings from the Live Music Capital of the World!
So unfortunately it’s been raining I think since we left Tallahassee, which has definitely ruined our motivation for going outside or doing anything anywhere. We pulled into Houston around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday (in the rain, of course) and didn’t leave Rice’s campus until we headed out for Austin on Friday around 3:30. This means that my impressions of Texas so far are based solely on one night out in Austin, all of the music we’ve been listening to on the Outlaw Country station, and things we drove past on the way to Austin. But today it’s actually sunny (for now at least) so I’m hoping we can get out and actually see some of the cities we’ve been staying in!
It was great to see Lauren in Houston, and we managed to be relatively comfortable when staying in her dorm because we basically requisitioned a common room and turned it into our room. Rive University apparently hates visitors and has not a single overnight visitor parking space on the entire campus, so we had to park on the street across from campus and wait in fear of being towed while Lauren was at work. Luckily the First Christian Church allows “operable vehicles only”… good thing my truck is operable I guess? At any rate, no towing occurred, we played some really fun beach volleyball in the rain with Teach For America Rio Grande Valley people and stopped by the campus bar for a few 95 cent beers. A nice evening considering everyone except us had to wake up at 5:30 a.m. the next day. Teachers, man.
So now we’re in Austin recovering from a crazy fun night last night! The girl we’re couch surfing with took us out for a night on the town near 6th Street and we had an absolute blast! We had one drink per bar in a bunch of different bars, and the night included an 80s dance party, dancing on this ridiculous floor that was clear so you could see the people below you, and – wait for it – checking off the only thing on my “make sure you do this on your trip” list… riding a mechanical bull!!!! I’ve been wanting to do it since I saw it in Cancun but couldn’t because I was wearing a dress (I’ve never been so mad at my classiness haha), and specifically wore shorts out last night so I would be prepared for any opportunity. It was so so SO fun and I stayed on for a long time!! So happy and excited, definitely a high point in our time since New Orleans.
All right well it’s sunny out now for the first time in a week, so I’m getting going to do something fun and outside! (Despite the fact it’s going to be hot and humid and miserable… but apparently you can’t have it all.) Next update will include the Willie Nelson 4th of July concert!!!!
Yours in Wandering,
Katie
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The Big Easy: Where you can drink outside and smoke inside!!
To sum up my time in New Orleans: Rainy. Bad roads. BEST TIME EVER!!!!!
Seriously, this has been my favorite place by far up until now. Let's see if I can summarize what we did and why I am seriously considering moving here.
After we moved in with our couch surfing hosts (who were AWESOME, by the way!) we basically hung out long enough until it was time to go out. We went with our hosts to a local dive bar called Lucky's, a 24-hour bar, grill, game room, and laundromat where you can get things notarized and where you can bring your dog. WHAT?!?! First hint that this is the city for me. Haha. While it as fun, we were a little tired and wanted to find somewhere a little more hopping so that we would wake up a little. Cue our hosts hooking us up with one of our friends, who was out on Frenchmen St., which I think is north of the quarter and basically a small strip of jazz clubs. We got there, met up with her friend, and proceeded to see 3 different jazz bands in different clubs in quick succession. Let me just say that the blues are still going strong and definitely still relevant in New Orleans. It was like watching country bands in Nashville but a little more authentic and personal... hard to describe but great. Fun Fact- while walking back from Frenchmen to head closer to home, we saw the lead singer from the first band on the street, so we shook his hand and he gave me a CD!! The band is called Dumaine (named after one of the streets in the Quarter), and I'm so excited to listen to it!! Yet another reason to love this place.
Around 3 (I think?) We went from that strip to another 24-hour bar called Miss Mae's, where well drinks were $1, calls were $2 and premiums were $3. Yes, that means that you could get Johnny Walker Black or Knobb Creek for $3. Another hint that I love this city. haha. We met lots of awesome people there, had a great time, and went home around 4:30...ish...not really sure but some late time that did not feel nearly as late as it was.
Unfortunately, because of the rain and thunderstorms we didn't motivate enough to walk around much or get very far from the Quarter and the Garden District. Guess that just means I'll have to come back some day! We did manage to get ourselves to Parasol's for a po'boy, it was really good although there were lots of big bugs on the floor. But hey, it's New Orleans and they weren't bothering us, so we just let it be an enjoyed our po'boy. Delicious.
