![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
My goals for the first day were to get groceries, get my bearings and find the meetup location for my 'after dark' cemetery tour.
You know you are in New Orleans when you pass 3 cemeteries filled with crypts on your walk to the store:
I am going to put everything about the first hotel in this post, for effect. First, the best thing about staying right on Bourbon Street was that every local I spoke to got to have a good laugh at my expense. The clubs blasted music until 3 AM every night. The music was louder in my rood than I'd typically be comfortable listening to music. The first morning I woke up to find thrown beads and also... it probably wasn't an actual dildo, probably a novelty drink container outside my window. Like most hotels, it's non-smoking now with fines for smoking in your room. So, some people on my floor were very clever and smoked in the hallway. Every morning there was a clear plastic cup full of brown water and ciggie butts from the night before. Being a historic hotel, the windows didn't open and we didn't have our own HVAC units, it was a retro-fitted central system so I couldn't just pull in outside air. I had a thermostat, but the HVAC treated it as more of a suggestion than anything.
Then the day I checked out there was mystery water on the bathroom floor. I might have splashed some water out of the shower in the morning and it migrated during the day, but I was very sure I'd have noticed if I'd gotten that much water on the floor. I'd left my PJs on the floor that morning, so I just tossed them. I wasn't going to bring PJs sopping wet with mystery water to the next place. I just pulled all the towels to sop it up and packed and left.
Also, it would have been nice if the staff had pretended to care about me being stuck in the very small, old elevator.
So, all that was the hotel I was at for the first three nights. My, to be clear, 4-star historic French Quarter hotel that was bought by and is run by Sheraton.
While walking around, I went to The Museum of Death purely out of FOMO. I didn't want to get back to Portland, hear good things about it and feel like I missed out. omg, so much fan art of serial killers for some reason. Honestly, it was so bad I am not even going to waste your time with details.
Anyway, the tour!
It was a 2 hour tour that started at a bar and took a break at a bar. We saw 5 cemeteries, but one was the Katrina Memorial that you don't need special access to get to at night, and 3 more was just us standing on the memorial grounds looking at some through chain link fences. We did go in in the Oddfellows Rest for about thirty minutes and trying to nab pics was hard as the guide kept us in a tight group.
It was cool, but it was so dark and the nearby streetlights so glarey, it was hard to even see much in person. Verdict - I'd have been better off wandering the area and trying to take pictures through gates of the various cemeteries. If I'd had another day, I probably would have done that.
Also, the guide kept trying to get us to take a certain picture were ~many people have found images of ghosts~ If anyone wants me to, I can explain in detail exactly why it was a BS set up and yes, that image would appear because that is how light works.
Wandering The French Quarter at night, I'd never felt both too old and too young for a scene before. Some clubs were young people and the DJ bumping Kendrick, but more were bumping... Billy Joel, early Madonna, Faith No More and Nirvana and the guys were like my Dad's age.
But, I did see a bar that looked more my vibe a bit off of Bourbon Street, called Apothecary. I got closer and saw that it was one of the 'vampire owned' bars. Getting a to-go cocktail, which are in 'blood bags', was one of my goals for the trip so I very happy to find it. It was lovely. The bartenders were attentive. When I asked questions because I was worried maybe they were adding red dye to things for effect, they offered to show me every ingredient.
It was set up very nicely with an Apothecary theme. No overt references to any franchise, the only maybe cheesy thing was the to-go cocktails, but that was a type of cheese I enjoy. Also, they must sell those hand-over-fist. On the weekend I saw so many people walking around with them.
Across from the bar:
Tea with booze in it:
The outside and my souvenir.
Because the name of this place wasn't on the list of vampire bars I'd seen online and it had a history on the booklets scattered around saying it was an old bar, but only recently been opened to mortals I assumed this was the vampire speak-easy and they had stopped with the cards and stuff due to the pandemic. So, I didn't ask the bartender for a card. It served absinthe, it sounded like the place I'd read about, so silly me didn't ask for anything. However, I did correct that before I left.
But, that was about all for my first day. Hours of walking, a tour that was super not worth it, and a vampire making me tea with booze in it. The trip was off to a bit of a rough start, but I did have a great time. New Orleans is just a city where it took me a bit to get my bearings and find my groove. I would never have guessed the tour would be that bad or the vampire bars so cozy.
You know you are in New Orleans when you pass 3 cemeteries filled with crypts on your walk to the store:
I am going to put everything about the first hotel in this post, for effect. First, the best thing about staying right on Bourbon Street was that every local I spoke to got to have a good laugh at my expense. The clubs blasted music until 3 AM every night. The music was louder in my rood than I'd typically be comfortable listening to music. The first morning I woke up to find thrown beads and also... it probably wasn't an actual dildo, probably a novelty drink container outside my window. Like most hotels, it's non-smoking now with fines for smoking in your room. So, some people on my floor were very clever and smoked in the hallway. Every morning there was a clear plastic cup full of brown water and ciggie butts from the night before. Being a historic hotel, the windows didn't open and we didn't have our own HVAC units, it was a retro-fitted central system so I couldn't just pull in outside air. I had a thermostat, but the HVAC treated it as more of a suggestion than anything.
