Time to Brag About my Vacation – 1/27/23 Friday Blog

Introduction

There’s a story behind this newsletter. When my iPhone broke, I had forgotten to upload this blog to my computer. I found a way to get it back though. This was supposed to be sent out last Friday, but of course I had to take care of my phone situation. Its been a week without using my iPhone and I already feel better. I got myself a prepaid flip phone to test it out, Verizon has the same $20 phone but for $80, which is pretty ridiculous. I’ll be paying off my iPhone for another 8 months just to get its screen fixed, I had to save all the data I thought I’d backed up, so I got it fixed but I don’t use it anymore because I’m switching to either an Android or a flip phone. Anyway, lets get into this newsletter. BTW: a huge thank you for all the comments last week! Let’s get some more this week, I really respect it when I hear from y’all. I feel like y’all see this vision, so thank you.

The Beginning

When I tell you I’m blessed, I truly mean it. So I bought these tickets on a whim because they were cheap (Spirit airlines, of course), and I had planned to go on vacation way back in July. The time approached for me to go on this trip, so I had asked my friend Angel to meet up with me because she lives in the South and I was going to New Orleans. I personally cannot wait until I can upload all these pictures to my computer from my digital camera. Let’s talk about how I do my vacations. I do them very impulsively at the worst timing, of course. In fact, I had originally purchased these tickets to New Orleans to go during hurricane season in August. I had to change the date of the trip to this week and I’m so thankful because I got to experience tropical weather in January with a life long friend. So after I impulsively buy Spirit airfare, I block out 8 hours of my day and tell everyone I’m busy so I can spend all that time typing an itinerary. Angel and I discussed this concept; the different types of vacationers. There’s the over-planner who goes ahead and make all the reservations; kayaking, dinner, sight seeing, ect…then there’s  the over sleeper, the one who is protective over their relaxation time and will be non apologetic about sleeping through alarms. Finally, there’s the go with the flow vacationer that takes everything at ease. Angel is definitely prospecting, if you’ve ever taken the 16 personality quiz then you’d know exactly what I mean. Now I’m the type of vacationer who likes to come prepared, but likes to go with the flow of the group I’m in.

So, I typed out this 26 page document with ghost stories, vampire stories, all the sights to see, all the shops to go to, all the restaurants ect… We’ve been going with the flow for this trip, but we know where to go when we want to do something because I did all this research. I ended up giving one of my copies of this document that I’d printed out to some dude I met at the airport who said he was interested in going to New Orleans. I had given it to him because I knew he would appreciate it, and I made him promise to me to never throw it out. He said he wouldn’t and that he cherishes little things like this. I saw the kindness in his eyes, so I  believe him. I wouldn’t be upset if he threw it away, I just wanted him to have a cool life experience with my work. 

About a week before my trip, I got a notice saying that my flight was delayed by 12 hours or something crazy. They had me going on a connect flight to Atlanta with a super long layover, then to New Orleans after. I said hell no to that, then looked up alternatives (free of charge surprisingly). The best alternative, believe it or not, was to go to Las Vegas Nevada with a 3 hour layover, then fly out to Louisiana at arrive closer to 8 or 9 PM. Although this option was also sucky, at least I got a few extra hours in the city and I was able to get everywhere safely. Can’t expect much when you fly with Spirit of course, but thank God it wasn’t Southwest. Anyway, I ended up reading almost all of The Catcher in the Rye… I have about 20 pages left that I’m saving for tomorrow’s coffee on the porch. I like the Catcher in the Rye, it’s based in my favorite city: New York. Basically, if you know the feeling of wanting to buy something because you think it would make you feel better, even though it ends up making you feel even more depressed, then you keep doing it again and again expecting your mood to get better… then you already know the story of the Catcher and the Rye. This novel nailed down that indescribable mood of trying to find someone to confide in, but rejecting the hands that feed you. It’s indescribable because we can’t really say why we reject the things that we know deep in our hearts will lift our mood. Maybe because the most important things are the hardest to do and say. If they mean so much to us, and we fear rejection, then we stray away from these important things. Now I’m being all philosophical, it’s just something that happens to me when you read a really good book. I love critical thinking, and I love talking about books. In fact, when I was in this crazy Las Vegas airport with the slot machines (trust me, I don’t touch those things), I called some friends to pass the time and we talked about the Catcher and the Rye. In fact, I had called the person who let me borrow this book, he said he doesn’t remember it, so I’m most likely going to force him to read it.

