Travel Thursday: New Orleans

Imagine walking past this every day.

I always tell people that if there was any doubt whether my wife is smarter than me, it should have been put to rest a couple years ago, when we spent her 40th birthday in New Orleans, and four months later, I spent mine in my office.

Not only was it my wife's idea to go to New Orleans, she also suggested getting a hotel in the French Quarter. Good call.

If David Simon wasn't also the man behind "The Wire," his series on post-Katrina New Orleans, "Treme," would probably be considered a masterpiece. An overriding message behind the series was the characters' ability to find joy of music, food and each other amid the ugliness, be it the devastation of the hurricane, the corruption both specific to Katrina and generally throughout the city ... even a pothole that was decorated because it was never repaired.

This is Fats Domino's piano, damaged during Hurricane Katrina and now part of the "Living with Hurricanes: Katrina & Beyond" exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum. Seeing the display will make you mad about Katrina all over again.

Although Davis McAlary would not have approved, we spent most of our time among the joyous. We stayed in the French Quarter, mere steps from Bourbon Street, and even though we aren't the types to be in a bar as sunrise approached (as we saw while being driven to the airport to go home), there was always a buzz in the air, like something exciting was about to happen.

For the most part, New Orleans has a higher class of street musician.

And exciting things will happen, so you'd better be ready.

I mentioned my wife's birthday. For dinner that night, we found a little Italian place that wasn't quite a hole in the wall, but probably not the first place you would look. After a terrific meal, we were heading back to our hotel on a warm New Orleans evening, we heard strange sounds coming down the street, drums and horns and other instruments that sounded like a marching band.

Because it was a marching band.

Mardi Gras was a few weeks away, and preparations had already begun, so our guess was that the band was rehearsing that night for the festivities to come. Needless to say, everyone on both sides of the street stopped to watch, clapping as the band went past.

I would have loved to take photos of the scene, and perhaps even tried to take a video. There was just one problem ... that night was the only time on the whole vacation I didn't take my camera with me.

I mentioned that my wife is smarter than me, but sometimes I prove she doesn't have a lot of competition.