Mardi Gras Day Two - Arrival

Oh, let me insert conversation here I had with the hotel in New Orleans. As we were not going to make our check in, I called them to let them know that we still did plan on staying at the hotel (which was already paid for) we would just be late. I was told by the gentleman on the phone that if we didn't check in by 4am our reservations would be lost. And I said, yes, that's why I was calling to let him know that we weren't going to make it. Additionally, he kept on asking me when I would be checking in tomorrow as if I didn't check in at 4am, our reservation would be lost. Finally, I got it through his head that we were not going to make it by 4am. So, he tells me, well, the only thing he could do was flag our reservation so it wouldn't get cancelled. Well, shoot me now, please do so. That is what I wanted. Goodness.
So, the plan was that the alarm would be set relatively early so B could get up and shower and then she'd wake us up. So, what happens? The alarm goes off. P shuts it off and tells B that she should just shower when we get to New Orleans. So, what happens? We almost miss the shuttle we were originally going to go on. (They come every half hour). B's internal clocks wakes her up and we quickly get ready to go. As we don't have baggage, this doesn't take too long. However, as we get down there, the shuttle the shows up is this teeny tiny shuttle that fits 5 - and there are a ton of us waiting. So, the airport crew gets to go first while the rest of us passengers grumble. However, the hotel is on the ball and they make sure another shuttle arrives quickly for the rest of us. We board the shuttle. Now, if you have never flown on American Airline to Dallas, you won't know this, but you cannot just say that your airline is American Airline. You need to know the terminal. So, the whole entire bus is full of people saying they are flying on American and none of us know which terminal we are going to. So, last night, I had confirmed out departing flight and I was even informed about what kind of plane I would be flying in, however, it was a completely different menu to actually figure out which terminal you were departing from. Go figure, right? So, I get back on the phone and go through the damn automated system. And just as I'm told that I'm terminal A and I yell it out, the bus rides right past our gate. *Sigh* Talk about Karma. Really. Call your FATHER! So, the bus driver ends up having to drive around the airport 3 times to drop everyone off. I think he was a bit irritated. We manage to get on the flight and arrive in New Orleans. Yay.
We get to the terminal and go to baggage claim - and of course - our bags are not there. Now, answer me this. If we aren't allowed to pick up our bags, don't you think you could get our bags to New Orleans on time? Just as I am about to go all lawyerly on the Airline's booty, we go to the claims department and they had our bags there. Apparently, our bags managed to arrive on an earlier flight, but we were not allowed to go on that flight....Whatever. Count your blessings, right? So, we catch a shuttle to the hotel and low and behold we are allowed to check in and actually get a proper shower and clean clothes on.
We get changed and meet up with T, who claims he's wandering around New Orleans, like a bum. We eat at La Bayou restaurant on Bourbon Street. Our first taste of Cajon/Creole food in New Orleans and quick catch up with everyone. Then we start wandering around Bourbon. Now, this was the day before Mardi Gras, but beads were already hitting our heads like rain. Now, here's the problem. If you did not look up, beads were liable to hit you in the head or face or some other precious body part. However, if you did look up as you were walking, you were liable to get more beads thrown at you by the eager beavers that morning. Flashing was already going on. We walked along and started getting snobby about the beads. We wouldn't want them if they were plain old beads. T did some pushups and dancing for some unique beads and other toys. And we just shopped around. Quite pleasant actually. We bought masks and drinks and wandered.
Then we went home for a nap. That was lovely. Then the girls hooched it out with security detail T. We headed back to Bourbon and ate at Red Fish Grill (??). And then headed to Fat Catz to party. Now, we did not know this is probably one of the shadiest clubs we will ever encounter this trip. Great music. But the flashing, girls making out, etc with the cameras going...that was interesting. But, all good. That means we could dance without too much attention on us. So, we partyed it up there and then decidedc to hit some gay clubs instead. Now, that was nice. The music wasn't that great, but the men were definitely GREAT EYE CANDY. Now, being the three girls that we were with one male escort, P managed to get hit on by the one poor straight man in gay club. Did he know where he wandered? And the pick up line, you might ask? "Aren't you glad that Slumdogs won?" WOW. Anyways, we danced there for awhile and then headed back to Fat Catz to see what was going on there. Nothing really, actually. The girls had left the stage, a lot of drunk, shady guys left. A fight had broken out in the club. So, we decided to call it a night and go home.

Mardi Gras Day One - Snafus

So, I am just back from Mardi Gras 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana. So, let me start at the beginning. I went with my girlfriends, P & B and our security detail T. On Sunday, we all headed to the airport. Our flight, on American Airlines, was to leave around noon to Dallas and then onto New Orleans. P arrived first and checked in - noticing that our flight was delayed 2 hours. However, we still would make our connecting flight. Then I met up with P and tried to check myself in as well. Well, that didn't work as - there was an error. However, minor set back. The agent checked me in. I totally forgot that we have to pay to put our bags on the plane now. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper at the $15.00 fee. Anyways, so we headed to the terminal to wait. We called B to let her know she could be late as our flight was delayed. About an hour waiting, B calls us to let us know that she got a call from the airlines telling us our flight was now delayed another 2 hours and now we wouldn't miss our connecting flight to New Orleans, however, we were booked on a later flight to New Orleans. Fine then. So, B arrives anyways to the airport and we sit and wait. Now, as I am new to blogger, you don't know that P had to tell a small white lie to her dad that she was at a conference instead of going to Mardi Gras. So, all the blame went to her. KARMA! We spent the whole wait time telling her she should call her dad and fess up so we would make our flights. Anyways, after a 6 hour delay, we finally get on board the plane and head to Dallas. How exciting.
Plane ride was dull. Sleeping or watching movies. Nothing to fantastic. When we got off, we all flooded to get out hotel vouchers. Which, as it's American Airlines, they didn't have enough hotel vouchers for all the people they delayed. Which, by the way, we were told the flight was delayed because they needed to install something need in the landing gear and it was done wrong the first time which caused the first 3 hour delay. The second 3 hour delays was because they needed to fix what they had done wrong. I say, you should have brought out another plane or fire someone. T took a different flight, so he was there already partying it up. Anywho, we managed to wrangle a voucher and headed over to the shuttle to go to the hotel .Of course, we were all trying to check in at once, so the line took forever. Then, since we weren't allowed to get our bags, we asked for toothbrushes and toothpaste, which they didn't have. I wear contacts. I went to the store to see if they had contact solution. Lemme tell you something - the store in the hotel sold the normal items you would see - T-Shirts, medications, condoms, etc. But no contact solution! However, if you needed a stapler or post-it's - they had those in stock! Being the person I am, I did have a pair of extra contacts in my purse, so I was saved. We checked in, managed to get a few hours of sleep in our dirty clothes and got up to to catch the earliest flight the next morning.