All these little details about my day, they are the best parts of the story, it really expresses the mood of how I’m feeling. I plan to go to a book shop downtown and pick up a book by Anne Rice, preferably used. She’s the one that writes all those vampire books, specifically Interview with the Vampire which is based in Louisiana. Before coming to New Orleans, I forced myself to practically eat and digest this one book called Spirits of New Orleans by Kala Ambrose. Not this is the ultimate tour guild book; not only is it written by a New Orleans local, but it has some spooky psychic ghost stories in it too. I don’t think I believe in ghosts completely, I think they are demons honestly; Demons that like to deceive people into thinking they are our loved ones. Or perhaps God allows the veil to thin for those who need closure, and the lives that have passed are able to seep through once again to give us one final dance. That’s what I like to think ghosts are. 
So I board this flight, and the flight attendant is hilarious. The person sitting next to me was getting all anxious that I was giggling so much to myself, I mean If I were him I’d understand completely. I probably looked like I was crazy, but it was a combination of this flight attendant and the wit of the book I was reading that just killed me. I took down quotes from the flight attendant over the loud speaker, she said these things:

“Now ‘free’ is a dirty word that we don’t use much here at Spirit…”

“Sign up for our credit card to get 65.000 extra free miles, so you can get a vacation and send your in laws far far away”

“You can go somewhere international like Aruba, Cuba, Iceland… or you can still go somewhere exotic with our domestic flights, like Milwaukee or Cleveland.” 

“Now shut those blinds, close your eyes and sleep…. Sleep…. Just go to sleep…”

God, she was hilarious. I told her that too, she said she didn’t think anyone was listening, then I got all proud and said “I’m always listening”. So both flights landed safely, but let me tell you, when I touched down in Louisiana I felt an electric shock that went to my heart. I told Angel over the phone that the feeling was similar to looking into the eyes of someone you love. It wasn’t butterflies in the stomach, it was a deep admiration that one can only feel in the heart. I don’t want to go as far as saying that the feeling reflects God’s light, but it’s sure damn close. I have this opinion that you can bond with a city if you relate enough to it’s personality. Angel’s opinion on this is that she bonds to communities of people rather than cities themselves. I appreciate both perspectives, it is a blessing to be in a city that you feel connected with while being part of a loving community within that same city. Sure, you can love a city enough, but if you’re all alone then what’s to love about anything? That’s just my take, of course everyone is different. I just think as human beings, it’s essential to have a community… even if it’s only one person, even if it’s online, or even if they are incredibly different from you. One can argue that Angel and I are incredibly different to each other, and it’s true. If you knew us growing up, you’d definitely bat an eye at the thought that we’d be vacationing together. It doesn’t matter that we’re different in terms of our interests, our life paths and our experiences. What matters is that we‘ll walk in God’s light together for eternity. We are able to lift each other higher, no crab mentality here. We see each other for who we truly are, God’s perfect creations.

If it wasn’t for Angel, I don’t know what sort of head space I’d be in to be completely honest. She’s been able to pull me out of some shit mentalities through her wisdom. The fact that she’s open about her life and experiences and is an active listener  is the most healing type of friendship, something that is a gift I will never take for granted. Bonus points that my step mom and her dad were friends in high school. Our paths collided in the most perfect way. Now we get to enjoy this vacation together, and she gets to keep my crazy 26 page document about New Orleans. I can’t wait until I upload these pictures… they’re all gold. It will be in next weeks photo blog. 

