The Northernmost City in the Caribbean...

 ...is New Orleans, of course. Get there when you can, good people. It's back.

I was there a couple of weeks ago, and it's only gotten freer and more back to normal since. The 1:00 AM curfew for bars was lifted this week, returning it to that special status of The City That Really, Truly, Never Sleeps. 

My lovely gf took me first-class to the Big Easy for a long weekend. We stayed the night at the estate (not really exaggerating) of one of my best friends from coming up. He owns his own veterinary practice/hospital down there. If you take an animal there and it gets bitten sick or bitten by a gator, check Ned out.

Here's what we hit whilst in the Crescent City:

• Saba - upscale, veg-friendly spot (the woman doesn't dig on swine... or sea life). Great food, outdoor dining, nice touch. 
• Juan's Flying Burrito - searching for a place on Magazine that opened early for lunch and had no
  
  long line, we found it. As we walked in, I read the review at right on my phone. Yipes. Luckily, it was way better than that. Creole steak tacos and a few micheladas (Modelo). Not bad, Juan. Way better than a dumpster.
• Le Bon Temps Roule. One of my all-time favorite bars in NOLA. Highlighted in this video for the Mardi Gras song Ned and I did, if you recall. We hunkered down at the bar (hallelujah), shot some stick, and drank an array of American lagers and ales (from Dale's to Anchor Steam to Dixie Light). Brilliant. Life felt back in order.
• The French Quarter. Like a bunch of nameless spots. The Monteleone was jammed and my other go-to's were either closed or full, so we ambled around and stopped in the walk-ups. God bless that town. Though I was overserved by some reckless bartender.
• Mahony's - po' boys done brilliantly. We went in for brunch Sunday and had the bottomless Bloody / mimosa combo. (You can mix and match endlessly for $15.) I ate the Peacemaker.  Or gave it my best shot. It's got hearty fried shrimp and oysters plus bacon and cheddar plus the usual fully dressed (LTMP and I added lots and lots of Crystal) on a damn fine French bread. Holy wow.

Friday night we hit Rebirth Brass Band at the Howlin' Wolf. So good. They were still doing pods, and we had a 4-person one at the front.

I can't get the video we took to work, so take the show below, and reduce the number of people by 80%. Same vibe, though.

So much fun. So we are going back.

Jazz Fest is a go in October, and we are hitting the 2nd weekend. More to come later, but I couldn't be more exicted.