BCoF's Virtual 50 State Bucket List

Day 18 New Orleans

         Ah, New Orleans, is this not The Big Easy? It certainly is a teeming place with throngs of people. It has its own flair that's for sure.

         The guided evening tour is quite entertaining and colourful. The stories stretch belief, but satisfy that human need for the bizarre, the spooky, the unbelievable.

         It may have been my hyper-vigilant suspicion, but we seemed to huddle 'round our guide as if we dreaded losing him. Or did we just hang on our guide's every word afraid to miss something, a warning, a gory detail, a scintillating snippet? More than once someone stepped on his toes, or bumped too closely. I'm the Canadian and I wasn't the only one muttering sorry on repeat. The stories heightened our senses and one misstep could've been too frightening. Our hearts pounded and every noise screamed watch out. This is a city with atmosphere.

         I cannot assert that voodoo is a thing where I reside, but I could be mistaken. Fear of the unknown overshadows common sense. Who wants a curse hanging over them?

         Now, the refurbished LaLaurie House proved to be fascinating. Well, it's supposed dark history of torture and abuse spoke volumes. If true, some people suffered atrocities at that site. Incomprehensible, or do I mean inconceivable? On a side note, one of my sister's is named Laurie. Not a particularly frightening name. She was a biter as a child though.

         Would spirits linger to haunt a newer version of Madam LaLaurie's mansion? According to local lore, yes. I cannot deny that I shivered here. Ah, the power of the mind.

         I found the New Orleans pharmacy a fascinating structure. The bottles of concoctions displayed on numerous floor to ceiling shelves boggled my mind. Who knows, but eye of newt could have been there. It serves to illustrate that desperate people seeking cures or relief will try almost anything.

         We let our hair down and partied at The Spotted Cat Music Club. While I am not that old, I could describe our carousing as cutting a rug. Who can resist the jazz and blues sweetening the air? The grin on Lyn's a Witchy Woman 's perspiring face said it all.