New Orleans

The drive from Texas to New Orleans consisted of some rain and thats about all of the entertainment. We left late so we missed the plantations that we were going to see so we headed straight to the hostel. Billy was a little leary when he saw the hostel that I had picked. It was a very excentric place, called the India House. It was an old Victorian style house with bright paint and travelers all around. There was a house cat too. They had an area for lounging, an area for tv, a kitchen, and a large back yard type courtyard with a pool, bar and grill, and sitting areas. It was by far not a fancy place, not dirty, but definately young traveler'esk. We had a private room which wasn't much larger then fitting a full size bed and about 4 feet x 6 feet of space. There was an airconditioner. It had the feel of a bungalow/clubhouse. After we checked in we took the trolly, just across the street, down to the French Quarter. We first stopped for some appitizers, alligator bites and jumbo. We happened upon a little expenisve of a place because we didn't know where we were going! After the gator bites we took a mule carriage ride of the French Quarter. It takes you through the more residential section and past some historical sites. The guide was very fun and knowledgable and we really liked the tour. After the tour we did more walking around the French Quarter and found our way to Bourbon St. It is pretty crazy and the later it gets the more wild it gets. There were police everywhere on horses and walking the street. Billy scored some beads from a lady on a balcony, it was funny. We finally found some dinner at a place called Mr. Chubby's. They were a small establishment with over 100 menu items. We got PoBoy's, Billy was able to get his crawfish so that was checked off the list too. I was not as impressed with PoBoy's as I thought I would be. After several times of walking up and down Bourbon St. people watching we had enough and went back to the trolly. We met an interesting homeless man, who was very sweet. He was sleeping on that particular trolly bench for 3 weeks now. He was reading his Bible when I sat down then he started talking with us. He told us about all of the violence that has been happening the past several days and that was why the police presence was so high. We had just missed a theft at the CVS across the street by about 30 minutes. I'm kind of glad by this point that we were headed back to the hostel. Before heading out of New Orleans I did make Billy get us some Binget's from Cafe De Monte, the olded coffee shop. It was pooring rain so I dropped him close and kept circling the block until he was finished in line. It was so crowded and crazy but the Bingiets were worth it!
We were rained out of Biloxi and the beach so we have headed back home via Nashville and Berea. We are in a hotel tonight and are going to take on Nashville tomorrow with a loose plan. Then to Andrea and Chris's for the night.
So after a long ride to the outskirts of Nashville we are ready for bed.