Off to work I go...

Well, sorta. I'm going to be going on a trip for five days starting tomorrow at 5 AM, where I will network and present a paper at the Ethnobiology meetings in New Orleans. It should be fun, but I'm at the point I always get facing any trip where I really don't want to go. And its been a while since I traveled solo. Well, as long as I don't feel humiliated by the quality of my paper compared to the others, and don't get myself attacked by anyone/thing that'll be good. Low expectations are the way to go when traveling.

Time to finish packing and catch a bit o' sleep.

Touristing I go

I start conferencing tomorrow. I got here a day early to get some touristing in and get settled, etc. I hope I have the street cars figured right to get to Tulane. Ah, that may be an adventure.

The place I'm staying, India House is eccentric, to say the least (but this was not unexpected). I'm staying in a little outbuilding that reminds me a great deal of a kid's fort. Uff da, now the kids fort adjacent to mine has inhabitants, and the fact that the walls are made of plywood is really um, obvious. I seriously hope they keep their activities quiet. It does have electricity though. And wifi. And a little koi pond in front of the outbuilding. Scary shared bathrooms and fellow guests though.

I went to Cochon for lunch today. I sat at the kitchen seat and chatted with one of the cooks. It was fun, and the food was quite good. The service was attentive, if a bit amateurish. The ambiance was trendy, but comfortable. I had the crawfish pie, which was basically a spicy rice/crawfish stew in a pastry shell. Almost too spicy for the delicate flavor of the crawfish, but quite good. They gave me a complementary small plate of head cheese, with toast points and dijon mustard. I'd never had head cheese before and that was good as well, like some blend between terrine and pate. And I had the cochon, which was fascinating. All the parts of the dish (except the cracklins for garnish) were necessary, the pulled pork, the pickled turnips and cabbage all played with each other very well. I had a pecan ale from a micro brewery in Mississippi which was good (though my server was unable to give me any details about the beers when I ordered). My only complaint was the salt level was a bit high in all the dishes, I felt that they tended towards the unsubtle in the flavorings. All in all, maybe not worth the price I paid, but quite good and I'd go there again, but perhaps order a sandwich instead.

I went to an art museum, took a bunch of pictures, wandered around, ate beignet at Cafe du Monde (ugh, I always think fried bread is a good idea, and it rarely is), and now my feet hurt. I don't really like being a tourist. I'd rather have something interesting to do, instead of just looking at stuff. But that said, it was a good day.

Oh, and a comment on the people. I've been called baby (by many people), sweet pea, and blondie all in one day. I don't know how many more diminutive nominatives given to me by strangers I can stand. Its making me feel like a crabby northerner for sure.