What Happens in New Orleans.....

....usually stays in New Orleans. However, if you are out partying with me, there is a high likelihood that your adventures get posted on my website! So, here is the recap of my decadent weekend in New Orleans.

It was about time Ms. Kung-Fu and I had a girls weekend away, and what better place to go than our favorite New Orleans. And, what better weekend than the surprise birthday party for "The Governor". I arrived late Friday and within minutes was perched at d.b.a. with Ms. Kung-Fu and the gang. My Polaroid picture was taken on arrival, to add to the hundred of other Polaroids taken throughout the weekend by the Governor himself. d.b.a was a new bar for us, located on Frenchmen Street away in the Quarter. Everyone was about 10 drinks up on me since they hit the bars at 3:00pm. But, thanks to the Chimay's ordered by Ms. Kung-Fu, I was well on my way. Here we are at the beginning of the evening:

Our next stop was Pat O'Briens in the Quarter. Actually, the girls were on a mission to find a helicopter and thought with the many drunken college-aged men, this would be THE place. For those of you that don't know what a helicopter is, well...that is probably for the best. Seeing a party 0f women walking down the street yelling, "Helicopter!" is not a pretty sight. We did meet some men who rudely joined our table at Pat O's and who we thought were potential helicopter fliers. In the end, they provided a lot of amusement, but no helicopters. Here are the random pictures taken by numerous people throughout the evening, including Ms. Kung-Fu's Kevin Federline look-alike:

Saturday was spent mainly indoors and away from the rain falling in the French Quarter. Ms. Kung-Fu and I went to Sacs and Banana Republic while others in the group braved the storm. We all met up for dinner at Oliver's Creole, a favorite restaurant of several people in the group. Actually, we were a little buzzed before arriving at dinner because of the adult happy hour we discovered at Liborio Cuban Restaurant. The Brazilian bartender made us caparinhas and mojitos and let us in on the secret ingredients. I wonder what I will be serving at the next party???

We then made our way to Ryan's Irish Pub on Decatur while Ms. Kung-Fu and I worked to convince the group to go see Big Al. I thought it was appropriate to buy Robin Leach a T-shirt from Ryan's Pub.

I have mentioned Big Al Carson numerous times on this blog. Why? Because he is simply the best blues singer in all of New Orleans. I discovered him through Roger Hayes and we keep going back for more. You can find him most nights at the Funky Pirate singing songs such as "Sittin at the Dock of the Bay" and "Mustang Sally" as well as a few of his own. Put it simply, Big Al is a must see attraction! And besides, The Funky Pirate offers all sorts of unusual drinks such as the Hand Grenade and the Shark Attack (featured in the pic below):

Big Al welcomed our birthday group, and we even got to pose for a picture with him on stage. As I recall, Big Al commented during the picture, "I think there is a boobie on my hand." I'll leave Ms. Kung-Fu to explain that one. The group seemed to love the place and by the end of the night we were all dancing. And, we all seemed to acquire pirate souvenirs throughout the night. I left with eye patch and sword in hand and wondered how the heck I was going to get that through airport security!

It was a great weekend in New Orleans, though I was there for only 48 hrs. I got to meet new friends, go to some new places, and most importantly, embarrass some people with these pictures! Speaking of pictures, I always like to have the picture of the night/weekend as the final thought. I don't know what this pirate is doing in this picture or what prompted this face. But, I can't help but love this final pic.