On The Move

We're awake and getting ready to leave within the next 45 minutes or so. If only I could be this sleepy while actually on the airplane, it would be possible to sleep on the flight. Sigh.

Easy Trip

Travel to New Orleans via MSP was uneventful, which is just the way I like it. A slight delay at MSP while they fixed the plane's windshield wipers, and it was fairly bumpy coming in, but no big deal. Cheryl and I had the two aisle seats on the same row of the (2-2 seating) CRJ-900 from MSP to New Orleans. After we got up to cruise altitude, the woman in the aisle seat got permission from the flight attendant to move to one of the unoccupied pairs of seats, so I had a pair to myself. I fired up my computer and ran through one laptop battery playing Locomotion; just as the red "shut me down NOW" warning light came on to tell me I had less than five minutes of battery life yet, we got the "put your stuff away" warning on the flight, so that was pretty convenient. Cheryl was able to sleep on both legs of the flight, but I almost never can; playing Locomotion isn't as restful, but it also has the effect of making time go by quickly.

A significant number of seats on the CRJ-900 were filled with the North Dakota State University women's volleyball team, on their way to play Tulane. As we were nearing touchdown, I heard one of the players behind me say, "It looks like we're going to land in the swamp!'

I leaned back and said, "You've never flown into San Francisco, have you?" She said no, and I explained how the runways there are in the Bay, so that you look like you're going to land in the drink until just before touchdown."

A taxi ride to our hotel, which overlooks the St. Charles streetcar line and is a block from the French Quarter, and a nice routine check-in, and we're all set. We don't know exactly what we'll do this weekend, but I'm sure we'll find things to interest us. Cheryl has some jazz clubs and an art museum in mind. Me, I may have us buy a couple of day passes and ride the streetcars -- they've expanded the system since my last visit.

I don't know how to say how much I like the fact that we have no significant schedule or commitments.

Music and Wind

It has been many years since I was last in New Orleans, and that last time was only for one night, passing through. I'll not forget waiting nearly an hour with Lisa for a streetcar because I didn't understand that while they run all night, after midnight they only run on hourly headways and we'd just missed one. Anyway, I didn't quite have my bearings straight, so Cheryl and I wandered around a little bit down Canal Street to the Riverwalk and then back up toward Bourbon Street. We looked in at a number of restaurants, some fancier than others. One I thought I was under-dressed for, but they reassured me that a collared polo shirt was acceptable these days; we took their menu and said we might be back later. I didn't really feel like I should eat a big meal, even though my stomach was saying otherwise. Walking along Bourbon Street proper, Cheryl spotted Sammy's Seafood, which was just what we were looking for.

( Good Food and Good Jazz )

Tomorrow morning it's Breakfast at Brennan's -- at a fairly civilized 11 AM, although Noon might have been more my speed -- and then, weather permitting, some other interesting things in the city.

While Hurricane Ike may be bearing down on Texas, we're not outside the area of effect. We're under a tropical storm warning, with high (but certainly not hurricane-force) winds. No rain this evening; however, we'll see what tomorrow brings.