I love the way your red dress matches your eyes.

This was my third annual New Orleans Red Dress run. I've decided that I want to visit this place at least once a year and so far have also hit Mardi Gras. I had a great weekend, though am still trying to figure out where all my money went. I think someone mugged me and stuffed $60 of Fat Tuesdays receipts into my pocket! I got to hang out with some good friends; AP, Ginger, Little Fin, Pic, Fill Me Up, etc, hit a couple of caches, a few national park stamps. and explore the city. The biggest dislike was the sheer number of people in the pub crawl. There were just too many people involved with probably more than 1500 in attendance. That is jsut a little too much as it gets so crowded that it is very difficult to get a drink. This year someone had an inflatable pool being driving on a trailer in which hashers would jump in on occasion to cool off, however after a while the water had been splashed out. Fortunately a pumper truck from the fire department just happened to be passing down and they actually stopped and filled up the pool!

Getting flipped off the mechanical bull.

"I'm in UR Bourbon Street drinkin' UR daquaris"

Crikey!!

Take me back to New Orleans, And drop me at my door

This weekend I was trying to figure out why it was people seemed to be much more receptive and considerate whenever one travels away from home. I think I've figured out that it isn't just because people outside of our home are so different, it is because we are different. I find that I am a lot more outgoing when I am in a new location because I'm excited and learning about the area, culture, and differences. As such, almost every traveling trip I have done, I have had a stupendous time because of not only the things to do but also the people I meet. This weekend I headed over to New Orleans for their annual Red Dress Run.
As tradition dictates, I did not seem to start packing until about 11 o'clock on Thursday night, even though my flight was at seven o'clock in the morning. Since I did not finish until about 1 a.m., I decided to just drive to the airport and nap there before my flight other than risk falling asleep and not waking up until it was too late in the morning. I had the unfortunate timing of being among the first travelers after the huge "liquid bomb" scare, but my experience was pretty straightforward and they're really seem to be no noticeable delays.

My friend Angela (FillMeUp), who was my host for Mardi Grass, was kind enough to pick me up for the airport since she had the day off. On the way downtown to check into the hotel we did some last-minute shopping and picked up some necessary supplies the weekend. we met several of the hashers from the Ft. Walton area for lunch in the French quarter. I went back to the hotel to crash for awhile so I can get some sleep before the evening partying, and was later able to see a friend, Ina, I met during my last visit. We have kept in touch a bit since March, and even though her youngest daughter is leaving home next weekend for college, she was able to come out and join us for some of the hash events. We all headed over to Tuckers on Magazine Street for the free pre-run party that was a chance for some people to show off their weekend outfits in a fashion show as well as trade any old ones. While there, a wedding party showed up for drinks. After a while, as an act of randowmess, I asked the waitress tell me what they were drinking and bought the bride and groom a drink and presented it to them. I may not believe in karma per se, but I do think such gestures really an make someone's day memorable.

