New Orleans, Louisiana – May, 2022.

 

After a two-year hiatus, two of my best friends and I traveled down to the land of music and booze for our yearly boy’s trip.  In years past there would be eight to ten of us starting a marathon weekend of martinis, grits, and bar hopping but this year it’s just the three of us.  Mark, Chris, and I.  Last year Mark moved to Los Angeles, and we have missed him so much.  Each time we come we do something cultural with no repeats.  This year we went to the Mardi Gras float museum and seeing these remnants of floats past as well as floats currently being assembled was really something.  My mind kept wondering into the dollars and cents of the whole thing – these are painfully skilled artists, and I can’t even imagine how much a completed float or even components must cost.  A labor of love and extreme patience is all I can take away.  

Mark and my rooms at our hotel open off a large, shared balcony and it was a little strange to see two women and a man sunbathing topless out there yesterday while they smoked cigarettes and drank beer, but I couldn’t understand the language they were speaking, and I guess that’s just their culture.  Poor Chris booked a nice room at the Bourbon Orleans hotel with a private balcony and a loft sleeping area BUT it’s right on the corner of Bourbon and Orleans – I don’t think he’s slept since we arrived.  He had that look of “don’t fuck with me” yesterday morning. I can sleep though anything but a meal.

Now that our weekend is ending it reminds me of another chapter in my life that’s about to close – but I’ll talk about that more in the next couple of weeks.