Something that Angel said that really stuck with me was about joy. Joy isn’t like happiness, it’s not a feeling, it’s a choice. We chose joy when we open ourselves up to the light. In Christianity joy is described as “a perpetual gladness of the heart that comes from knowing, experiencing, and trusting Jesus”. I don’t mean to come off as all preachy with this, I truly want to speak what’s on my mind and in my heart. I felt like a great concept to take away from this is that hate is so easy, it’s slippery like oil, it seeps into your heart and fills your life with dread in all aspects. Hate is easy, but hate is a choice just as joy is. Joy is in fact harder to choose because it takes a lot of faith to trust that everything is meant to unravel the way it’s supposed to unravel. I read this book called Smilla’s Sense of Snow. In the book, Føjl asked Smilla if we got to choose what happens in our life. Smilla said that we can chose the details, but the biggest things are circumstantial. This is why I think details are so important, no matter how insignificant they may seem. You have to understand that the vague outlines of our stories can describe anyone’s experience, but the details are only unique to you. 
Off topic, but something I regret sending out in my newsletter is  when I said that you should make every decision for yourself, or something along the lines of that. When I re-read it, I cringe because of the way I worded it. I meant to express that when it comes to making decisions, do not make a decision that goes against your gut feeling. I feel better clarifying my intention.

Landing in Louisiana

When I got to Angel’s car when she picked me up from the airport, I was so elated. I have not seen this girl for nearly 2 years, but of course it felt like it had been only yesterday that I went over her family’s place for Christmas Eve. Her family has always been so kind to me, more than kind in fact, I’ve always felt like I was part of her family when I was with them. It’s such a warm feeling, I am so thankful. I am typing this now at 2:22 AM, I want to savor every detail of this trip before I forget. 
She told me she was waiting to check into the air bnb once I arrived into town, so she chose- out of ALL the restaurants in Louisiana- to go to an Apple Bees. I roasted her so hard for this, but she roasted me for my Subway infatuation so it’s only fair game. So we get to the Airbnb and I kid you not, it was a literal scavenger hunt to find the key… I appreciate the hostess for being descriptive about it, but if she were to be vague I’m sure we’d be less confused, but we did find the key.

Criminally Insane Coffee

The place is super cute inside, it has a coffee machine which I accidentally left on all day, coffee does indeed evaporate. Guys- be sure to check to make sure your appliances are off when you leave the house. Nothing bad happened, but my coffee just evaporated. Angel wasn’t too fond of my insanely strong coffee, I think my taste buds are just shot. I put 4 scoops of grounded beans in with about 8 ounces of hot water. If you know anything about a Mr. Coffee machine, you’d know that this is criminally insane. Anyway, I got all jittery and proceeded to brag to my family that I was enjoying this incredibly pungent coffee outside by a goddamn palm tree under the  sun on a Thursday morning. Everybody says they hate the cold usually, unless you’re like me- a contrarian. I personally can’t live without the winter time- I would practically go criminally insane like my coffee.

I crave constant change, the wintertime stabilizes my life. I personally crave the feeling of opening a window and inviting the cold into my home. It’s that contrast which I am crazy about, when you feel the cold creep down your spine while the warmth of your home promises to hold you. When I was in high school, I’d deal with my worst anxiety by opening a window in the winter time and enduring the chill which my body naturally rejects. In the worst of it, I’d hold onto ice cubes. This isn’t difficult for me to talk about, in fact holding ice cubes is a really good healthy way to deal with anxiety. Sure your family might question the hell out of you, just be sure to replenish the ice tray.. or if you’re boujie and own a working ice dispenser, then kudos to you. If your working ice dispenser offers you crushed ice, then you better invite me over. 

Let’s get into more pretty little details about this trip. Our first day was insane, I felt like we actually did everything I wanted to do… honestly all I want to do is spend time with Angel, it’s so rare that we see each other. My friends mean the world to me, I don’t know where I’d be without them. I definitely wouldn’t be sharing my incredibly intolerable coffee on a beautiful sunny day if it wasn’t for Angel. I almost wasn’t going to go on this trip. From working my ass off, I set some money to the side to pay for a couple of meals. I’m budgeting hard on this trip – spreadsheet style. It is a goal of mine to buy these items: post cards so I can mail them to family and friends, I bought my dad another tacky T-Shirt that says something along the line of “someone who really loves me went to New Orleans and bought me this t-shirt”. I’m most likely going to mail it with a post card to my dad tomorrow. Typically, I get him the tacky dad shirt for his birthday or for Father’s Day. Both of those things are in the summer and I can’t wait that long for him to wear it. 
Our first activity after coffee was waking to the French Quarter to enjoy an all you can eat Jazz Brunch Buffet at Court of Two Sisters. Now let me tell you some lore from my 26 page New Orleans document;

“Jazz Brunch at the court of Two Sisters restaurant is the perfect respite from an evening spent on Bourbon Street, and its strolling jazz trio lifts the heart. Waiting for you at the entrance are Charm Gates, given to the two sisters by Queen Isabella of Spain in 1832. These gates are blessed with magic and are reported to be lucky. It is believed that the real purpose of these gates is to help people find true love. Bananas Foster is a must have for desert.”

