Thursday, September 3, 2009

Spinning Like the Last Broomstick-skirted Hippie at the Grateful Dead Show

Okay, I’ve gotten to the semi-basket case stage of planning my trip to New Orleans. And at this point, I’m going to have to just admit that it’s me, not everybody else, when it comes to manic-depressive travel planning. I’m about to spin into a bi-polar wreck in the next two weeks. What to pack?* Is my wardrobe nice enough that I won’t be thrown out of the lobby of my hotel? (It’s appears to be a nicer hotel than I’m used to, thank you, off-peak travel, and I’m not sure my usual rags are up to snuff. I'm afraid I'll be mistakend for a vagrant.) How’s the weather? Any rotten old hurricanes threatening? Umbrella? Hat? Jacket? Parka? Though my trip to DC reconfirmed my long-held conviction that you can never pack too much underwear. It’s moldy in New Orleans. Zyrtec? AllergenBlock? Benadryl? Tamiflu? Face mask? Iron lung? And to laptop or not to laptop? How many notebooks? What if I pack 3 in anticipation of a literary firestorm, and only come up with a paragraph that could have been written on the back of an envelope? Will I feel like a complete self-aggrandizing asshole?

See? And it’s just me. Imagine if I was planning for several people. Scary.

And while I’m admitting things, I might as well just throw in that I’m kind of enjoying my little spin out. It’s a fine line between pleasant anticipation and full-on drama queen flameout. At least for me.

So, I’m printing out little pages from the internet. Checking on who’s playing at Preservation Hall. (Does it really matter who it actually is? No. I don’t know one band from another, but I just like knowing.) I’ve got my hot-off-the-presses 2010 Fodor’s Guide flying to me on Amazon.com wings. One eye on the Weather Channel.

Ecstasy.

* It will help you envision my little turbo-flip moment if you imagine Sabre Dance playing in the background. Yes. My life has a soundtrack.

7 comments:

glorm said...

Please have a beignet or two for me. Then post a description of what your taste buds tell you. Heaven.

I can't think of the name of the most famous place for beignets and don't know if it survived the hurricane.

Planning a trip can be most unrelaxing, can't it? Good luck and have fun while in N.O.

momo said...

Café Beignet I believe ... have fun! Hint: those people don't know you and will probably never see you again ... so it DOES NOT MATTER what you wear ;)

momo said...

... besides, you always look great !

FirePhrase said...

Liar. But I love you for it.

And I've got Cafe Dumond (beignets), Port of Call (burgers), Mulate's (cajun), Surrey's (brunch) and Angelo Brocato (ice cream) all on my food itinerary. So much food, so little time.

And in case my level of spinnitude had you fooled, I don't leave for 2 weeks. I'm that bad.

WashingtonGardener said...

Enjoy! Love that city.

victory4angela said...

Glorm - Cafe du Monde. I've never been to NOLA but my lucky ex-boss spent 8 glorious months there and came back bragging about that place. He also made his own map of all the places one should visit (I wonder if I still have it??)

I've learned over the years of dragging too heavy luggage to pack lite and pack stuff that can be layered or scrunches up nicely in a suitcase. I HATE packing a bunch of stuff I never end up using. Mike, on the other hand, always packs too much! We went to the beach for a 3-day weekend and he wanted to pack 2 pr/jeans. I talked him down to 1.

Have a great trip!

FirePhrase said...

Thanks! I'm getting excited. Even though the extended weather for NO is showing rain every day. Other places I might mind. For New Orleans it seems down right proper.

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