It’s sort of surreal, being in New Orleans in the middle of an evacuation. Most of the local businesses are closed, and you see the streets nearly empty. Windows are boarded up everywhere you look. There’s this strange sense of STILLNESS.
Except, of course, at the gay epicenter of the French Quarter… The area around Bourbon & St. Ann is still fairly busy, though nowhere near as much as yesterday. Clearly the hotel evacuation has taken its toll.
Even the interactions with people are noticably different. The first thing strangers ask you is where you’re from, followed immediately by, “When are you evacuating?” Seriously… Everybody wants to know how and when you’re escaping the storm.
All things considered, though, we’ve had a great day. Last night we met some friends of Jonathan’s, and today we hung out with them for awhile. We also met random people at a number of different bars, and even picked up some girls (including drag kings) on the street. On the STREET, yo!
The Florida connection is in full swing, too… We’ve randomly run into at least a dozen people at bars from Florida, mostly from Orlando. It’s a small world, indeed. I even met a couple of guys from UF in Gainesville, including one guy who’s from Cocoa Beach! He went to Cocoa Beach High, though he graduated in ’05 instead of my ’95.
We’ve had such a phenomenal time, making a dozen new friends in a short few hours. It helps that both Sal and I are very outgoing, and have no problem talking to random strangers. The day certainly flew past!
Some things to celebrate about today… I finally got my beignet, and my jambalaya. Didn’t get my jazz, but there’s always next time. And of course, I still need to go stalk Shirley Q Liquor, since she cancelled the shows and evacuated this morning.
Anyway, it’s ten o’clock at night, and we’re figuring out the plan for the evening. We need to get to the airport, but it may take a long time to get there… Mandatory evacuations for the entire city begin in the morning, so the highways are likely to be crazy tonight! But then, better tonight than tomorow morning when we’re frantically trying to make our flight.
Stay tuned — and if you’re reading this before Monday morning, wish us luck!