I did not touch these gates personally, I think if you’re asking for something, you’ll receive the reciprocal of both good and evil. I did admire its beauty… I also thought it was funny that this Queen Isabella of Spain was giving out iron casted gates. Perhaps it’s a catholic thing. 
So we sat down at the restaurant for brunch and we’re greeted by a friendly wait staff who gave me really good recommendations. If there’s one thing I absolutely love, it would be other people’s favorite things. The jazz trio played intermittently throughout our meal, and the saxophonist sure did look like princess Diana. When Angel went up to tip her, she told her this and our princess said that she gets that all the time… imagine, being called a Princess Diana all the time… I remember intentionally trying my best to stuff myself and get the most value out of this all you can eat buffet. I only stuffed my face with two small plates, but I was proud that I was able to eat at least that much. I used to eat a good three meals a day, I’m slowly getting that back with good healthy habits. It’s ok to not have an appetite, but it definitely sucks without one. it just means that your body is trying to tell you something. It doesn’t want to eat for a reason, so it’s important that you constantly try to search within yourself (not Reddit) for that reason. Through time, If you’re actively working on this, I promise you that your appetite will come back tenfold. Be patient with yourself, you have to also be your own mother when it comes to eating. You have to force that food in you, even if you physically cannot. More hunger leads to more stress which leads to less appetite. You can take my advice or leave it, this is just what personally works for me. I hope this helps you if you struggle with this. Some people stress eat because they want to feel something. I don’t struggle with this in particular, I’ve only learned about this through second hand experience. 
After the jazz brunch, we walked through the shops and met the owner’s nephew of a renowned restaurant in town. Angel said that we should tell him that he looks like Gabe from Good Luck Charlie, and we did. He told us that he got that all the time, and I thought to myself “wow, Angel is really good with faces.” I’m better with names than faces, personally. He also gave us some great recommendations. Another kind soul. 

Cemeteries & the Swamp Castle

After that restaurant, we made a decision to take the car and drive it up to Canal and Park St- apparently this is a spiritual crossroad for the realms of the living and the dead. You should really look this place up on a map… it’s surrounded by 13 cemeteries and monuments to honor the dead. Of course I took pictures, but it’s important to be respectful. These cemeteries are still active believe it or not, New Orleans can be such a small town sometimes and you can see that the bloodline of these families are still alive; they still come to honor their dead. I find the death industry to be fascinating, but I don’t like the way most Americans are scammed into buying a small mortgage for their death planning. That’s a conversation for a different time. We did not see Nicolas Cage’s beautiful pyramid tomb yet… but that man is riddled all over the town. Did you know that man owned the horrible LaLaurie torture mansion during 2007 but got cursed and had to put it back on the market in 2008? Maybe that was bad timing because of the recession, but I do believe that place is a hell hole and I refuse to even pass by it. 
We walked through St. Louis Cemetery #2- home to do many interesting people, reading about their lives gives you a perspective to how beautiful people can be.

To read somebody’s complete life story and to see all that they accomplished; doesn’t that inspire you? The capabilities of human passion, endurance and imagination – they once shared the same flesh that we wear today. Our flesh which now grips to our bones and carries our souls will one day be dust. This is not meant to be cynical, it’s simply the miraculous process of life. We are a speck of dust in a timeline of eternity. What truly matters to you enough to occupy this short amount of precious time? Think about it. When I get mad over small things, I like to think of the timeline of eternity. Do these small things truly matter to me, or is it all part of something bigger? Cemeteries always leave me with all these questions. 

