It’s Tuesday. So I suppose I should finish up my vacation recaps from a week ago.

My brain is a little foggy today. I unexpectedly got sucked into a good book (non-YA, yes, I do read them) last night called Your Voice Inside My Head. It’s a haunting memoir by Emma Forrest, a British writer, about the year after her psychiatrist died and her struggle with manic depression. Mental illness or not, we all need a Dr. R in our lives.

Saturday, 5.5.12

My usual routine: I woke up early, fixed an iced coffee, and read more of Insurgent in Alison’s courtyard. Mind you, everyone else thought I was crazy and stayed inside in the air conditioning. But to me, it was magical. To feel warm…..whew…. the heat felt like a bear hug from an old friend.

I found a friend too. Check out this pretty kitty in Alison’s courtyard. I heard it meowing behind me. Fluffy, long-haired cats have a special place in my heart. This one was very handsome.

Then we left for Jazz Fest. It was much busier than it was on Thursday night.

Also, Jazz Fest is HUGE. This is a map of part of it. There are around a dozen stages on the grounds.

After scoping out an area to stash our things, Arrie, Alison, and I walked around for a bit in search of some eats. There were TONS of food stands, as well as a large craft section.

Mmmmm, Crawfish Monica.

After eating, Laney and I browsed the crafts.

And look at all the colorful beads! I felt like I was back in Belize.

I wanted a hat. I actually brought a hat (see here from my tacky tourist Halloween costume) because it was easy to pack in my suitcase, but everyone said it was so ugly that I couldn’t actually wear it to Jazz Fest.

Laney and I went hat shopping and we both found hats to suite our giant heads. Success!

Look how cute Laney looks! That romper is from Urban Outfitters from like three years ago. It was adorable.

While we were shopping, we caught part of Ne-Yo.

Then we headed over to the Gentilly stage to watch My Morning Jacket.

Laney, Arrie, and Alison. Gorgeous gals!

I love this photo of Arrie.

Hi.

A picture of both of us wearing our hats.

Dads plus babies. This was too cute.

My Morning Jacket played until dusk. They played some favorites of mine, like One Big Holiday, which were cool to hear live. Also, we were in a prime people watching area, which makes any festival fun.

After Jazz Fest, we went back to Alison’s parents place and ordered pizzas for dinner. Then we hung out on THE BALCONY OF ALL BALCONIES.

What a view.

I felt like I was in an Anne Rice novel for most of the evening too. Tours kept coming by and talking about the vampire that supposedly haunted the house. And the moon looked AWESOME again that night.

Arrie, Judson, and I ended up going out on the town later that night. I reveled in the fact that I didn’t need a jacket because it was STILL WARM.

We went to Lafitte’s, which is supposedly the oldest structure used as a bar in the United States. I felt like I stepped back in time. Sort of. It had no lighting, so you felt like you were in a cave, yet it was packed and served purple slushie drinks in styrofoam cups.

Also, you can drink in the street here.  (Among many other things. I kept using the word “lawlessness” to describe New Orleans that weekend.)

Later on we walked over to Frenchman’s Street, purple slushies in hand. It was PACKED. Arrie said it’s where the locals go on the weekend. We ended up popping into another bar that had a live band….so much music in this town. Really, it’s ridiculous. We lost Judson because he ran into some other friends. Arrie and I came back to spend the night at Alison’s parent’s place around 2 a.m.

Fun day.

Up Next: Almonds croissants and red beans + rice.

Previous Recaps: Day 1: Off to NOLA, Florence + The Machine, Jacques-Imo’s, Day 2: Alison’s amazing hallway, PINK cruisers, and the French Quarter