That night we spent the whole night at another local dive called The Saint, with our hosts, their neighbors, and some of the friends we had made the night before. Started the night with 1/2 priced drinks, continued with karaoke, and ended with me being very proud of my (apparently newly acquired) skill at maintaining myself by drinking booze slowly and water quickly. Definitely a useful thing to be able to do... glad it took me this long... haha. That bar wasn't a 24-hour one but last call was at 6a.m., yet another reason to love New Orleans.
We got home, slept for a few hours, thanked our hosts (and their dog) over and over and headed out for Houston around 2. It was a long, rainy drive to get here, and seemed even longer because of the weather and the fact that a 2004 Ford Ranger packed to the roof with backpacks, guitars, food, and beer is not the most comfortable place to try to sleep. But we made it, and subsequently had a long battle with Rice University over where the hell you are allowed to park overnight. Apparently nowhere. Agh.
So now we're up, doing computer things, and hopefully we'll make it out to explore the city a little before the storm really hits. Hurricane Alex can do nothing to weaken my resolve to drink and meet people. I'll keep you posted!
Once again,
Yours in Wandering,
Katie
Seriously, this has been my favorite place by far up until now. Let's see if I can summarize what we did and why I am seriously considering moving here.
After we moved in with our couch surfing hosts (who were AWESOME, by the way!) we basically hung out long enough until it was time to go out. We went with our hosts to a local dive bar called Lucky's, a 24-hour bar, grill, game room, and laundromat where you can get things notarized and where you can bring your dog. WHAT?!?! First hint that this is the city for me. Haha. While it as fun, we were a little tired and wanted to find somewhere a little more hopping so that we would wake up a little. Cue our hosts hooking us up with one of our friends, who was out on Frenchmen St., which I think is north of the quarter and basically a small strip of jazz clubs. We got there, met up with her friend, and proceeded to see 3 different jazz bands in different clubs in quick succession. Let me just say that the blues are still going strong and definitely still relevant in New Orleans. It was like watching country bands in Nashville but a little more authentic and personal... hard to describe but great. Fun Fact- while walking back from Frenchmen to head closer to home, we saw the lead singer from the first band on the street, so we shook his hand and he gave me a CD!! The band is called Dumaine (named after one of the streets in the Quarter), and I'm so excited to listen to it!! Yet another reason to love this place.
Around 3 (I think?) We went from that strip to another 24-hour bar called Miss Mae's, where well drinks were $1, calls were $2 and premiums were $3. Yes, that means that you could get Johnny Walker Black or Knobb Creek for $3. Another hint that I love this city. haha. We met lots of awesome people there, had a great time, and went home around 4:30...ish...not really sure but some late time that did not feel nearly as late as it was.
Unfortunately, because of the rain and thunderstorms we didn't motivate enough to walk around much or get very far from the Quarter and the Garden District. Guess that just means I'll have to come back some day! We did manage to get ourselves to Parasol's for a po'boy, it was really good although there were lots of big bugs on the floor. But hey, it's New Orleans and they weren't bothering us, so we just let it be an enjoyed our po'boy. Delicious.
That night we spent the whole night at another local dive called The Saint, with our hosts, their neighbors, and some of the friends we had made the night before. Started the night with 1/2 priced drinks, continued with karaoke, and ended with me being very proud of my (apparently newly acquired) skill at maintaining myself by drinking booze slowly and water quickly. Definitely a useful thing to be able to do... glad it took me this long... haha. That bar wasn't a 24-hour one but last call was at 6a.m., yet another reason to love New Orleans.
We got home, slept for a few hours, thanked our hosts (and their dog) over and over and headed out for Houston around 2. It was a long, rainy drive to get here, and seemed even longer because of the weather and the fact that a 2004 Ford Ranger packed to the roof with backpacks, guitars, food, and beer is not the most comfortable place to try to sleep. But we made it, and subsequently had a long battle with Rice University over where the hell you are allowed to park overnight. Apparently nowhere. Agh.
So now we're up, doing computer things, and hopefully we'll make it out to explore the city a little before the storm really hits. Hurricane Alex can do nothing to weaken my resolve to drink and meet people. I'll keep you posted!
Once again,
Yours in Wandering,
Katie
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