It’s currently 3:33 AM. I am noticing these numbers naturally rather than keeping track of time. I will not be satisfied until I’ve documented all these important little memories. Memories that will forever exist on a timeline of eternity. That’s why I love art- it’s the artist and all of the things that matter to them being held in a medium of expression. Even if nobody reads these blogs, I’m satisfied knowing that my essence is being captured through my very words somewhere. Maybe these words will resonate with somebody, but that is a bonus to me. 

After the cemetery, we took a trip way out to the middle of the Irish Bayou. I have an account on this great website called Atlas Obscura where people post their spots. These aren’t too touristy, for they are simply just diamonds in the rough. For example, we visited this place called the Fisherman’s Castle. This place was constructed to withstand any storm, it survived both Katrina and Isaac. Here’s a passage from Atlas Onscura: 

“Constructed in 1981 by Simon Villemarette for the World’s Fair, the tiny castle is composed of two bedrooms and one and a half baths. It was decorated with medieval decor at one point complete with knights, statues, and swords among other ancient-inspired adornments.
After multiple sales and repairs, the current use for the castle is unclear. Rumors of a bed and breakfast have circulated for years, however, visitors today will only be greeted by private property signs.”

We snapped some corny pictures of us admiring this castle from a distance. I live for moments like this. Humans are so peculiar, we place significance on the stupidest of things. We then went to the swamp and took a walk on this trail with a wooden walkway which was elevated from the marsh beneath us. I saw a lot of rabbits just minding their own business, staring at us all cool like it was normal to be that close to a human. We discussed an important philosophy, where the fuck was Shrek based?? I assumed England because of his accent and lord Farquad and all that, but Angel was literally like “Shrek is not based anywhere, it’s fictional.” That killed me. 

After that, we drove by the Mississippi River and admired the giant Folgers coffee factory which smelled boldly of the criminally insane coffee I’d made that morning. We also pointed out that NASA was along the River as well. As we drove over a turnpike, I got a perfect view of the end of the Mississippi- the port that leads to the Gulf of Mexico. I was taken aback by the vastness of the sea. We saw some real interesting things like parked Maddie Gras floats along the way, we pulled over to snap a quick picture then continued on the road to the fancy downtown WallGreens with the big neon signs. Angel said she felt comforted by this Walgreens or some shit, but I completely understood. There were two Walgreens across the street from each other. This reminded us that in our home town, we had two Kroger’s directly across the street from each other. When the smaller Kroger died, the community held a candle light vigil for it with a men’s choir and everything. Of course I was there, I loved the living hell out of that Kroger and all of its employees. I didn’t cry, I swear. 

Fancy Dinner Time

Once we got back to the Air Bnb, we prepared for our fancy dinner reservations at the Commanders Palace. I brought the black dress which I bought for my birth week. Angel brought her emerald green velvet dress from our high school winter formal dance. We swapped dresses and both looked so cute. I felt so honored to wear Angel’s dress with my coyote teeth necklace. 

The Commander’s Palace restaurant was something else, something I’ve never experienced before. It was a real fine dining experience. I know practically nothing about fine dining, but the staff was as friendly as ever. We got a talented wait staff consisting of the three characters – Julio, the waiter with excellent taste, Adam, the bartender who kept coming over to talk to us who brought grounded and entertaining conversation, and Justin, the funny waiter who posed with us for a picture and likes to listen to Sade. I was gonna mail  that picture of all of us to the restaurant. Angel made me laugh so hard because we were literally talking about poop jokes in a fancy 5 star restaurant. I’d ordered this crazy meal, it was a pork stuffed Quail with gumbo and a desert of strawberry shortcake. I have leftovers for breakfast and lunch tomorrow….  It’s 4:09AM. I’ve been typing for two hours. 

After our meal, we were treated to free stuff, compliments of Julio. Julio even gave us a special
Tour of all the private fancy rooms like the garden room that overlooks the patio with palm trees. It has this beautiful green carpet. In fact, Julio said that last year he’d been hung over from Marco gras early in the morning at work, and the restaurant had just changed the brown carpet in the garden room to the green carpet it has now. Julio entered the Garden Room and was like “why is everything so green” because the light from the windows reflected the palm trees as illuminated the new green carpet. He said that made him want to puke. I am so glad he told us this, it truly made my day. 

And that’s where the story ends for today. Hopefully I can sleep.