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Day four got off to a slow start. I went to a tourist info booth to double check that the 12 can be boarded from a certain station on Canal, like what google says. I'd been at that station a few times and never saw a 12. But, even though there were few people ahead of me, the agents were selling them on various tours and after twenty minutes I just went to the station. At the station, I kept seeing 47s and 48s, and eventually I gave up and hopped on a 48 which goes to City Park. I wanted to go to City Park on my trip, but I am pretty sure that this was going to drop me far from where I wanted.
City Park is huge, and yeah it was a 2 mile walk from the station to where I wanted to go. It was a nice ramble, though. The park has a bayou, ponds, bridges, a Cafe Du Monde location (coffee and beignets), people who have set up camp to grill in long grass while watching the game on a portable TV, etc. There is a lot of nature and culture there and having gone sooner, and properly supplied for a day outdoors, would be a great way to spend a day there. There's a lot of cool stuff I didn't even see there, because I was trying to get to the Couturie Forest Trailhead, a 60 acre bit of forest that is just a small part of park.
When I got there, I saw that the area was 'being restored'. Most of what I'd been pictures of was blocked off by 8 foot tall chain link fences. One lovely wide trail with overhanging trees I'd wanted to shoot... now has 8 foot tall chain link fences on other side to keep people from going off-trail.
Still glad I went, just wish I'd planned that for the day and had gone to different bits. If 'well this wasn't what I hoped, but rolled with it' seems to be a theme of the trip, yeah, I wound up saying those words a lot the following weekend.
Then, I went back to the hotel to get cleaned up to do early badge pick up for the con. I had a tour early the next morning before the con started, so I really needed to get my badge early. Also, I'd feel better once I had my badge and schedule and everything.
So, preface to this whole mess: I had a great time with fellow fans the rest of the weekend. Creation Cons just pull out some very weird behaviors from people. Most of the people at early pick up were getting meet & greet tickets, had bid on specific seats or access... not bought, bid. Some of the people at this con spent between $3k to... let's be conservative and say $6k on just the convention. Not the trip, just the con. Some people spent thousands for just like 20 minutes of attention, some photos and autographs. I am not trying to be judgey of paying for fannish experiences, it's just that when you are spending so much on so little it becomes a big, intense deal whether it's 20 minutes of attention or maybe getting 21 and you feel in competition with other fans. I personally don't get involved in all that, but I still had people sizing me up like potential competition.
The line was full of assholes. One lady just shoved her way directly in front of me in line, then spent the rest of the weekend trying to come up and be all friendly to me. She was there solo and just kept going up to other solo people trying to make friends. I just stared at her silently each time. We all had assigned seats, there was literally zero reason to forcibly cut me in line.
The people behind me didn't consider me part of the fandom because I hadn't been to the Wizard World Cons in Chicago and it's like... Okay, let me be blunt. If I decided to engage in 'real fan' pissing contests with them, it would go very badly for them. When I did mention I was from Portland one of the fan-husbands activated and started talking loudly about how he comes to the con to make sure the East Coast Girlies get their fair share of attention at events, protects them from those aggressive West Coast Girlies. He was trying to impress upon me that he'd protect 'his girlies' from... me? I was like... I don't know what drama y'all are talking about and I don't care. Please stop.
Then things got worse. After registration there was a small vendor's area that was mostly the big table of official merch. The line was supposed to go along the table so everyone walked by everything. There were two people with mobility problems, one in a walker and the other a wheelchair, and people kept cutting them to get right to the T shirt part of the table. I was the first person to stand behind them and get the line back on track. Some people still cut, but most got behind me. Two girls from Germany tried to play the 'no English' card to cut in. First off, no one said anything, they were just pre-emptively like 'theeeese okay right. Sorry English not good'? Second off, this wasn't a large con. They were fluent. We all saw them be fluent. This isn't San Diego Comic Con where you can just randomly pretend 'no English' and not be super fucking obvious. What even were they doing? I only know they were from Germany because I heard them talking later, in perfect English!
After all that, my nerves were pretty raw. The con is for 5 shows overall, but we were mostly there for Leverage and Librarians. At a con that was pretty much for those shows, people were taking advantage of people with mobility problems to cut in line? Just, omg fuck off you assholes.
So, despite how much that sucked, two good things came out of it. One, I knew who to avoid for the rest of the weekend and had a much better time because of it. Two, my reaction to my nerves feeling raw was 'I want a vampire to make me tea with booze in it'. So, once again, I left the Warehouse Arts District and walked back into the French Quarter. Honestly, Warehouse Arts was probably where I should have spent a lot more time, that was my usual, but I just kept going back to the French Quarter.
In the French Quarter I passed lots of people with their tables out for tarot or other readings:
I settled in at Apothecary. My plan was literally to sit there for the night, maybe write on my phone a bit. After a bit I ordered a second drink. Then, I spotted the bartender give someone a card.
That's when I realized my mistake. The info I'd read online about NOLA bars said that there are two vampire bars, one public and one hidden. Since I'd been to two and one said it was 'recently revealed to the mortal world', I assumed they'd dropped the hidden thing due to the pandemic. I was wrong, they now have three bars! The hidden bar is still hidden and I hadn't been yet!
