by Liana Li Evans on January 26, 2012
I got to play "Tour Guide Barbie"
The past couple of days haven’t really been all that chock full of excitement. Well perhaps a little bit, in that I met a very delightful woman from the UK, Bath to be specific. (Bath is an exquisitely beautiful city BTW) I met Annie at the Bourbon Oh! on Sunday night, she’d just come off of a cruise and was looking for some authentic Jazz and also other interesting “not on the map” type of things to do.
I guess you start to become a local when you agree to be a tour guide? LOL
So after hanging with Annie on Sunday night she asked Mikey and I if we were coming back to the quarter and if she could take us both to dinner. We set to meet on Monday and to take her over to Frenchman Street for some real Jazz. Not that the places on Bourbon are all that bad, its just there’s a bit more to pick from on Frenchman than anywhere else.
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by Liana Li Evans on January 19, 2012
I LOVE BBQ.
Some of the patrons and paintings at Squeal
OK there I’ve said it, I’ve admitted it. Along with Mojitos, French Onion Soup, and Mac & Cheese, it’s another essential food group of mine that I try to get to try in new places. There’s a lot of different types of BBQ out there and I tend to not care for “Carolina” style BBQ which is more vinegar based and lean towards the more tomatoe based sauces.
My first couple of days here, my housemate and best bud Mikey and I were driving around trying to locate grocery stores, walmarts, hardware stores and other essential places here in the Uptown New Orleans area. While driving around we drove past Squeal on Oak Street….. and oh my, the smell coming from that BBQ stoker was just amazing! It would be about 2 weeks until we actually got to eat here, but it would taunt me for days as I drove by it often.
Finally We Get to Try Squeal
So the day after the Saints loss to the 49ers, things around here in New Orleans seemed to get pretty quiet and to be honest I was still sulking a bit that my team wouldn’t be going forward. The Giants though, they at least were kicking butt – but it wasn’t enough to keep me from trying Squeal on Sunday night (lucky for us they had a big screen TV though).
One of the Cool Tables at Squeal
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by Liana Li Evans on January 18, 2012
Dem 49ers Beat Dem Saints! 
It takes a few days for me to get over the let down of my teams loosing in the playoffs. It’s a real downer to be so excited about the possibility of getting to the big game, and to have it just suddenly end. It was like this for me in October when my Phillies (who had the best record in baseball this past year) went down in a huge ball of flames.
The Defense Needed to Step Up
From the beginning I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be a cakewalk like the Detroit Lions game was. San Francisco’s defense is kick ass. I knew if the Saints were going to pull this off they couldn’t just rely on Drew Brees’ arm, the defense would without a doubt need to step it up a notch. In the beginning, I wasn’t so sure they could pull it off, San Fran was just marching all over the field.
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by Liana Li Evans on January 14, 2012
Pardi Gras 2012!
After meeting a few of the folks who came in early for Pardi Gras on Wednesday night, they really piqued my curiosity. While I’m not a die-hard fan of Jimmy’s music, I do enjoy that style of music and appreciate the relaxing mood it helps to put me in. These folks were truly here for a fun time, complete with funky hats (flamingos & sharks!), pirate outfits and lots of pink beads!
Pardi Gras Kicks Off with a Parrot Head Parade
I took a look at the Pardi Gras website and Facebook page and got the lowdown on all the festivities happening this weekend in the French Quarter. I decided to head into the quarter for the parade, yep, a “parrot head” parade! Apparently earlier in the year you could pay a fee to be one of the riders on the floats, so a few of the folks I met on Wednesday were actually there on the floats …. and sure enough tossing beads my way.
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by Liana Li Evans on January 13, 2012
Josanne Francis playing the steel pan for Rhythm & Rain
After hitting a few of the spots on the bar crawl for Del on Wednesday I noticed my favorite band in the French Quarter was playing at Tropical Isle. So I took a quick run up to TI to see what was going on…. decked out in my Pirate gear. I walked in and the first thing I noticed is that the guys had an addition to their normal line up – a steel drum/pan player.
One of my favorite instruments in “Island” type music is the steel pans. I’ve been fascinated by its sound for years. It’s just something about that sound that can immediately transport me to white sand beaches and crystal blue waters. Josanne Francis who’s from Trinidad, is a very talented steel pan player and was an awesome addition for the evening to Rhythm & Rain Trio. She added that beautiful sound into the Trio’s regular songs and gave them a whole new “island” flair. What a treat!
Pardi What? Oh! Pardi Gras
I seem to learn something new every day living here in New Orleans. Wednesday night I learned about Pardi Gras. What’s Pardi Gras you ask? Well its when a whole lot of Jimmy Buffet fans come together for a few days in New Orleans each year and then set off on a cruise.
Pardi Gras Folks at Tropical Isle
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by Liana Li Evans on January 13, 2012
"Del" came along for the bar crawl!
Last weekend my good pal Del passed away. Losing Del was a shock and has left a huge void in both the Steampunk and Pirate groups here in Nawlins. I have to hand it to my friend Cher and give her a giant “Thank You” round of applause though for doing all she can for Del’s partner Beth and for both of these communities who were so saddened by Del’s passing.
