Nawlin's, Sugah :-)

I'm in New Orleans, in the W again. I like this place!

It's been an interesting trip, starting with Hobby security. I wore my green Nerds shirt today, and a TSA agent asked me, "So, are you a nerd?" She seemed quite taken aback when I said, "Yup!"

"Oh, well, that's okay. Nerds are great people." Um, all right.

I've never seen security held up by so many people in a row. First there was the guy in the wheel chair, but that's not at all outlandish, so we'll pass over him. But, then there was the guy who kept setting off the metal detector. He finally figured out it was his "back brace." At least, that's what he called it. Only, well, it looked for all the world like the unfanciest whale-bone corset on earth. Then the girl in front of me had to get wanded. Turns out she had metal in her weave.

o_O

Apparently I'm getting good at this carry-on only travel. The TSA guy at the end of the metal detector was explaining to Miss Metal-Weave that her toiletries were not up to regulations. He was explaining that she couldn't take what she had and could get more at the shops in the terminal, and just as she asked how they needed to be, my bin came sliding out with my neatly packed quart bag of 3 oz bottles lying on top.

"This, here! This is exactly, this is beautiful, perfect, this is exactly, who's is this?"

I think I made his day. :-P People must be getting this wrong. A lot.

Got to New Orleans without incident. We flew along the coast, so I amused myself by staring at the shoreline. The flight attendant taking drink orders had to tap me on the shoulder, and seemed pleasantly amused by my childish wonder with the view.

I decided to practice being friendly and outgoing to strangers. This is hard for me. But I asked the cabby if I could sit up front with him, and chatted about travel in general, foreign travel, the history in New Orleans, and all sorts of stuff. He asked me if I've ever eaten at Mother's, since it was right across the street from the W. He said it was pretty much the best hole in the wall in town.

So after I settled in, I headed over there. They serve breakfast all day. I like places that serve breakfast all day. Their sign says "World's best baked ham." So I got that with my scrambled eggs and grits. It was sooooo good. But I couldn't finish. So much grits. Best grits I'd ever had, but so many of them. I swear I ate half of them, and you couldn't tell I'd touched them. I highly recommend.

After dinner I walked into the French Quarter to catch my tour. I stopped by the Hardrock to see if they had the guitar pick charms. They don't. Again. I swear, I've been to that store so many times, and they only had it once, before I started collecting, when a friend got one. Maybe I'll just see if I can find one on eBay.

The other guy behind the counter said, "Hey, we have actual guitar picks!" I told him that I had guitar picks already, from the Gibson factory in Memphis.

"But these say Hardrock!"

"GIBSON FACTORY."

"Okay, yeah, that's pretty cool."

So, I caught my tour, it was fun, my feet are killing me. But the tour guide was great, and I really enjoy just wandering around the French Quarter.

My room has a DVD player, so I'm watching X-Files now. After this episode, I should get to bed, since I have that early meeting and all. Back in town and back to the usual tomorrow.

It's been a great afternoon.