I walked around
the French Quarter tonight for the first time in ages. Part of me wanted to see how the last month's events have impacted the tourism down there. As usual, I drove
round and round until I found a parking spot, then took off to meander. I usually stick to Decatur Street, because it's where most of the bars/restaurants I frequent are located. I toyed with the idea of looking through all the piercings at Rings of Desire, but they were closed. My dream is to get a pair of 2 gauge glass tubes, the kind where the ends are wider than the middle so I won't need gaskets. But they are always more expensive than I can afford.
I guess I wanted to see if much had changed. There are all these new developments going up on Canal, new hotels and bars where once there was just another abandoned building. Abandoned buildings in the Quarter are so, well, seen, that evetually someone will scoop them up. I even weaved down Bourbon for a few blocks, noting that there were a few booms strung high in the air with huge lights illuminating what would typically be a dim area of the street. They were filming something, but since the street wasn't roped off, it was hard to say what. I heard R&B, a club with, well, old school R&B, and like others walking around, I bopped to the beats. They really do have some catchy music on Bourbon. I frowned up the corner where once stood the Old Absinthe Bar, established in 1808. The sign's still up there, but now it's a daquiri bar.
I circled around back to Decatur, where I planned to have a burger at Coop's, which has one of the best. I looked up as I walked, looking at the un-covered windows of thousands of snug little apartments, some tastefully decorated in silks and chandeliers, other mirroring the mere flicker of an unseen television. I even passed by a ground floor apartment whose door was wide open to the street and the dweller was passed out on a couch a mere yard away from where I was walking. Balconies with diners. Horse-drawn buggies and vampire tours. Tarot card readers in Jackson Square. The usual.
And I thought about the gathinering I'm having here in a few weeks. All these people I have never met. I feel a combination of fear and excitement. As I walked back to my car, I thought, you noders are gonna love it here. I can't wait to show you my home.