TR-March 21st-26th

We left Chicago on the City of New Orleans train on the 21st. Within 5 minutes of being on the CONO line, we were attacked by a rude lady that threaten to call the cops on us because we wrote on the reserved signs. We didn%26#39;t know that they would save your seat with a green piece of paper and after freaking out on us, she freaked out on an older lady. Basically the staff were jerks, all of the staff. The train ride was long, but kind of cool. It is cheaper to fly/drive, so I wouldn%26#39;t recommend taking the train from Chicago to New Orleans.

Arrived in NOLA on the 22nd at 3:30 PM and went straight to a show on Esplande, which was awesome. We then grabbed our belongings and checked into our hotel ';The Ambassador';. The Ambassador was a great location and we got a good rate, but they tried to screw us over and we were smart enough to print up the rates they offered us. The rate quoted was $44 a night, but when we got there they tried to say it was $74 a night (this is without tax and the $7.95 fee). But, they still made us pay the $74 for the first night because they ';couldn%26#39;t change the computer';, so we%26#39;re going to report them to BBB.

After getting ready at the hotel, we went out to dinner at Acme, which was awesome and inexpensive. After Acme, we did the tourist thing and spent the night on Bourbon Street. Bourbon street was horrible, we decided to name it ';amateur street'; because it was full of idiots who cannot hold their liquor, but we decided to try some bars out anyways. There were a couple of girls that looked like they were going to be abducted by some jerks, but everyone walking around was looking out for them, which was good. We went to Funky Pirate for blues, which was good, but the Hurricane was HORRIBLE. Then we went and hung outside of Fritzel%26#39;s to finish our drinks, the music was also awesome. We went down to Cat%26#39;s Meow for karaoke. Cat%26#39;s Meow was the worst bar experience of my entire life! I love karaoke and they had a horrible selection and the beer was overpriced. After two of us sang songs, we got out of that place ASAP and bought $3 beers off some crackhead looking guy in a cubby hole. We saw there was bull riding at Bourbon Cowboy, so we decided to check it out. Even though we all wanted to do it, the bull mechanic was a complete PERVERT and the girls that were riding the bull were too drunk/ignorant to realize he was moving the bull so their boobs would shake. Since our group was 5 girls from Chicago, we were able to get rid of all the moronic guys who tried to pick us up. One of us even explained to the girls what he was doing and told him off for being a pervert, while he considers himself a professional. We left this bar as well and drank on the street some more. By 4:30 am we were sick of the place and decided to go to Cafe Du Monde for Beignets, which were awesome, then we walked back to our hotel at 5 am. We felt very safe walking around NOLA and we were never once approached by anyone.

On the 23rd we started the day off by going to the lower 9th ward, which was something everyone should see. I feel like the devastation of the Katrina hit home in a much different way by actually driving though and seeing people rebuilding, as well as all the destruction still left behind. We came back to the hotel to meet up with the ones who didn%26#39;t go to lower 9th and walked to the St. Charles St. Car. We rode the streetcar until Carrollton, then we got off and walked back to Louisiana Ave to get a better look at all of the houses. We took the St. Car back to the hotel to rest a little before dinner. For dinner we went to Gumbo Shop, which had good gumbo, but everything else was just ok. We went and got a Hand Grenade, which was pretty good (much better than the hurricane). We then bought 40 oz beers for $2 at a grocery store on Royal and drank on the corner of Royal/Pirates Alley and people watched. We met Tom Turner here, a local guy with a fishing pool and had a few laughs with him. This was very cool for us because we%26#39;re not allowed to drink outside in Chicago and we were able to really people watch and once again, we didn%26#39;t feel unsafe at all. We walked back to the hotel around midnight, again feeling completely safe. Then we visited the Casino with $20 each and left about an hour later with $16 between us all.

-More to come-

p.s. the trip gets much better as we got more insight from locals we met

TR-March 21st-26th

Thanks for your report! Can%26#39;t wait to hear about the ';good'; experiences! ;)

TR-March 21st-26th

Certainly, your trip gets better. Sorry you expected more from Bourbon Street. It is what it is........

Sorry to hear you got off to a rough start. Looking forward to reading the better days. :)

Awaiting the next installment...I don%26#39;t like the Ambassador as thats typical of the stories I%26#39;ve heard over the years as well as extremely poorly insulated rooms for noise etc. etc.

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