Doug felt the need to get away from all the killing and take a break. After the accident with the children at his last target he needed to refocus. New Orleans was a place he believed would be the perfect stop as he passed through the states. There is so much history there that it kept drawing him in like a vacuum. Every year the world famous “Mardi Gras’’ is held there. He found that Mardi Gras means fat Tuesday in French. It is a week-long celebration with floats and people dressed in all kinds of bizarre costumes and wear beads around their necks as they March down the famous Bourbon Street of the French Quarter. The people on the moving floats throw beads of necklaces to the screaming crowds along the street. The French Quarter is known for its nightlife and its Bourbon street bars. They have one of the world’s best collections of Jazz and Zydeco music artists. It is where some of the world’s best musical artists perform and the Essence Music Festival is held there every year as well. That celebration is three days of unparalleled music and fun. There are huge plantations with large old luxury homes and there are tons of stories about witchcraft and ghosts in New Orleans. (1)
Doug set up his motor home in an RV Park just outside of town and tried to relax for a little while before he made his way into town. He knew he had to try some of the Cajun food he had heard about for years and maybe even try a taste of alligator meat. He wasn’t crazy about spicy food but figured he would give it a try. After he was all settled in he decided he would eat at the grand dame of New Orleans’ old line restaurant, Galatore’s. It is a five star restaurant with a long history of over one hundred years and they serve authentic French Creole cuisine. (1) Doug tried the alligator as an appetizer but thought it tasted a lot like chicken but just a little tougher to chew. He enjoyed the dinner then headed to a few of the bars to check out the music. All the bars on Bourbon Street had live music and he sat and listened for a while at each one until he got tired and retired for the evening.
The next day he took a guided tour into the deep swampland and took a few pictures of alligators and the famous swamp rats, (the nutria). They were originally introduced into Louisiana as a potential food source but that didn’t work out because they looked too much like rats and people didn’t want to eat them. They ended up using them for their fur for coats. (1) The swamp reminded Doug of some of the movies he had seen with the moss hanging from the tree and a slight fog coming off the water. He thought it was a little creepy but he really enjoyed being there.
When he got back into town he took a tour of one of the supposedly haunted cemeteries and thought it was very unusual how they bury the people in the tombs on top of each other. The Katrina Hurricane of 2005 destroyed a lot of the graves and tons of homes from flooding in New Orleans. They were still recuperating from the devastation.
He thought about staying another day and taking a tour of one of the great tobacco plantations with its slave quarters and huge mansion but he began getting a little anxious to travel on to his next target in Texas. The longer he stayed at the resort areas the more restless he became.
* * *
Chapter 28 - Texas