N'walins

Lynette and Carol, southern hostesses extraordinaire invited a gang of people to New Orleans for Southern Decadence, another gay fest during the hottest Louisiana low country days. Labor day weekend was spent dehydrating and rehydrating as much as possible. The guests included Rusty and myself, Donna Mae and Robin (Durham representin' in da house), Julie (aka our straight drag queen) and Ryan (heavenly tolerant boyfriend). Carmen and Beth were there (lovely ladies), and Lloyd (drunk, obnoxious straight guy found in every crowd) and Erica (caretaker and another heavenly tolerant spouse). So for once, the party was balanced with straights and gays although we do count Julie as one of our ranks (truly a gay man trapped in a delicious straight girl body).

A great time was had by all. Sometimes you travel with people and there is a burr in the saddle of the entire group. This was not one of those times, everyone seemed to enjoy the sauna like atmosphere and feel comfortable with each other. It's amazing what gallons of alcohol will do for a group of friends. It turns out Lynette is a bit of a stalker for a zydeco band on Bourbon. We spent many hours listening to set after set of Jansen on keyboard and his mom on the fiddle. Beth and I two-stepped our way into legend as the band continued into the night.

Not every moment was rosey. Rusty took us out of the French Quarter on a wild goose chase to find a bar. The neighborhood was a bit run down and we definitely looked like a bunch of yuppies on a crack run. We never made the bar despite Rusty's best efforts, bless his heart. We opted to get back to the rank smells of Bourbon Street. Other than that, the weekend was fairly relaxing and our hostesses were extremely gracious.

There is something excessively civilized about sitting in an open air cafe, listening to music and enjoying a liquid breakfast of spicy Bloody Mary's. I'm not sure my constitution can take more than short trips to the sin city.

Enjoy a few pics:

Girlz Gone Wild!



The heat and booze helps to loosen up even the most shy midwesterner.




A handsome stranger in the city of sin and vice.



The parade was a bit sad until this vision of Diva arrived.



What the...we were just looking for the IHOP!



Definitely my moment of Zen!

Thanks for indulging me in this weekend of trying to recapture my youth, it'll take sometime to recover from my Labor Day of excess but I want to thank Lynette and Carol for their hospitality, their generosity and for their love!