The City of Honest Corruption

New Orleans.  Charming, dirty, beloved moral cesspool of the South.  It isn't so much immoral as it is amoral.  Sin just doesn't seem sinful, and the black and white absolutes of your ordinary life become a deceiving rainbow of glorious vice.  Sex, gambling, violence, larceny become as natural as breathing.

Jethro and I went there about 2 years ago for a romantic weekend.  I left more tired than I came.  I, like the freakin' girl that I am, made him go on a historical tour with me.  Waste of time.  We kept ducking into bars to get drinks while the guide would go on and on about the difference between cast iron and wrought iron.  Boooooooooring.  I did learn one thing from it though.  Louisianna politicians, and New Orleans politicians in particular, are expected to make money while they are in office.  They are actually expected to get rich.  If they don't, they will have failed in their duty as politicians.  The reasons were complex and I was pretty drunk, but I think it stemmed from the notion that the best way to generate wealth in the city is to have the politicians generate personal wealth from the city.  I really couldn't tell how it was working out for them, but apparantly business-people from other cities have a very difficult time dealing with New Orleans business-people.  They just speak another language in which corruption is expected - and not actually considered corruption.

I won't lie and say we saw everything.  We spent all of our time in the French Quarter soaking up the sin and delighting in the debauchery.  We stayed at the Maison Dupuy.  It was right on the edge of the French Quarter - far enough away from Bourbon Street to be quiet, but close enough that you could walk there in two minutes.  The hotel had gotten mixed reviews from patrons on Travelocity, so I decided we had to stay there.  The bad reviews came from people complaining about how old it was.  One of the good reviews said that they had gotten very drunk and the bellboy helped him up to his room and got him in bed without a muss or fuss.  I thought it sounded perfect, and it was.  Very reasonable rates, and it was charming.  It had a courtyard that was beautiful with a pool and a fountain and garden plants all around. http://www.maisondupuy.com/guestrooms/panoramic.html 

And the eating!  We ate more than we drank and we were stewed almost the entire time.  There is no cooking like Cajun cooking.  Shrimp gumbo, crawfish etouffee, fried alligator, frog legs - we tried everything we possibly could in a 48 hour period. 

We went to bar after bar and ended up in a strip club.  It was the 2nd time we'd been there.  One of the girls eventually came over and started talking to us.  She was so cute and normal - she was talking about how she was going to buy all her Christmas presents at Target.  Then she asked if we wanted a lap dance.  I thought it would be rude not to get one, but I was also pretty sure that it wouldn't do a thing for me.  I also couldn't be sure of how to act while she was doing it.  How do you make yourself appear appreciative, but not lecherous?  Jethro was a beast and didn't help me out at all.  He just sat there smiling, waiting to see what I would do.  I chickened out, of course, and hightailed it out of there.  I'm pretty sure he followed me.  I can't remember now.

I could write on and on about that city.  The history of voodoo and Santeria and the cemeteries and haunted houses are fascinating and I encourage anyone who hasn't been bored enough to read this far to check out some of the histories online: http://www.prairieghosts.com/neworleans.html

Definitely my favorite city in all the world so far.  But I shall keep looking.