What is that old wives’ tale again?  The morning after you’ve been drinking make sure you get on a boat?  That may not be it.  But that’s what we did.  We got up early and wiped the powdered sugar off of our lips after more beignets and coffee.  We headed to our airboat tour…we’re in the Louisianna Bayou…it’s “how we do” here in Lou-see-anna.

Here is some video of our new friend “Claude…”

It’s all our fault that Hurricane Nate seems to be coming our way…we ordered Hurricane after Hurricane at O’Brien’s last night.  We basically asked for this to happen.  Here’s what’s happening:

We have gotten texted alerts all day, and in fact the area where we boated was on “mandatory evacuation” when we left.  New Orleans has declared a State of Emergency which, I assure you, is unrelated to our behavior.  Tropical Storm Nate is in the Gulf and headed toward New Orleans likely to be a Category One hurricane when it makes landfall Saturday evening.  Our flight home is in the early afternoon from here to Tampa.  We’ve talked about several scenarios and as our flight has not yet been cancelled it’s still a possibility we will fly home on schedule.  It’s also a possibility that we’ll get up, look at the forecast, and hop in Sparky II and drive the 9.5 hours home…more with traffic.

The best thing to do in these circumstances is to eat, and the other good thing to do is to make a plan.  Unfortunately we’re better at eating.

Patty and Janey met up with Marcia over at the casino, and Trudi and I joined up after a spell.  We then made our way over to the Steamboat Natchez for our 7:00pm Jazz Boat Ride.

The seven of us talked and laughed as we drifted past downtown New Orleans and the more industrial areas south.  The breeze was cool and steady, and the harvest moon shone brightly.

Marcia found us an amazing restaurant only two blocks away for dinner and four of us ordered what will hereafter be termed “oh my God do you remember the Shrimp and Grits we had in New Orleans?”  OMGDORTSAGWHINO for short.  No seriously.  That gravy.  We mean it.

Marcia delighted us with more stories of her life and her family.  She peppered in a thorough description of how she makes gumbo and shares tales of her mother and her grandsons.  Watching her talk with Patty is a delight.  And watching them hug at the end of the evening felt sad.  Marcia leaves early tomorrow by plane to a gig having flown to New Orleans from Austin, TX to surprise all of us but especially Patty in a remarkably kind and generous gesture that we won’t forget.  And her departure reminds us that our trip is nearing its end.  We miss our families and our homes and our routines but we are closer than ever before.

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