Building a Mystery

I saw him my first morning in New Orleans - a Tuesday. My husband and I were walking to Cafe Du Monde on Decatur to get beignets. In case you do not know, these delicious French donuts that taste like a funnel cake and leave traces of powdered sugar on your clothes for the rest of the day.

We were walking down Royal Street when he walked towards me. His eyes were downcast. His head was brilliantly bald, smooth and pale. He walked briskly clothes entirely in black. He wore Matrix-style tall black boots and a trench coat that flapped - no, not flapped. It floated. The back of this coat was seamlessly suspended behind him.

He may have looked at me or maybe he didn't. I was so stupefied by his commanding and weird presence that it is possible I imagined it. Maybe I imagined him. That is the thing about New Orleans. There are so many outlandish vampire and ghost stories and voodoo legends that eventually reality can get a little sketchy. To this day, Tom does not remember our first encounter with this man.

When I first saw him, I immediately suspected he was one of three things:

1) A guide for one of the famous vampire or ghost tours

2) A Gothic rocker

3) A vampire

I would like to appear sane and say that the first tow options were what I was placing bets on,but this damn city can make you start to believe in things that you don't understand. Yes, I think I did just quote Stevie Wonder.

I may have been able to regain my sanity and logic if I had not seen this man again on my last night in New Orleans.

We were in Jackson Square well after dark. This area of the French Quarter is eclectic during the day and eerie when the sun disappears. The Square lies between the St. Louis Cathedral and the Mississippi River and encompasses about one block. It has two components. The first component is a gated park with manicured lawns, seasonal foliage and flowers and breathtaking views of the Cathedral.

The second feature of this attraction is the population that surrounds the four sides of the gated area. Here you will find palm and tarot card readers, street side musicians, artisans creating and selling and horse-drawn carriage operators lined up beckoning tourists to take a ride for $12 a person.

Oh, I also saw Jesus. At least that is who he claimed to be as the police were questioning him.

But that last night in New Orleans I was oblivious to everything. I only saw him. He was sitting on a bench in Jackson Square, alone. Well, not completely alone. He sat on a bench outside of the gated section of the Square. Behind him within the gates are where I spied the glowing eyes. They were just the nighttime eyes of felines, but these cats stood behind the gate at attention like they were guarding something. Guarding him.

The Square was the meeting place for our vampire tour. That is why we were there that night. I expected him to join our tour and put my suspicions to rest, but he never did. He stayed sitting on that bench. He was still there when we returned two hours later.

I got as close to him as I dared, standing behind the bench about ten feet. I wanted to ask him what the mystery was. I felt this unbelievable, supernatural pull towards him, but my own sixth sense urged me to stay away and not approach.

Maybe he was just homeless like many of the other occupants of the Square, but I don't think so.

When I returned home from New Orleans, I tried to find information on Jackson Square and those cats. Maybe somebody else had the same experience I did and I could get some closure. I found one site that talked about how when pictures were taken of the cats ghostly images appeared, but that was all I could find. I have not been able to find out anything more about the cats of Jackson Square or about my vampire.

So, that is the craziness about New Orleans. It wraps itself around your senses and strangles out commonsense and replaces it with superstition and uncertainty. Our vampire tour guide said there are many people in the city who "believe they are what they are" and you know what? I am now one of them.

I believe what I saw. I believe what I felt. That raw, supernatural feeling. I am certain about what he was . . .

New Orleans - Not Just Mardi Gras Y'All

Why is it that when you mention New Orleans to someone they automatically say, "Oh, are you going for Mardi Gras?" It doesn't matter if it is the dead heat of August, people must think Mardi Gras is a year-round event.

The other term used as a synonym for New Orleans is "Katrina". It has been four years since the Hurricane pounded the city and the surrounding communities, but no one has forgotten. The city has been able to capitalize on this lack of amnesia by offering tours to view the destruction and reconstruction of the most severely hit places as well as offering many interesting clothing options to humorize the event. A popular t-shirt that could be found hanging in the windows of almost every souvenir shop explained FEMA's evacuation plan

FEMA's Evacuation Plan: Run, M***** F****, Run!

It's okay. You can laugh. That is pretty damn funny. The locals would. I learned during my trip that the locals do not take themselves too serious and just about anything in NOLA goes. Let's just say we listened to some blues music in a club led by a 72 year-old musician who was very confident in his Viagra performance.