Saturday morning I had to get a relatively early in order to help some friends get together their outfits. Since at sometime I apparently had professed myself as an expert finger painter in kindergarten, I was drafted to get up early Saturday morning and assist some friends in putting together their 'outfit' of liquid latex. This was almost every bit like finger painting including the massive mess and relative skill in getting almost as much of the rubbery substance on me as on the subject. While it took several hours of mixing, painting, drying, and reapplying, I think everyone attending the event would agree that it was an overwhelming success. We headed over to the run start to socialize for a while a good chance to meet with everyone. Our cabdriver thought that we were probably pretty strange until we rounded the corner and saw a group of two to three hundred other runners also wearing red dresses. One thing I like about the New Orleans hash is that they are runners and I certainly was not disappointed at this event with the 4 to 5 mile trail that we did throughout the day. The trail ran through the Riverwalk mall area, with the expected security guard confusion and panic as 400-500 people unexpectedly ran through, as well as several parts of the downtown and French quarter area. The beer stops were certainly plentiful with our stopping at several of the locations that we visited last year along with surprises along the way, including a kiddie pool being pulled on a trailer in which folks could cool off! One of the bars even had a mechanical bull that seemed to be irresistible to many of the group. I was able to stay on a but longer than I would have expected due to a decent amount of skill and luck. Actually I was aided by the fact that I have long legs and was able to hook the edges of my shoes underneath the mechanical bull to help stay on until the operator caught on and threw me off using centrifugal force by spinning me around. We eventually got back to Tucker's for a catered dinner and a bit of partying, and even volleyball, for the rest of the evening. Just by chance, I found out that there was a concert right across the street that one of my Friends was Tampa was attending. one of our hashers knew someone that knew someone, and through some sheer luck I was able to get inside to catch some of the performance by 'Better than Ezra', though I was not able to find my friend in the crowd. After that we headed over to Tucker's and hung out until about 2 a.m. before deciding to call it a night. Since I am almost always the driver/hair holder/voice of reason for my friends in need, it was a good to have someone look out for me since by this point I wasn't in much of a state to do anything, and pretty much passed out as soon as we got back to the hotel room (if not quite well before then, but that's another story that shallt be committed to print).

My Tampa friends had to leave early Sunday since they needed to drive back home, so the rest of the group and I had lunch (having completely passed every establishment's posted breakfast hours) and headed over to Southport Hall to check out a concert. when we got there, the Ft. Walton group decided to head back home since many of them had to work or get on with things done while Angela was starting to get tired and wanted to go home. I decide to hang out and and listen to the bands as I did not have anything else planned that day. I had seen 'Bag of Donuts' at a Lundi Grass performance last year and wanted to get a chance to see them again while I was in town. Pelicanpalooza was a fund raising event for a summer camp for children with respiratory illnesses and head several well-known area cover bands performing. They and the other bands, such as 'The Molly Ringwalds', 'Five Finger Discount', 'The Topcats', and 'Contraflow', put on a great show and had the crowd dancing and chanting for more. Even after 'Contraflow', the last band of the evening (with an amazingly talented lead singer), finished their last planned song there were several people chanting 'one more song' and were delighted when the group unpacked the instruments they just put away and belted out one more number. Impromptu things like this are what make local concerts so memorable! After that was over, I decided to walk back to the Garden District where Angela lived since it was only about 4 miles away, I decided to walk back so I could check out the area a bit more and stop for dinner. After finally getting in I took a quick shower, hit the Bulldog for a beer for traditions sake (since I had done so every time I've been there) and crashed. It was a great weekend and I met so many people and had an absolute blast. It is great to be able to experience so many good time with friends and just be able to meet so many strangers and establish a connection or friendship. I don't think I'll be able to get to New Orleans as often in the future, but hope to make it at least once a year and will probably aim to make it to one of the weekends of Jazz Fest next year.
Kudos to anyone that knows, without using Google, the song from where the lyrics in my subject line originate.

Fine line between surrealism & costume shop closeouts

The day's activities had costumed pub crawl planned. While Katrina themed outfits were the predominate choice, normal costumes such as Dorothy from Oz, a Genie, and even Cartman of South Park were seen. We circled up around 11 in the morning and started the crawl all through the French Quarter hitting numerous pubs, landmarks, and historic sites. With 100+ hashers in attendance, there was never a lack of conversation or want for fun. Out of all the places I have been, New Orlean's liquor laws made the most sense. Instead of outlawing alcohol in public or other restrictive aspects, the law simple prohibited the use of glass containers. Now that actually makes sense and allows for people to mingle and enjoy themselves. At the end of the trail, we had a scrumptious catered meal in a theater that was reserved for our group. A few hashers were kind enough to let some of us crash at the hotel for a bit for a power nap and relaxation so that we could recharge our mental batteries before returning to the fray. We walked around a bit more in the evening as separate groups and enjoyed some of the smaller hole-in-the wall that made New Orleans famous. Hmmm, I'm really starting to like this place!