I wanted to go immediately, but 2 drinks is 4x my usual limit. So, I hung out for a bit, and then asked for a card. The bartender was very charming about it, carefully slid it to me with a wink. I also walked walked for a while, just to sober up a bit more.
Finally, I was en-route to Potions, often referred to as 'the vampire speak-easy'. To get there, you need to get a card from one of the other bars, then leave and go to one of the historic jazz clubs. It was packed, there was live music, it was great, but you go through the club and out a back door into one of those old brick courtyards. Then, you have the give the card to the right person and they lead you through a door to a stair case. At this point, you are in a back ally with various stairs and balconies, on the stairs you that are blocked off, there are sleeping cats. I went up and to the door of Potions. It turned out to be a few small rooms with more gothic decor, more overt vampire theming, drinks served in glass potion bottles with corks and it includes one of those iconic second floor balconies, all old wood and vintage iron work.
10/10 - would follow a vampire into a back alley again.
As much as a wanted a nifty drink in a potion bottle, I wasn't sure what I could drink there and also there is a city ordnance about glass on the balconies, so I just got red wine in a plastic cup. Easy, safe, etc. Before I went to the vampire bars I was worried about them being cheesy or using lots of red dye. They are all lovely and make stuff red with either wine or cranberry juice
I didn't take pictures inside, because that didn't seem to be the vibe. I did take some pictures out on the balcony, though. They are terrible camera phone shots, tho.
View sitting on the balcony:
View standing:
I mean, how could it be any better? People were chill and lovely. The journey to get there was perfect. I am so used to being let down by themed bars and experiences and this was just amazing. Even just the bit where you cut through a packed historic jazz club was perfect.
Also, I don't know if this was because of it being mostly tourists, just the local vibe, or what, but yeah, I just felt really comfortable in all the vampire bars. The Portland bar scene is very territorial, and yeah, I guess it's not a me problem. It's not a 'I just can't feel welcome' in spaces thing. Honestly, how great being in some of the bars there was felt very cathartic and validating.
I wish I'd been a little less sloshed going into it, but honestly, Potions completely made my trip.
City Park is huge, and yeah it was a 2 mile walk from the station to where I wanted to go. It was a nice ramble, though. The park has a bayou, ponds, bridges, a Cafe Du Monde location (coffee and beignets), people who have set up camp to grill in long grass while watching the game on a portable TV, etc. There is a lot of nature and culture there and having gone sooner, and properly supplied for a day outdoors, would be a great way to spend a day there. There's a lot of cool stuff I didn't even see there, because I was trying to get to the Couturie Forest Trailhead, a 60 acre bit of forest that is just a small part of park.
When I got there, I saw that the area was 'being restored'. Most of what I'd been pictures of was blocked off by 8 foot tall chain link fences. One lovely wide trail with overhanging trees I'd wanted to shoot... now has 8 foot tall chain link fences on other side to keep people from going off-trail.
Still glad I went, just wish I'd planned that for the day and had gone to different bits. If 'well this wasn't what I hoped, but rolled with it' seems to be a theme of the trip, yeah, I wound up saying those words a lot the following weekend.
Then, I went back to the hotel to get cleaned up to do early badge pick up for the con. I had a tour early the next morning before the con started, so I really needed to get my badge early. Also, I'd feel better once I had my badge and schedule and everything.
So, preface to this whole mess: I had a great time with fellow fans the rest of the weekend. Creation Cons just pull out some very weird behaviors from people. Most of the people at early pick up were getting meet & greet tickets, had bid on specific seats or access... not bought, bid. Some of the people at this con spent between $3k to... let's be conservative and say $6k on just the convention. Not the trip, just the con. Some people spent thousands for just like 20 minutes of attention, some photos and autographs. I am not trying to be judgey of paying for fannish experiences, it's just that when you are spending so much on so little it becomes a big, intense deal whether it's 20 minutes of attention or maybe getting 21 and you feel in competition with other fans. I personally don't get involved in all that, but I still had people sizing me up like potential competition.
The line was full of assholes. One lady just shoved her way directly in front of me in line, then spent the rest of the weekend trying to come up and be all friendly to me. She was there solo and just kept going up to other solo people trying to make friends. I just stared at her silently each time. We all had assigned seats, there was literally zero reason to forcibly cut me in line.
The people behind me didn't consider me part of the fandom because I hadn't been to the Wizard World Cons in Chicago and it's like... Okay, let me be blunt. If I decided to engage in 'real fan' pissing contests with them, it would go very badly for them. When I did mention I was from Portland one of the fan-husbands activated and started talking loudly about how he comes to the con to make sure the East Coast Girlies get their fair share of attention at events, protects them from those aggressive West Coast Girlies. He was trying to impress upon me that he'd protect 'his girlies' from... me? I was like... I don't know what drama y'all are talking about and I don't care. Please stop.