As the locals do in this city, we all came together on Wednesday night to honor Del in a way we all know he’d love. A bar crawl was organized starting at Turtle Bay, who provided some of their fabulous pizza, and then visiting some of Del’s most favorite “watering holes”. Someone even brought “Del” … a very clever likeness… along for the ride. Friends from all over the city and beyond (Tina & Lonnie came in from Alabama and Meghan flew in from New Jersey) came to pay their respects to Del and it was a lot of fun.
For anyone who knew Del and would like to donate to his memorial fund or even leave a message of condolence, check out his memorial page on NOLA Wenches. There is going to be a more formal celebration of Del’s life on March 3rd 2012, the NOLA Wenches page will have those details too.
by Liana Li Evans on January 13, 2012
Good Food & Fun at the Mexican Pot Luck
There’s a crew of folks that gets together every other Tuesday for a rotating Pot Luck dinner. I got to go to one back in December before I moved here at my friends’ Andy (who, like me, is originally from PA too!) and Danielle’s. It was a lot of fun and a bunch of good food!
At this particular pot luck we found out that it was a “roving” pot luck between people in the Marigny and the French Quarter…. a little sad because I’m up in uptown, so for this particular group, I won’t be able to host one.
Regardless – it’s still fun to go to, so when my good friend Renee said “I’m hosting the next one – you need to make your dip!” I was all for it because I knew I’d be a “local” then and could really make my dip better than I did the last time. So Mexican pot luck was set for the day after the craziness of that very disappointing LSU game. We all needed a bit of a pick me up after that loss.
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by Liana Li Evans on January 13, 2012
LSU vs. Alabama for BCS Championship
The last week here in New Orleans has been quite a hectic week, try as I might to find time to post this week, it really wasn’t happening. So be prepared for a few posts a today and tomorrow to catch y’all up on the life of a Nubee in New Orleans.
This post though is all about the craziness in the city around the BCS Championship game that took place at the Superdome: LSU vs. Alabama.
Still Figuring Out the Best Way to Get Around
Trying to master the mass transit system in New Orleans, in particularly the St. Charles street car line, has proven to be an interesting challenge. When I first got here to Nawlins 2 weeks ago today, the page that displayed the times the street car picks up wasn’t working right. Then I find out the line isn’t running like it normally should all the way up Carrollton Avenue. So to be sure of what was going on I called the RTA to get the low down on exactly what’s up with the St. Charles line.
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by Liana Li Evans on January 8, 2012
I’ve got to favorite football teams. I’ve been an avid and loyal Philadelphia Eagles fan all my life, but over the last 4-5 years I’ve come to love the New Orleans Saints too. That all started after Katrina – to see them come back like this city has come back – how can you not like them? Drew Brees is a stand up guy too, and an amazing quarterback to boot.
This year my birdz stunk up the entire season. I’ve been saying Andy Reid needs to go for a few years now, but Jeffrey Lurie has other ideas. Oh well, at least the New Orleans Saints have got it together. 
Next year though the Eagles play the Saints here in New Orleans …. this gal is getting tickets for that game!
Attempting to Ride the Street Car Again
New Orleans Street Car
The plan was to catch the street car at 8th and St. Charles and take it into the French Quarter and then head into Tropical Isle and Finnegan’s Easy for the evening. However as I’ve been learning, my plans don’t really go accordingly especially when it comes to the street car because everyone else has the same idea. We got to the street car stop and got in line behind a bunch of other folks waiting on the street car to arrive …. some of those people were Alabama Tide fans (boooo!).
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by Liana Li Evans on January 8, 2012
My Good Pal Del - Rest in Peace
There’s one thing I wasn’t prepared for when I came to New Orleans, probably none of us are ever prepared for it, and that thing is death. Yesterday I lost a good friend who put a whole lot of laughter into my life and with whom I was really looking forward to getting into the Mardi Gras spirit with.
After a wonderful night of fun waiting for the Phunny Phorty Phellows & Pirating with the Maritime Heritage Foundation on 12th Night I got a call on Saturday morning that my good friend Del had passed away in his sleep. Shock, disbelief and utter sadness was all I could feel for a few hours. How could this be, just last night he was planning for all the upcoming Mardi Gras fun?! He was telling me about how much I was going to enjoy Mardi Gras from a locals’ point of view.
Del was a very special person in my life. Without him, I would not be here in New Orleans, period. He was the catalyst that brought me here and for that I’m forever grateful. Del and Beth soon became very good friends over the past three years and now, there is going to be a huge void that will be really hard to replace.
Del was kind, gracious and most of all giving. He came up with the greatest costumes and made some of the coolest steampunk things I’ve seen. He even piqued my curiosity into the whole genre of Steampunk.
I’m thankful that at Thanksgiving, I got the opportunity to thank him personally for being the catalyst to bring me to New Orleans. I wish I had thanked him for so much more.
Rest in Peace Buddy…. This Nubee is going to miss you terribly.
