Memories of New Orleans

(This is going to be a continuing post whenever I think of something I want to write about New Orleans)

I wasn't born here. I didn't even move here till my last year of high school. Actually I have never lived in New Orleans itself. I've always lived in the areas outside the city, Gretna, Belle Chase, Westwego, Slidell. But whenever I travel and when someone asks me where I'm from I always tell them New Orleans. These cities may not be part of New Orleans proper, but they are part of New Orleans in spirit.

I love this city. Yes it has its problems. Yes it doesn't always present its best face to the world. But this is one of the most unique cities in the world. There is no other city like New Orleans.

My first memories of New Orleans are going to the French Quarter with Mark, Sal, Ray and a host of other friends. We were young, just out of high school and in our first year or two of college, meeting mostly through work or some of them had known each other since they were kids, so of course most of our trips were to the bars and clubs in the city.

One of our favorite places to hit was Pat O'Briens. We would go there and order a Magnum, which is a drink the comes in a glass that is as big as a punch bowl and comes with a bunch of straws for everyone to drink. We would sit out on the patio and drink. Or they would drink. I've never been a drinker, though once or twice I would drink a little of the Magnum.

And yes I we went to some of the strip clubs. I can't remember the name of it, but it's still there, this many years later, there was a strip club with a swing in the window, where a girl sits and swings in and out, inviting customers inside. I remember there was four or five of us one night, we were at some strip club, and a girl came by and asked if we wanted a table dance. Of course we said yes. I remember sitting there, looking at my friends, and we all would look at the naked girl dancing and look slightly embarassed and look away, but we didn't want to look at each other.

The best times were at the Lakefront. We would stop at the store, get drink and food and than head out to the seawall. We would park and sit and talk and drink and eat. We could spend the night out like this. Sometimes it would be as small a group of three or four, almost at least always four...me, Mark, Sal and Ray, sometimes a group as large as a dozen or more. But we could sit down and talk the night away. We would solve the world's problems there. We would discover things about each other that we had no ideas about. We could talk about nothing and just enjoy it.