New Orleans means business and all that jazz

After the RDR in New Orleans in August, I knew I wanted to spend more time in the area and check off one more thing from my list. In religion class my sophomore year of high school, our teacher had us make a list of goals or things we wanted to do, so I tried to tally up all the things I thought would be fun or fulfilling before I died. Since then, I have been so fortunate to be able to check off so many of them such as skydiving, SCUBA diving, traveling out of the country, and even going to the top of the Empire State Building at night. Attending a real Mardi Gras actually on Fat Tuesday was one of those things. The New Orleans Hash House Harriers set up a Mardi Gras weekend, so I knew this was a perfect opportunity to go.

A week before I left, I sent a shout-out to their local email lists to find some kind of lodging arrangements. Within a couple of days, I had several offers from various locals inviting me to crash at their place. Even as a back up, I had a few responses from locals on couchsurfing.com that also welcomed me should my other plans not work out. I was able to stay with Angela (FillMeUp) for the week. I flew over early Friday morning and, having previously downloaded the bus routes before leaving, rode into town on the local routes. My host seemed quite surprised that I was able to travel on my own from the airport on the local bus line having made at least two transfers without any problems. The GPS with the downloaded maps and pre-set waypoints proved to be invaluable in helping me find the most direct routes during my stay. Once I made introductions with my gracious host and the other out-of-towners crashing at her place (PicOfTheLitter and ClapOn), we had breakfast and went shopping for costumes. I picked up some gladiator costume that would be my secondary outfit for when my Afghan Burqa got too hot to wear. Since we were already out and about, FillMeUp drove us to the Ninth Ward area of New Orleans. This was a place where you saw the most devastation due to the levee break. The damage even 6 months later is nearly indescribable. Homes were often laying in the middle of the streets with overturned cars and even houses on top of cars were still an extremely common sight. We stopped and even checked out a couple of the homes up close. The smell of mold was stifling and I nearly feared that I would return home with Black Lung if I lingered too long.

We returned to the house and got dressed up to head to the hotel for hash registration. One aspect I like about away trips is the opportunity to meet so many new people and hang out. After mingling for a while, we circled up and left for the evening pub crawl through the downtown area. We hit three bars or so and got to see a bit of the upper French Quarter. All too soon the evening ended, so we retired back at the house to prepare for another long day.

"Leaving, on a jet plane, Don't know when I'll be back again"

I'll be in New Orleans from Friday morning until Wednesday afternoon for Mardi Gras. I was there a few weeks before Katrina hit, so it'll be interesting to see the contrast. I was last in the city in September for the NOH3 Red Dress Run with several friends and we all decided that we were going back for this event, however one by one they dropped off, so I'm apparently going stag. I'll be there through Fat Tuesday and will return Wednesday afternoon, work Thursday, and then head to Daytona Beach for Bike Week on Friday afternoon. I'll have to leave around 2-3PM so that I can get back in time to get a good seat in the lawn area for the Coldplay concert that evening.

I just started packing tonight for my early flight and even just started to make sleeping arrangements this week. I kind of like the idea of a bit of adventure and not having anything definitive set, though I have several back up plans. I have had 4-5 hashers invite me to stay at their place and even have a few contacts from couchsurfing.com invite me to crash with them. So though I am not certain as to where I'll be staying, I'll at least be a bit protected from the elements and have a place to charge my camera and maybe, hopefully, get a shower. To me, it just all adds to the adventure and to the stories down the road. I hope to visit the D-Day Museum on Wednesday before I head back to home, but don't have any other plans in particular while I am there except for the Mardi Gras Madness hash Fri-Sun. I'll try to update the blog when I return, but I'll have a lot to do, so I may not get to it.

Have a safe week friends, I'll have a Hand Grenade in your memory.