Nawlins

We rode the streetcar line last night, uptown into the Garden District, and saw beautiful homes in a part of the city that was unaffected by flooding. This is olllld money here, and a rather gracious way of life. M enjoyed the working streetcar line, being used not for touristry but for transportation, and I enjoyed the animated conversation the driver was having with a passenger, who was explaining (as much as I could get through the syrup of the accent) all about women and how to handle them. M sneaked his camera out and filmed some of it.

We rode the Algiers ferry across the Mississippi River, and walked quite a bit, and then ended up catching a cab the last few blocks to the hotel.  The driver said it was a short fare but he was sympathetic to "you young people."  Man, I felt old, but was grateful for the cab anyway.

This morning are going to tour the 9th ward - M arranged with a cab driver last night to drive us around for an hour or so, since the idea of driving Dapple through that area really doesn't seem wise.

It rains here.  Understatement.  When we arrived yesterday, I was amused by the rain slickers and umbrellas for sale everywhere, and the shop signs asking you not to bring your wet things inside - but now I understand.  Supposedly it dumps rain every afternoon, but we've caught a storm front and it was dumping when I got up, too. And still is.  You can sit or walk out in it, because it's warm, but it's all very wet and you'll never dry - too much water in the air for any sort of evaporation; you just sort of steam off gently.

It explains why the gardens are so damn beautiful - my impression is that gardening here is a matter of discouraging anything you DON'T want.  I don't recognize much of the local flora, but I did recognize the loquat trees on the street.

I'd have liked to walk the streets of the French Quarter last night and hear some of the music, but it was late when we got back to the hotel from dinner (ribs, and the best red beans and rice I've ever had) so we  just turned in. I think M may have been tuckered out by an hour-long political argument he got into with a wealthy local homeowner - learned some things about local economy and as always, the chance to meet fellow voters of a different stripe is fascinating. Left M muttering darkly about West Coast secession. Not a bad idea.  Many of the places we've been feel foreign enough to require a visa.

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