Then the day I checked out there was mystery water on the bathroom floor. I might have splashed some water out of the shower in the morning and it migrated during the day, but I was very sure I'd have noticed if I'd gotten that much water on the floor. I'd left my PJs on the floor that morning, so I just tossed them. I wasn't going to bring PJs sopping wet with mystery water to the next place. I just pulled all the towels to sop it up and packed and left.
Also, it would have been nice if the staff had pretended to care about me being stuck in the very small, old elevator.
So, all that was the hotel I was at for the first three nights. My, to be clear, 4-star historic French Quarter hotel that was bought by and is run by Sheraton.
While walking around, I went to The Museum of Death purely out of FOMO. I didn't want to get back to Portland, hear good things about it and feel like I missed out. omg, so much fan art of serial killers for some reason. Honestly, it was so bad I am not even going to waste your time with details.
Anyway, the tour!
It was a 2 hour tour that started at a bar and took a break at a bar. We saw 5 cemeteries, but one was the Katrina Memorial that you don't need special access to get to at night, and 3 more was just us standing on the memorial grounds looking at some through chain link fences. We did go in in the Oddfellows Rest for about thirty minutes and trying to nab pics was hard as the guide kept us in a tight group.
It was cool, but it was so dark and the nearby streetlights so glarey, it was hard to even see much in person. Verdict - I'd have been better off wandering the area and trying to take pictures through gates of the various cemeteries. If I'd had another day, I probably would have done that.
Also, the guide kept trying to get us to take a certain picture were ~many people have found images of ghosts~ If anyone wants me to, I can explain in detail exactly why it was a BS set up and yes, that image would appear because that is how light works.
Wandering The French Quarter at night, I'd never felt both too old and too young for a scene before. Some clubs were young people and the DJ bumping Kendrick, but more were bumping... Billy Joel, early Madonna, Faith No More and Nirvana and the guys were like my Dad's age.
But, I did see a bar that looked more my vibe a bit off of Bourbon Street, called Apothecary. I got closer and saw that it was one of the 'vampire owned' bars. Getting a to-go cocktail, which are in 'blood bags', was one of my goals for the trip so I very happy to find it. It was lovely. The bartenders were attentive. When I asked questions because I was worried maybe they were adding red dye to things for effect, they offered to show me every ingredient.
It was set up very nicely with an Apothecary theme. No overt references to any franchise, the only maybe cheesy thing was the to-go cocktails, but that was a type of cheese I enjoy. Also, they must sell those hand-over-fist. On the weekend I saw so many people walking around with them.
Across from the bar:
Tea with booze in it:
The outside and my souvenir.
Because the name of this place wasn't on the list of vampire bars I'd seen online and it had a history on the booklets scattered around saying it was an old bar, but only recently been opened to mortals I assumed this was the vampire speak-easy and they had stopped with the cards and stuff due to the pandemic. So, I didn't ask the bartender for a card. It served absinthe, it sounded like the place I'd read about, so silly me didn't ask for anything. However, I did correct that before I left.
But, that was about all for my first day. Hours of walking, a tour that was super not worth it, and a vampire making me tea with booze in it. The trip was off to a bit of a rough start, but I did have a great time. New Orleans is just a city where it took me a bit to get my bearings and find my groove. I would never have guessed the tour would be that bad or the vampire bars so cozy.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-21 04:07 am (UTC)From:I feel like I've heard not great things about the Museum of Death, but I feel like I'd have that exact same FOMO if I didn't check it out.
Bummer that the tour wasn't very good. :/ I do love all the crypt pictures, though.
What particular setup was their ~spooky ghost pictures~ suggestion? I'm forgetting the type of illusion that uses the way light reflects, but I'm guessing something like that? (Maybe I'm thinking of Pepper's ghost, but that's probably TOO elaborate for their deal.)
The vampire bar looks awesome! :D I love it.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-21 04:36 am (UTC)From:The Katrina Memorial is a series of black marble blocks that hold the unidentified remains. The tour guide said that people get pictures that look like shadow figures trying to push their way out. Now, imagine the hand/arm position most people use to take pictures and what a person pushing on a surface looks like. Yeah. Also, she was holding her cell phone above her head to demonstrate, maybe for visibility but some people copied her posture. All those camera flashes going on, all that shiny black marble, yeah shadows were going to happen.
The three vampire bars were a highlight of the trip!
no subject
Date: 2024-10-23 03:00 am (UTC)From:Ah! Why yes, that WOULD be a way to guarantee some ~spooky shadow figures~. Nice con!