Day 3 - New Orleans in December

It was dark by the time we made it into New Orleans and parked. Since I have Seasonal Affective Depression, I reminded myself that the days were getting longer again, since the date was now several days past the Winter Solstice. The city lights were bright in the distance, and since it had rained, sidewalks and streets glistened, giving the Crescent City a magical appearance. I'm sure winter is less of a tourist season there, so there was less activity than I remembered during my other trips. It seemed quieter to me.

Some of the group went to a local restaurant near the Market, which was not open. Jazz music filtered in from outside. While we waited for our table, cell phone calls came in, and we asked for more tables. A few minutes later, several staff members from Hilltop Rescue arrived and joined us for dinner.

One volunteer ordered an appetizer of alligator tail. It arrived cubed, fried in a spicy batter. When he shared it with everybody else, I took a piece and tried it. Remarkably, it did not taste "like chicken," it tasted like alligator tail. There wasn't any meat I could think of to match that taste to, although the texture reminded me of shark.

After dinners ranging from jambalaya to grilled shrimp were served, we headed to Cafe du Monde to round out this trip with coffee and beignets. On our way into the cafe, somebody recognized Mayor Nagin, who was on his way out. He was gone before anybody really would've had a chance to talk with him.

After we finished getting a sugar and caffeine buzz that would last well into the morning, we returned to Hilltop Rescue. I didn't go to bed until I had finished drying my laundry load, at about 1:30 in the morning.