After 22 years I was finally back in New Orleans, and, visiting my best friend, and teen travel partner.
I had decided to try an airline that uses open seating for the first time, and nearly missed the plane despite arriving 2 hours early and sitting right next to the departure gate. The airline was running 2 hours late, they told me the plane was delayed, and wouldn't be leaving until 4:20, but of course, something changed and it arrived on time and I missed the call, but was lucky enough to ask... I was the last one on the plane, but because I was alone I ended up sitting in the front (3rd row aisle... perfect).
I rarely check my bag, but once again changing my normal patterns I did because I didn't want to schlep it around. I was off the plane early, and hit the baggage claim. It wasn't too long before I saw my bag and felt pretty good about how it was all coming together so easily. We drove out to Donovan and Mimi's new home. I opened up my suitcase to get the gifts I had bought and found out... I HAD THE WRONG BAG!! Luckily Dono found some id with a phone number I recognized as East Bay (510!!), and we called the owner who had not yet noticed, because, SHE was in BATON ROUGE, (about an hour away, and had only just arrived for a family reunion, (she was from Oakland). We jumped in the car and headed off, arrived at our destination, and when we pulled up I saw the girl I had ridden next to from SFO in a car in the parking lot. I was really surprised so I knocked on her window thinking that she was the person that had my suitcase, and scared the living bediddle out of her (a caterer who was ROCKING the catering world. She had just spent two weeks doing NY, Oakland, and Vegas, and was in Baton Rouge for a family reunion too!). Anyway, they thought Dono was a cop (he was wearing a fireman tshirt from his hall and it had a badge on it..),and they were smoking some stanky bud .... it was hilarious. After they got over the fright of thinking Dono was a cop, and they might be headed to a Southern jail we all had a great laugh ... they WERE stoned! However, she did NOT have my suitcase it was just a weird thing that she was in the parking lot.... the girl that did have it, met us, and we exchanged bags, a few laughs and addresses. She had not even opened my bag.
I had decided to try an airline that uses open seating for the first time, and nearly missed the plane despite arriving 2 hours early and sitting right next to the departure gate. The airline was running 2 hours late, they told me the plane was delayed, and wouldn't be leaving until 4:20, but of course, something changed and it arrived on time and I missed the call, but was lucky enough to ask... I was the last one on the plane, but because I was alone I ended up sitting in the front (3rd row aisle... perfect).
I rarely check my bag, but once again changing my normal patterns I did because I didn't want to schlep it around. I was off the plane early, and hit the baggage claim. It wasn't too long before I saw my bag and felt pretty good about how it was all coming together so easily. We drove out to Donovan and Mimi's new home. I opened up my suitcase to get the gifts I had bought and found out... I HAD THE WRONG BAG!! Luckily Dono found some id with a phone number I recognized as East Bay (510!!), and we called the owner who had not yet noticed, because, SHE was in BATON ROUGE, (about an hour away, and had only just arrived for a family reunion, (she was from Oakland). We jumped in the car and headed off, arrived at our destination, and when we pulled up I saw the girl I had ridden next to from SFO in a car in the parking lot. I was really surprised so I knocked on her window thinking that she was the person that had my suitcase, and scared the living bediddle out of her (a caterer who was ROCKING the catering world. She had just spent two weeks doing NY, Oakland, and Vegas, and was in Baton Rouge for a family reunion too!). Anyway, they thought Dono was a cop (he was wearing a fireman tshirt from his hall and it had a badge on it..),and they were smoking some stanky bud .... it was hilarious. After they got over the fright of thinking Dono was a cop, and they might be headed to a Southern jail we all had a great laugh ... they WERE stoned! However, she did NOT have my suitcase it was just a weird thing that she was in the parking lot.... the girl that did have it, met us, and we exchanged bags, a few laughs and addresses. She had not even opened my bag.
Saturday we strolled the Quarter, traded memories, and that night we had an incredible meal at Donovan's friend Issac Toups new bistro Toup's Meatery.
Sunday, the 15th we headed to the cruise ship and boarded without incident. While waiting for the luggage I fell asleep & Lil went to find the rest of the family and check out their rooms. I woke to the PA and went out on the balcony to view the river. While standing there I saw a dead body floating, of course no one else in our party had seen it, and after the luggage incident everyone was convinced I had lost, or was quickly losing, my mind!
In Freeport we joined a big group and headed to the beach for swimming fun and drinking games in the saltiest water I have ever encountered. I became aware of this as a young man on a surf board paddled by and casually asked if we were from the cruise ship, and, had anyone seen a body in the river just before we departed, because he had.... I nearly drowned trying to say I did! The disbelief was still apparent in my friend's faces and (maybe a bit of concern that what was wrong with my brain might be contagious). Mimi made a big deal about me being a singer and, encouraged, I sang 3 songs to the ever increasing approval of a drunk and salty crowd.
We became quite popular on the ship as the laughing lady and the martini lady... the lisalil had landed.
Returning to NOLA at dawn I watched as the city lit the way along the curves of the Mississippi. We googled the news for the 15th of June, 2014 and there had indeed been the body of a young man that had jumped from the Cresent City Bridge pulled from the river.
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