New Orleans, not a chip off the old block.

Ironically, coronavirus has pushed me to take more trips lately. When one door closes, another one opens and the door to travel has always proven fruitful for me. A wall sticker on one of my Air B N B rooms said it best: Travel is one of the only things that you can buy, while also getting richer. In agreement, I trekked to NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) and immersed myself among the sights and smells of the Big Easy.

Growing up playing music, New Orleans I had always planned to visit the land of the cocktail and jazz music. Upon landing at the airport and hearing the sounds of bass and trumpets, Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes immediately flurried into my mind:

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air

Trust thyself: Every heart vibrates to that iron string

New Orleans reminded me of a phrase I read in the book Origin by Dan Brown: Primordial soup. Taking away the “primitive” connotation to the concept, you have the richness of all the cultures that makes the city rich in culture, industry, food, and nature. The term creole means “mixed up languages that evolve into a new one” and after learning how the Spanish, French, Caribbean, German, Irish, and various African countries merged together over the last 300 years, it’s no wonder the city is also the birthplace of the cocktail: a MIXED drink.

My walks down Frenchman Street and throughout the French Quarter were greeted with top-notch street musicians. Each street had rich displays of art imbued with colors and texture, complemented with the historical Spanish style architecture, jazz music, and the competing smells of beignets, jambalaya, and coffee.

New Orleans’s history is one of the most unique and culturally significant within the USA. Situated in the Bayou with tenuous sand on which to build, the artistic vibe extends into the circuitous streets that wind around the Mississippi River, making navigation virtually impossible without a GPS or compass. From the clothing, the music, the buildings, and the natural environment, each component lends itself to the others.

Walking along the streets of the French Quarter was visually stunning, and the surrounding streets were also filled with creole architecture, delicious restaurants, and local artwork. The cemeteries were also historically relevant. I learned how unfortunate souls who were buried alive would pull on a bell that was attached to a string inside the coffin. This fact brought me to my senses; the mystic side of New Orleans, the one that is a delicious blend of past societies, present jazz music, and Marty Gras masks, is ringing as clear as the desperation of someone buried alive.

Historically, the masks were used to blend classes together so nobody felt isolated or subservient when attending a party. Today, it can be used for the very same reason; people lose their real identity during Marty Gras and parade their alter-egos whilst masquerading around the Big Easy. Masks also save lives. 😉

After my visit, it was apparent that no hurricane could dim the spirits of this magnificent city. How could it when the very spirits created within the quarters of New Orleans have now permeated across the world and into the houses of every town in the world? I felt reinvigorated, more innovative than ever, and definitely recharged.

While I was waiting for my flight at the terminal, I ordered an Orange Blossom and the bartender had never made one before. I showed him my phone and he decided to substitute dry vermouth with triple sec and patron. Several other travelers gathered around the bar and ogled my drink. It was quite attractive, bearing an orange color and giving off a citrus scent that medicinally awakens the brain to everything yummy.

When enough people asked the bartender, what I was drinking, he looked at me and asked, “what’s your name?”

I respond, “Jontom.”

He then proceeds to tell those sitting at the bar that I was drinking a “Jontom.” I couldn’t believe it. I left my stamp on the city. When I heard the boarding call for my flight, I started packing my briefcase and signed the check. As I was leaving the bar to head towards my gate, I heard a couple ladies say the following:

“Excuse me, bartender, can we get a couple of ‘Jontom’s’ please?”