New Orleans Baby!

So here is a recap of our trip to New Orleans,and our interview to become innkeepers at a B&B...

We left early on Sunday morning,trying to get out on the first flight out of O'Hare,which was going to be on American Airlines...I had not flown standby on American for a long time,but we were treated like kings!

When we checked in,they gave us seats right away (my company would never do that,they would make you sweat it out,not knowing if you would get on until the last minute....) and when we got to the gate,the agent paged us,to make sure we were happy with our seats!.....

The flight was very pleasant,until we were a few minutes from landing,and we hit an airpocket,and went everywhere,and poor Vincent shrieked like a little boy!....so sweet!....

When we got on the ground,we smelled the New Orleans air...and smiled...we felt like we just got home...

We took a cab to the hotel,a small cheap B&B in the French Quarter,basically a bed and a bathroom,but it was clean,and a great location,so who cares!

We went for a stroll in the wonderful French Quarter,stopping at Lafitte,a wonderful bar,where I had my usual Abita beer,and Vincent was enjoying his favorite Chartreuse....

We then strolled to the Marigny, listened to some jazz at "Maison" on Frenchman's street,and then had a lovely dinner at Marigny Bistro...

Our interview was not until Tuesday,so on Monday we got up early,had coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde,then hopped on the streetcar and went over to the Garden District,walked along Magazine street,had a lovely lunch at Ignatius,and then meandered back to the hotel for a nap,and then went back to the Marigny,found a wonderful gay "hole in the wall" bar,with wonderful people,sat and drank and really enjoyed our evening.

On our way back to the hotel,we stopped at a small grocery store,bought two shrimp po boys and fell asleep.

The next day was our interview....

We walked over to the B&B,met up with Amy and her aunt Lisa.We were shown the property,which consists of about six free standing Creole cottages,beautifully furnished,surrounded by lush gardens.

Amy and Lisa and two other partners were in the middle of renovations,and renaming the B&B,and it will officially open in October.

We sat down and talked,laughed and really got along with all.After the interview,they told us they would be in touch,as they were still interviewing other people.

As we still had a couple of hours before our flight,they told us we could leave our bags in the B&B,as we were going to have lunch in the French Quarter,so that was nice.

After about 45minutes,as we were finishing our lunch,Vincent's phone rang,and it was Lisa.Could we please meet with her in The French Quarter,as she needed to talk to us......Oh dear we thought...maybe they had gone through our bags...found some weird stuff,or who knows what!

We of course agreed to meet....and we met up with Lisa in a bar...we sat down and she said:

"We absolutely loved you guys...we are not going to play games here....We would like for you to come down in August for two weeks,work along us...and if we all still click,we would be offered a contract!..."

Oooooh...Aaaah......We loved it!...These people so cool,laid back,but extremely hard workers,who said that they were going with their gut feeling...they loved us!...and we totally loved them...

So are going back probably the last two weeks of August,give it a try for two weeks....and then hopefully move to New Orleans full time!....

I will give more details soon...but Vincent and I are super excited!...and no...we are not going into this without any thought...we are still determining if it is feasible financially,how I could remain at my present company (something Amy and Lisa want me to do,they do not mind at all if I fly a couple of trips here and there....) but we are going to go for two weeks,to try it out!

Yeah us!.....