Something that struck me about New Orleans was that it was so much more than Mardi Gras and a natural disaster. The city was complicated. The best way for me to describe it was that it was a city of contrasts; beauty vs. beast, good vs. evil. I learned quickly that I had to adjust my perception of beauty.

New Orleans is not a beautiful city. Not in a traditional sense. You can pick up a travel guide to New Orleans and the camera will pick out all the appealing settings and tease a tourist into thinking they are walking into a gem, but that would be a lie.

New Orleans is dirty, filthy, smelly, rude and poor. Harsh adjectives, but the truth. The restaurats are dirty and the staff in less than par. They charge you an arm and a leg, expect a tip and deliver minimal customer service. We ate at one restaurant where the hostess never said hello. She just glared at us. Showed us to our table by pounding on it and left us there for 20 minutes before a server ever came. Even if you don't consider yourself a high-maintanence traveler, you have to admit that is bad.

Oh, and if you have to go to the bathroom during your trip. Hold it until you get back to your hotel. Most of the bathrooms at the establishments lacked doors and proper flushing mechanisms. Maybe that's why drinking is a past-time down there. You have to be drunk to touch your flesh to those seats.

However, if you can look beyond your expectations of what makes a city rich and vibrant you start to come away with a deep love for the hidden treasures that this city possesses.

Here is where I found the contrasts and the hidden treasures. You can be walking down Royal Street in the morning and suddenly the wind picks up the stench of leftover vomit and urine from the partying of the night before. Just when you are about to be disgusted by the overwhelming smell, you realize you are standing in front of the most exquisite antique shop you could ever know. The whole Royal Street is like that; adorned with antique shops and art galleries.

You can be walking down Bourbon street during the nighttime when the seedy side of NOLA emerges and you will be beckoned to join in the fun at one of the thousand strip joints or live act shows ( I kid you not!). But, just when you may start to feel a little accosted, you can walk across the street and there is a 5-star restaurant with people dressed in their upscale dress oblivious to the party on the streets.

The other beautiful parts of New Orleans are the hidden courtyards that the normal passerby only gets to glimpse through a street side gate that is closed off to the outside world. Tom and I would be walking down a street and all of a sudden you would see this beautiful garden gated up and that you are only allowed to imagine its' full potential. What was interesting though, is that many people must try to get into these gardens. We saw many a high brick wall that encircled a private courtyard that had warded off trespassers by pouring concrete onto the top of the wall and then sticking shards of glass into the concrete. A crude but necessary barrier.

During the Vampire tour that we went on, our guide said that the city has many people who "believe they are what they are." This mind-set can cause people to do some "weird things". New Orleans may have an inner beauty, but it is a rough neighborhood.

I think my post is getting lengthy. I'm going to stop here and in the next few days I will tell you about some of my own "weird" experiences with seeing things that may not be exactly as they seem.

Later!

Uh, oh! Another blog . . .

So, I started my book blog a few months ago and I suppose I have been lax in updating it. I have good intentions, but sometimes I just don't have much to say that I think anyone wants to put up with for more than a good skim. How am I remedying this? I am starting a new blog!

I find that I have a nasty little obsessive-compulsive habit of having to categorize my life. I can't just mush everything together. Soon I will have over 100 blogs that detail all the mundane aspects of my life. Oh, wait - that's Facebook! Just kidding. I am digressing.

Welcome to The Traveling Princesa. Yes, I had to tweak the language a little to get my blog to have this desired title. Apparently, there are many traveling princesses out there. I am just one in the crowd.

I admit it. When it comes to traveling I am high-maintenance. I have a certain level of comfort and pampering that I feel is necessary for me to have an enjoyable experience. My happiness makes my traveling companions happy, too. If the princess is not happy, then the rest of the royal court will suffer.

Okay, now I am just being silly and a little pretentious. I'm not that bad . . .

I got this idea to start this blog because I love to travel. I don't do it as often as I would like. This princess does not have the monetary resources to take off on a jaunt every week. But just recently I was lucky enough to be able to take a 5 day vacation with my husband and I had such an amazing time that I wanted to write about it.

Also, since I am not the wealthiest princesa, I have some savvy, useful tips on how to execute a stately get-away that will not eat up all your cash and credit. I hope to use this blog to pass along those useful tips while sharing with you some of my vacation adventures.

First stop . . . New Orleans! I will update this tomorrow ( I promise) with a first-hand look at this city that is full of history and contrast. Keep checking out my other blog http://themidnightbookblog.blogspot.com/. I will get my book reviews posted soon. Who knows maybe the two blogs will merge. We always need good vacation reads, right?

See you tomorrow!