Then things got worse. After registration there was a small vendor's area that was mostly the big table of official merch. The line was supposed to go along the table so everyone walked by everything. There were two people with mobility problems, one in a walker and the other a wheelchair, and people kept cutting them to get right to the T shirt part of the table. I was the first person to stand behind them and get the line back on track. Some people still cut, but most got behind me. Two girls from Germany tried to play the 'no English' card to cut in. First off, no one said anything, they were just pre-emptively like 'theeeese okay right. Sorry English not good'? Second off, this wasn't a large con. They were fluent. We all saw them be fluent. This isn't San Diego Comic Con where you can just randomly pretend 'no English' and not be super fucking obvious. What even were they doing? I only know they were from Germany because I heard them talking later, in perfect English!
After all that, my nerves were pretty raw. The con is for 5 shows overall, but we were mostly there for Leverage and Librarians. At a con that was pretty much for those shows, people were taking advantage of people with mobility problems to cut in line? Just, omg fuck off you assholes.
So, despite how much that sucked, two good things came out of it. One, I knew who to avoid for the rest of the weekend and had a much better time because of it. Two, my reaction to my nerves feeling raw was 'I want a vampire to make me tea with booze in it'. So, once again, I left the Warehouse Arts District and walked back into the French Quarter. Honestly, Warehouse Arts was probably where I should have spent a lot more time, that was my usual, but I just kept going back to the French Quarter.
In the French Quarter I passed lots of people with their tables out for tarot or other readings:
I settled in at Apothecary. My plan was literally to sit there for the night, maybe write on my phone a bit. After a bit I ordered a second drink. Then, I spotted the bartender give someone a card.
That's when I realized my mistake. The info I'd read online about NOLA bars said that there are two vampire bars, one public and one hidden. Since I'd been to two and one said it was 'recently revealed to the mortal world', I assumed they'd dropped the hidden thing due to the pandemic. I was wrong, they now have three bars! The hidden bar is still hidden and I hadn't been yet!
I wanted to go immediately, but 2 drinks is 4x my usual limit. So, I hung out for a bit, and then asked for a card. The bartender was very charming about it, carefully slid it to me with a wink. I also walked walked for a while, just to sober up a bit more.
Finally, I was en-route to Potions, often referred to as 'the vampire speak-easy'. To get there, you need to get a card from one of the other bars, then leave and go to one of the historic jazz clubs. It was packed, there was live music, it was great, but you go through the club and out a back door into one of those old brick courtyards. Then, you have the give the card to the right person and they lead you through a door to a stair case. At this point, you are in a back ally with various stairs and balconies, on the stairs you that are blocked off, there are sleeping cats. I went up and to the door of Potions. It turned out to be a few small rooms with more gothic decor, more overt vampire theming, drinks served in glass potion bottles with corks and it includes one of those iconic second floor balconies, all old wood and vintage iron work.
10/10 - would follow a vampire into a back alley again.
As much as a wanted a nifty drink in a potion bottle, I wasn't sure what I could drink there and also there is a city ordnance about glass on the balconies, so I just got red wine in a plastic cup. Easy, safe, etc. Before I went to the vampire bars I was worried about them being cheesy or using lots of red dye. They are all lovely and make stuff red with either wine or cranberry juice
I didn't take pictures inside, because that didn't seem to be the vibe. I did take some pictures out on the balcony, though. They are terrible camera phone shots, tho.
View sitting on the balcony:
View standing:
I mean, how could it be any better? People were chill and lovely. The journey to get there was perfect. I am so used to being let down by themed bars and experiences and this was just amazing. Even just the bit where you cut through a packed historic jazz club was perfect.
Also, I don't know if this was because of it being mostly tourists, just the local vibe, or what, but yeah, I just felt really comfortable in all the vampire bars. The Portland bar scene is very territorial, and yeah, I guess it's not a me problem. It's not a 'I just can't feel welcome' in spaces thing. Honestly, how great being in some of the bars there was felt very cathartic and validating.
I wish I'd been a little less sloshed going into it, but honestly, Potions completely made my trip.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-27 05:09 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-27 05:22 am (UTC)From:it's so cool to see the pictures and hear about adventures in exploring the city
no subject
Date: 2024-10-28 12:54 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-28 12:54 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-11-06 02:43 am (UTC)From:The hidden bar sounds *fantastic*! I'm so glad you got the card and went, and that it sounds like it was just the right amount of "production." Not SO impossible to follow the steps to make it anticlimactic or too much of a pain, but enough effort to make it feel like a Thing!
It sounds like a really cool experience!
ETA: I forgot to even mention the neat trees in the park! I hate when places are closed off (even though I can't be mad about the need for restoration work and all) but still a bummer. The pictures you did get look very neat and classically New Orleans.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-09 10:34 pm (UTC)From:The bar was a highlight of the trip and went against every expectation I had for a themed experience.
I wish I'd been able to get out into nature more, but there didn't seem to be a way outside of one of the boat tours and I don't do great on boats. City Park is surprisingly nice, though
no subject
Date: 2024-11-13 02:24 am (UTC)From:I'm so glad the bar was so cool. It sounds amazing.