Day 134 – Monday 11/19/18

Tripometer –  14,795 mi

Gas Gauge –  1152.255 gal

Location – French Quarter RV Park, New Orleans, LA

Lodging – $105

Cans of OFF – 4

When she woke up this morning Kelly took all of 15 minutes to decide that in order to get back to touring this city she needed a back massage. Within a few minutes we had found a place not too far away with same day appointments if we arrived within the next hour. That sounded great and off we went!

Deciding to not return to the trailer, we sought out a lunch venue where Ranger could join us. It seems that Louisiana has some interesting rules about animals in restaurants. As long as the establishment has an outdoor dining location then pets are allowed to transit the main restaurant to get to interior courtyards or balconies. Additionally, even if the outdoor eating location can be completely enclosed during winter months (as many of the lower floor front balconies in the French Quarter restaurants had been) pets are allowed in. We had lunch in the interior courtyard of a cute little French café serving a variety of sandwiches on freshly baked French bread and croissants. During lunch we had quite a bit of time to appreciate the courtyard. During our travels we’ve seen courtyards in a variety of tropical destinations and have always found them to be an enticing architectural element, having the outdoors in the heart of your home has always seemed like a wonderful idea to both of us.

Walking slowly and cautiously along some of the French Quarter shops after we ate lunch, we had an encounter with Eric “Nappy” Williams, a singer and guitarist who worked with B.B. King many years ago. Nappy was interested in writing a song for us based upon our two favorite things about Ranger. We didn’t take him up on his offer and he was off like a shot looking for someone else to compose for. We later googled this fellow and sure enough he checked out. We now really regret not commissioning Nappy to create an Ode to Ranger. As he walked away from us we really wondered if old blues musicians just leak off the balconies in the French Quarter of New Orleans!?!

Shortly thereafter we returned to the trailer and had a mid day nap. Kelly’s back has been greatly rejuvenated by a back massage but as is often the case it also made her tremendously sleepy. We rationalized the nap by saying we would have a better time this evening if we were well rested. Whatever we needed to tell ourselves.

Waking well rested and eager to go, we Ubered into the French Quarter with the intention of finding a balcony to watch the goings on of Bourbon Street on a night when we wouldn’t be crowded out by hoards of people. It wasn’t quite 7pm in the evening so finding a prime seat on a corner balcony was pretty easy. We both ordered a drink and spent a couple of hours watching the comings and goings on New Orleans’ largest sin street. We don’t have anything crazy to report on, but let’s be clear: we had an amazing time watching and commenting to each other on the antics of the largely intoxicated crowd beneath us. By the end of the evening we had made friends with the family on the opposite corner of the intersection and had probably become the object of other people’s people watching. When in New Orleans we highly recommend this as a way of spending an evening.

Special Note: Ranger’s new name. Ranger gets a lot of attention from people, especially young women. We’re not sure if he is actually that different from other golden retrievers we’ve had in the past or if it is merely the fact that we’re walking him through tourist areas where people are a) more relaxed and likely to comment on a dog or b) people are missing their animals at home. Either way, we firmly believe Ranger now understands “Aww” to be his nickname. When driving down the street with his head out the window or walking down the sidewalk, the number of people who address him as “Aww” is significant. He simply responds as if this is his name. If he only knew how pretentious that makes him seem.