Above: January 9, 2012… my father and I in attendance at college football’s BCS National Championship Game at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana — wherein my Alabama Crimson Tide shut out the LSU Tigers to win their fourteenth title. I am the blurry one.
Now, three weeks removed from the event, the victory has already receded into the happy distance. Saban has celebrated the win with our fans, and has filled the holes on staff left by coaches departing for other institutions and opportunities. We will now watch with anticipation as signing day approaches. We will keep a semi-interested eye on the NFL draft to see where Trent, Dont’a and others will end up. We will follow the position battles and scrimmages during spring practice. And then it is onward to football season 2012 and the expectation of another championship run. And, seriously, let’s get on that. What have you done for me lately, Nick?
The extended weekend trip to New Orleans was my first since Hurricane Katrina hit the city back in 2005. Some hints of the destruction can still be seen, though we parked our car and walked/rode the streetcar the whole time, and didn’t venture into the Lower Ninth Ward or the other, hardest-hit neighborhoods. In the French Quarter, business and Garden Districts, the evidence is confined to the occasional single-family home that hasn’t been cosmetically repaired or re-painted and the transportation infrastructure that is still spotty (I’m looking at you, pedestrian crossing signals). In all surface-level respects, the Big Easy is as vibrant and pretty and unique as I remember. We slept at the funky, lovely Loft523 (highly-recommended). The food was just as incredible, too. Luckily I was able to work off the calories I consumed by walking for blocks and blocks for three straight days. I made my first-ever (if you can believe it) trip to Cafe Du Monde to sample its beignets and the best cafe au laits I can remember imbibing. And I managed to sneak into Paul Prudhomme’s K-Paul restaurant for a pre-game lunch of turtle soup and a pear salad. The only culinary disappointment was the ACME Oyster Bar — which I remember fondly but has, sadly, become touristy and bland. There was also a rat that scampered across the dining room floor. Ew.
As usual, the walk around the city produced some great photo opportunities — the results of which have slowly begun to populate the galleries at my portfolio site.
