The Selle Journal

Day Three: 

We had an INCREDIBLE day in New Orleans today. We woke up to a hand-squeezed cup of orange juice made by Aunt Michiko as she cooked us up some blueberry pancakes made with brown-rice-flour and some sunny-side up eggs with English muffins and jam. Hundreds of times better than our usual road trip fare of cheerios, granola bars, and water.

After breakfast we saddled up in the Pilot and drove to Bayou Sauvage to see some swamp and alligators. I met some local fisherman (very drunk ones) at a tiny gas station on the edge of the Katrina-wrecked bayou and struck up a conversation. He was a shrimper and had just caught a fresh haul that morning (before getting visibly plastered) so I asked if he'd be willing to part with some. He said that for 35 cents a shrimp he'd give me some. So we followed him back to his Winnebago trailer and giant shrimp tank and he caught me a mess of shrimp with a small fishnet. I passed him a 5 and he gave me back every shrimp in his net, a total of 26. So really he half-priced them for me, telling me to spread the word.

We made our way to the main entrance of Bayou Sauvage, parked, and started down one of the elevated trails. The wooden decking opened up in several places to reveal a broad view of the wetlands and wildlife. I found a lot of maypops (a passion-fruit-like plant that only grows in the south) and persimmons along the path, though neither were ripe enough to eat. We saw a lot of javelina and alligator sign in the mud – footprints, tail drags, and mud wallows – but never actually saw the culprits themselves. We did see a lot of blue herons, white egrets, and ibises all over. As a side note, herons take a much larger dump than one might think. They can lay down 3 or 4 used crawdad meals in a sitting!

We drove back to the Turegano's house and met with Erica's childhood friend Mie and her boyfriend Ben and began a hunt for some alligator meat. We finally found a restaurant that served gator sausage po' boys, where both Erica and I had our very first taste of alligator! The meat itself reminded me of a perfect cross between chicken and fish, though the seasonings and condiments took the overall flavor of that sandwich to heights of ethereal bliss! With the shrimp gumbo to go with it, I was in heaven. In fact, I had a pretty bad headache before eating that food. It had completely vanished by the last bite.

We then moved on to downtown New Orleans. Ben and Mie drove us to where we could pick up a cable car together and go to get some snowballs. A snowball is kind of like a snow cone except the ice is fluffy and light instead of grainy. And the flavors are practically endless. If memory serves, Ben got the mango with condensed milk topping, Mie got the lychee/tigers blood, Erica got the mojito, and I got the pina colada/horchata. Actually, some dude stole Ben's snowball, picking it up so nonchalantly from the stand that no one even questioned his ownership right to it. By the time we realized what happened, he was out of sight, the sneaky bastard. But then they gave Ben a BIGGER one, which was practically a bucket of the friggin' stuff, so it was fine. Also, while we waited for them to make a new batch for him some chick dressed just like Sailor Moon walked passed us on her way to an anime convention. It so happens that both Mie and Erica worshiped Sailor Moon back in the day so they HAD to get a picture with her. What are the chances?

After a good bit of walking in the heat we relaxed in the shade to finish our treats and then pushed on to the French Quarter. What an iconic area! We watched many a jazz band play their hearts out on the street, reminding me of the rich musical history of this place. Ben grabbed Mie and they started to dance on the sidewalk to the delight of everyone around.

I do believe that we walked down almost every street in the French Quarter! We saw many a voodoo and witchcraft shop, haunted building tour, and bar after bar. We walked through a free music festival, the farmers market, Bourbon Street, and finally ended at Cafe Du Monde, where we ate the beignets in New Orleans with some excellent iced coffee. We were pretty damn beat by that time, so we started back to the car.

Before leaving the city, however, we did get to see the classic New Orleans style of cemetery. It was locked but we did get a good look inside the stuccoed walls. Very, very old structures there. A sobering and quieting experience.

We drove home tired but in good spirits. Once again, we were surprised by Aunt Michiko with a PHENOMENAL dinner! After a nourishing salad with almonds and olives in it she served us a unique chicken Thai curry made with kabocha pumpkin, poured over long-grain rice. Satisfying to the core.

We talked for a while and then went swimming in their pool out back. We turned out the lights and enjoyed diving in the water and swimming by the light of the night sky.

We decided earlier that we had to watch some of the home videos from Erica and Mie's childhood. They used to put on very extensive plays in the living room when they were kids and it was all caught on tape. We all had a great time watching them as little kids and hearing the stories from the past. We ended the night just sharing stories before going to sleep.

We woke up the next morning to yet another great breakfast, this time including bacon and backyard-grown-spinach omelettes. Erica and I were very sad to have to leave this place of unlimited hospitality, and will be forever grateful for the kindness and friendship shared with us here. We drove away with the Turegano family waving us off from their front door.

A HUGE thank you to Uncle Mark, Aunt Michiko, Mie, and Ben!!! You guys are the best and we can't wait to return the favor!

-Karl