Hightlights of Epicon 2010 Part 1







Our first day in New Orleans we went sightseeing. Wow! What a place. We sort of ate our way through the French Quarter.

We had someone point us in the right direction to go to the French Quarter first thing in the morning and had breakfast in a tiny hole-in-the-wall cafe someone recommended to us. Great breakfast. Along with eggs and bacon I had grits. (When in the South do as the Southerners do, I always say.)

Walking down the narrow streets (we started off on Chartres St. more commonly called Charter) and believe me, it looks just like it does in the movies. Balconies with wrought iron railings, old, old buildings, lots of interesting and some weird shops, restaurants, etc. We wandered along until we heard live music and headed over to an outdoor cafe with a jazz band. Along the way we saw a living statue--we also saw her get down off her perch and wander off. We ate crayfish niblets in the cafe and drank coffee and enjoyed the music.

In Jackson Square we saw a bit of everything: artists painting, a tarot card reader, a bunch of drunks and drug addicts, lots of tourists, a great statue of Andrew Jackson on horseback, more jazz musicians.

We peeked in the iron gates of the Old Ursline Convent and Catholic school. We went inside the St. Louis Cathedral, beautiful, sat down and enjoyed the gorgeous stained glass and took time out to pray. The church was rebuilt in 1851 after being destroyed by a hurricane.

We toured the New Orleans Museum and the wonderful display about the Mardi Gras.
The costuming is absolutely fantastic.

The Court House is gorgeous. The contrast of the different old brick and wood buildings and the huge marble and more expensive homes and public buildings is intriguing.

We had lunch in a corner restaurant with a fountain in the courtyard (bathrooms were outside off the courtyard) and I ate an oyster PoBoy.

That evening was the get-acquainted cocktail party in the hotel where we ran into a lot of old friends from Epic, met some new ones, and chatted with Michael Orenduff and his wife Lai. He was one of my competitors for the best mystery/thriller e-book award--and he won. That happened later, but I wasn't surprised.

Exhausted, hubby and I went to bed. Not easy to sleep in hotels in New Orleans. The restaurants and bars never close--they are open 24/7, which means people come and go at all hours and they are not the least bit quiet.

More next time.

Marilyn

Comments

Helen Kiker said…
Awesome photographs - wish I had been there.

Congratulations on your new book - An Axe to Grind.

Helen

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