After several bottles of water and multiple showers to wash off the French Quarter sludge/grime that seems to attach itself to your person like that black stuff that turns you evil in Spiderman 3, I have been able to collect my somewhat blurring thoughts of one the Saints Super Bowl/Mardi Gras convergence in New Orleans this past weekend:

• New Orleans has officially become one of those cities that you cannot stay in for longer than 3 days at a time.  This list had included Las Vegas, Amsterdam, and Laurel, Mississippi (for completely personal reasons).  So congrats, Big Easy, you are only survivable in spurts.
• The percentage of people on the street with some sort of Saints related garb on was at a steady 60%.  I was no exception thanks to good ol’ 289.
• Bourbon Street was its usual insane self, more so on Saturday than Friday.  Me and the FOTP extended crew could handle the crowds until we saw a gentleman on a balcony pee on a young lady who was unfortunately passing by below.  At that point, we sought side streets.
• The Hotel Monteleone carosel bar continues to be one of my favorites in the Quarter.  Its fancy, you can get a room there if you are too drunk to leave, and the bar rotates…whats not to like?
• The Gold Mine is only that if you are looking to dance with girls with back tattoos.
• F&M continues to have late night cheese fries that defy description.
• Boobies were at a minimum…twas frigid and multiple layers are often tough to maneuver for adequate flashing…
• …except for the one young lady I saw riding on a gentleman’s shoulders down Bourbon.  She was sans shirt, which allowed the world to see her multiple scars, teeth marks, and some sort of bite or rash that I would liken to chiggers.
• Having a balcony above all of the madness is really the only way to go, for comfort and safety (as in you probably won’t die…or get peed on) reasons.
• Favorite beads I saw/caught…Saints Fleur-de-lis with footballs around the necklace part.  Least favorite beads…a friends that had a naked woman a large penis that squeaked when you squeezed it, but just because I didn’t like the size issues it brought up for me.
• I witnessed a hit and run and was so amazed at the audacity of the deed that it didn’t even occur to me to call it in to police…A team of drunk college guys pile into what looked like a rented minivan that was forcibly parallel parked between to other cars to the extent that the van’s front and rear bumpers were both touching the cars in front and back of it and the back right tire of the van was hopped up onto the curb so the van would fit.  How it got in there I have no idea, but Ill tell you how it got out…by ramming both the cars in front and in back until the van could maneuver enough to get out.  I have failed you all for not getting video of this.

• I hope they serve filet mignon po-boys in Heaven.
• Drew Brees could murder a little old lady, who runs an orphanage for abandoned blind kids, in the middle of Jackson Square in front of a thousand witnesses and he would still  be elected governor in perpetuity and then be allowed to acquit himself of any wrong doing and claim it was justifiable homicide…and the entire state would be totally fine with it.  Thats how big that guy is on the bayou right now.
• Juvenile was playing in a bar down the street from where I was staying.  Im glad that the Cash Money Millionaires are still somewhat afloat.
• I went to the Bacchus Ball, of which Drew Brees was the king.   At one point I stood at the base of the float he was on as he was getting down to join the party.  I was surrounded by a group of about 200 people who were there snapping pictures and and cheering him on.  A buddy of mine leaned over and said, “You are never going to believe who is standing right behind you.”  I turn around, and there is former LSU quarterback and MLB washout Josh Booty staring up at Brees as he was led off the float.  The divergence of paths of two guys who are about the same age and had startlingly different evaluations of potential as high school quarterbacks was a little unsettling.  Thankfully I had a drink in my hand…and for Josh’s sake, I hope he did too.
• Better than Ezra was the band at the ball.  I will fight anyone that says they don’t enjoy the hell out of them in concert.
• I will not be drinking for at least a week.