Living Out Loud with Darian

Hey people! Trey and I have returned from our mini-vacation in New Orleans and I'm slowly recovering from all of the food I've consumed over the past few days. New Orleans was everything I expected and more.

I'd like to thank all of you who left birthday wishes for me here or sent me an e-mail. I can't begin to tell you how special you all made me feel.

We crammed as much as we possibly could in 2 days, haunted tours, lunch on the Natchez steam boat, walking all over the French Quarter, and even a Hurricane Katrina Tour. Yes, we were the ultimate tourists.

Allow me to give some advice if you ever plan on visiting New Orleans.

1)You might want to skip the haunted tour because the marketing is a little misleading. Instead it should be called the haunted history tour, because all you get is 2 hours of stories from a knowledgeable tour guide that isn't the least bit scary.

2)If you plan on riding the streetcar go ahead and buy a day pass, you'll save a few bucks.

3)Be prepared to be confused as hell about which direction the streetcar is headed or which one to board. I swear riding the subway in NY is so much easier.

4)You have to go on the Natchez Steam Boat cruise for lunch or dinner. The ticket is a little pricey but the food is great and you'll learn a lot about the city. Make sure to bring a coat. I left mine at home and almost froze.

5) You must check out Clover Grill in The French Quarter for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The waiters are drag queens. Yes, I live!

Finally, you must go on the Hurricane Katrina tour. Seeing the damage Hurricane Katrina caused on TV was nothing compared to seeing it up close. Almost three years later New Orleans is in a state of recovery but there is still work to be done.

We had a chance to travel to the lower ninth ward and it was devastating. If you look closely to the pictures I've posted of the damaged homes you will see a brown water mark on the homes indicating how far the water rose. You can also see white or orange markings on the homes indicating the date of entry and the number of dead bodies or survivors found.

We did all of this stuff in a day. So I'm sure you know what we did when we made it back home. No not that! LOL! We went to sleep.

Have a great weekend and thanks again for all of your support. We'll meet again on Monday and it'll be business as usual.