One Thing About New Orleans

I'm only going to tell you one thing about New Orleans and then I'm done for today.

I may be back tomorrow to tell you more.  Maybe I'll show up next week with another tidbit of New Orleans lore but, well, you never know.  I may be dead by then.  

I may be dead an hour from now.  Fate hangs heavy in the New Orleans air tonight.  I feel like I have a brick on my chest and I'm not laying down.  How's that for suspense?

New Orleans is a cornucopia of surprises.  It overflows.  There is more to New Orleans than hookers and getting sloppily drunk in public.  If that were all New Orleans is about, nothing would get done.  Who would make the gumbo?

That said, everything in New Orleans moves at a snail's pace compared to other big cities.  LA is not L.A.  New Orleans has a lot in common with New York City, but being fast-paced isn't one of them.  Far from it.  

People from NYC say, "I'm a New Yorker."  People from Chicago never say they are a Chicagoan; they say, "I'm from Chicago."  I've never heard someone from Los Angeles call themselves and Angeleno; instead, they say, "I live in Los Angeles."

Ask someone who lives in New Orleans and they'll tell you we are all New Orleanians, in it together.  When you Visit New Orleans you should be an Orleaneaut.

BACK TO THE ONE THING ABOUT NEW ORLEANS THAT I'M GOING TO TELL YOU:

Last year, I was walking in the back of City Park and an alligator was lying on tree trunk that had fallen in the water.  The next day, he was there.  The next day, he was there.  The next day he was there.  He was in the exact same position every day.  It must have been comfortable.  New Orleans is like that.

It's hard to tell how New Orleans moves.  Maybe it never moves at all, or, maybe, it dances most of the time and only resumes its position when you are there.  It's hard to tell.

The explanation is too long and complicated to get into it here.  I'm only going to tell you one thing about New Orleans today.

Everything you know is wrong.   

Even the Mayor of New Orleans doesn't have a good handle on what is going on in this wonderful city we call home.  She knows as much as the next schlub.  New Orleans is a kaleidoscope of a city.  New Orleans can make you dizzy.

Here is what you need to know-----  Ready?

It's going to seem anticlimactic, but here it is-----Are you ready?

THIS IS THE ONE THING ABOUT NEW ORLEANS THAT I'M FINALLY GOING TO TELL YOU:

The one thing about New Orleans that you need to know is that it is different from anywhere else in the world.

"So what?" you say.  "Every city is unique.  I could say the same thing about Wewoka, Oklahoma or Arkalyk, Kostanay."  You're right, of course.

The difference between Wewoka and Arkalyk, and any other city, town or hamlet and New Orleans is that New Orleans has a certain penumbra about it.  When you walk around in New Orleans you'll have sparkles in your eyes.  You'll see.

People have started calling Venice the New Orleans of Italy, and Paris the New Orleans of France, and Bangkok the New Orleans of Thailand.  New Orleans compares well to any other place on the land or under the sea.

New Orleans has the home field advantage.  New Orleans is a smidge more closer to Heaven.

The biggest river in North America runs through New Orleans.  Our city is uniquely magical beyond description.  There is something ineffable about New Orleans.  It's not just the breeze off the Mississippi River.  It's everything.

You'll feel it as soon as you step off the plane, or, if you are driving, as soon as you enter New Orleans city limits.  

Get deep inside the border.  New Orleans is calling you.

When it's time for you to finally visit New Orleans, you should stay at this blog's sponsor:  La Belle Esplanade. 

Our five-suite B&B hotel has been ranked the #1 place to stay in New Orleans on TripAdvisor since April 2014.  All those reviews can't be wrong.

Go to La Belle's website and see what New Orleans adventures are waiting for you.  If there is one thing you need to know, it's this:  New Orleans is different in all the best ways.  We look forward to sharing our part of New Orleans with you.