We played tourists today around the French Quarter. Scott is a great guy for this. He loves to see things and doesn’t mind taking the reins and making everything happen. I swear he must have a GPS chip embedded in his wrist or something. Today was a home game for the New Orleans Saints and the Philly Eagles. All day we saw locals sporting Fleur De Lys decals on their faces and clothes sipping god-knows-what from outlandish oversized plastic cups. At about 4 it started to clear out and the swelling excitement subsided… for the time being.

We ate at a restaurant of Scott’s choice, K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen in the French Quarter. It was really good and very rich. I remembered the feeling of impending internal rupture from the night before and took it easy this time around. I had a proscuiuto, basil and ricotta cheese stuffed pork chop with fondant potatoes and perfectly steamed veggies. Scott ordered a blackened fillet with the classic mash and vegetable sides done to perfection. To begin, fried rabbit tenderloin with honey mustard reminded me of a chicken tender I had while playing pool the week before. A Gigondas accompanied us through our edible journey through K-Paul’s Kitchen. Half way through we were visited by a 4 man band playing some authentic Creole tunes. Unfortunately, due to a lot of city living my first reaction was annoyance because I did not feel like being asked for money. The restaurant didn’t seem the type to allow that sort of intrusion, but you never know so I listened and tapped my foot quietly while they played.

At the end of the set they thanked us for dining there and explained that the chef put some of his profits back into the community by feeding the men and women who came here to help rebuild the city. That made a very big difference to me.

We took a stroll on Bourbon St after dinner when the last play in the game was made to put the Saints into a close but victorious win. The level of excitement surged like an inebriated buzz with “Who Dat” chanted over and over again. It is some local expression relating to some football thing. I saw some guy earlier that day wearing a shirt with that saying and just thought he was illiterate. I had no idea it was a cultural thing.

I must say that New Orleans is quite the city. The energy is unlike anything I have felt before; I am reminded of Key West with a European flair. The locals are brave, strong folks that have managed to pull through and remain strong in the wake of our nation’s worst natural disaster.

This is one of the great food cities in the U.S. We ate at NOLA. It is owned by the eclectic Emeril, and it shows. The kitchen is open and the decor is very bright and showy with a definite presence, one much like you see on his show.

We started with a Duck Confit pizza and the Gumbo of the day, chicken and Andoulie sausage. Main courses were Shrimp and Grits, cheddar cheese grits with cremini mushrooms, bacon and grilled shrimp dressed with an ancho sauce. We also shared a hickory smoked half duck with haricot verts and cornbread pudding. They had a St. Joseph by Guigal on the list and being that St. Jo is my favorite region in the Rhone Valley we had ourselves a winner. I was a little concerned though because I was stuffed yet still had about a glass of wine left. The bartender kindly reminded me that I was not in Kansas anymore as she took the Riedel glass and poured the contents into a plastic cup. Oh… My… God…

I must say that it was really nice to be able to purchase a beer at one bar and when we decided that it was time for relocation we just left; no need to worry about finishing your beer because you take it with you! We strolled around Bourbon street and watched the drunks in high heels and polo shirts stumble around a street littered with glowing beer mugs and strands of metallic beads. At about 3am it was time to call it quits and return to our camp to rest up for a day of sober, sunlit exploration.

With Nashville behind us we found ourselves in downtown downtown Memphis where he had our last meal in TN. A place called the Rum Boogie Café. Here we had authentic fare, fried green tomatoes, baked chicken and fried catfish washed down with the most perfect Black and Tan I ever had. I noticed that the light fixture that hung from the ceiling was covered with a bunch of tags. Tags are scripts or little blurbs marking the passing of other people like “Johnny was here 2007″. I thought it would be a perfect time to do a tag of our own marking our journey cross country from Ohio to LA.

Our goal is to be in New Orleans by night fall. I am quite excited as I have never been to NO. This will be the first time in a long time that I have been to a city that I have never seen before.

Scott and I left Cleveland with a tearful goodbye preceded by a wonderful dinner the night before with my sister, brother, mother, two best friends and favorite cousins. The event was created and operated by Ma H, the evening was so much fun! Although, there was an eerie theme running through the night.

As soon as Aimie walked into the house she and my mother embraced in a tear soaked hug that made me feel like someone had died. My mother then put on my “Moving Into Light” video on the TV. (Scott gave it to her on DVD) When the DVD stopped the came up with an image of me moving around above my initials. It made me think of a high tech funeral.

Over to one side was a cocktail table with a picture of me that Scott took in Joshua Tree and a small floral arrangement complete with a lit candle. Get the drift?

I joked to my sister later that I felt like we were at my wake. We laughed really hard because it did look that way at that time.

After dinner I turned the TV off and blew out the candle.

The first stop on our trip was Tennessee where we hoped to score a hike in the world’s largest known underground cave system, the Mammoth Caves. A little ill prepared we pulled into the park just as our shuttle bus was leaving; we literally pulled right behind it as I joked that it would be funny if that was actually our bus. Although we did not have our ideal afternoon, we had a great time exploring the grounds and making our own fun. Next time for the caves at Carlsbad we are going to call ahead to get times, locations and schedules.

The last couple of days have been filled with laughter and good memories. I bought Aimie an iPod and spent the day at her house with a friend of ours Kellie, drinking Dortmunder and enjoying an impromptu dinner that I whipped up; sautéed shrimp and Quinoa with sautéed celery, grape tomatoes and celery leaf chiffonade. After dinner I spent an hour filling half of her computer’s memory with my music. After that ordeal and about 3 more beers we thought it time to take some shots for the photo album. And the blog, of course.

Today I picked up Scott from the airport. I took him to a place that Aimie introduced me to called Bar Louie. Tonight they were offering $1 burgers and $2 Great Lakes Beer (Dortmunder!!!!) and I thought I would invite Aimie, Kellie and Ma H for a fun night on me; it would be a cheap date.

I LUHUV Black and Tans so I was salivating to say the least; Black and Tans are Bass or Dortmunder Ale with a top float of Guinness. I thought that because the beers were composed of mostly Great Lakes that it would be 2 bucks, but when the bill came and it was nearly $100! I looked and saw that I was charged the full price of a Black and Tan. Oh well. I’ll know better next time. Anyway, it was money well spent and the burgers were half way decent, too.

I had the best time. I love beer. I love burgers and I love hanging out with these guys.