Even Easier

I am hanging out in the van tonight in the Bywater area of New Orleans.  East of the French Quarter and right along the river.  I have never been in this part of the city and I really like it.  Lots of very pretty, brightly painted, shotgun houses and lots of Pride flags.  I feel very safe here.

This is my second night parked in this particular spot and it has been amusing.  I have off and on been living this van life for six years.  In that time maybe three or four times people walking have bumped into the van while I have been inside.  It’s always a little startling and creepy, since I can’t actually see outside to see what is going on.  Last night five people stumbled into the van, tonight so far there have been six.  I looked at the sidewalk to see if there is some hump or hole but by NOLA standards the walk is smooth.  There is a stairway coming down next to the building, so I get why people are veering a little toward the street, but what pushes them to fall into my van?  I don’t understand it.

Level by NOLA standards.

Other than the nighttime bumps I like this particular spot. There is a great coffee shop on the corner just outside.  The Petite Clouet Cafe.  I have been enjoying coffee not from Keurig with the added plus of lots of gay drama to overhear.   For lunch, just a couple of blocks away the Satsuma Cafe makes a delicious sandwich.

Van-wise, the new batteries continue to function very well.  I was in a really nice parking spot in Carollton for the last two nights.  It was tucked away and unobserved enough I felt comfortable to stay there two days, not moving the van at all.  Not something I typically do.  But it was also a good test for the batteries.  It got good morning sun but about eleven the sun was behind a building for the rest of the day.

Today, being overcast all morning and then kind of breaking up about three didn’t make for the best solar collection day.  My batteries are currently at 82%, tomorrow is forecast to be cloudy and rain the next day.  It will be really interesting to see where I am at.

The one thing I really appreciate about New Orleans, and kind of the south in general, is how warm and genuinely friendly people are here.  It isn’t just talk.  It isn’t “Minnesota Nice” which as far as I can tell is a bullshit slogan people tell themselves up there.  It isn’t just the platitudes of being called honey and sugar.  I was even called boo by a large black woman in a convenience store.  But I feel like people really care and it shows.  

After work today I walked along the river in a t-shirt and light hoodie.  It was really nice walking.  There was a large navy ship parked along the peer.  Of course no clear views of it for a picture.  As I walked east the view on the city side grew scarier looking.  Large abandoned warehouses with their windows all broken out.  They are just lying in wait for the right billionaire to eye them for gentrification.  They have a great view of the river but their time has not yet come.

I came down with a case of the muffuletta hungries so over my lunch break walked to Central Grocery’s location next to the French Market.  The liquor store next door sells them pre-made but still the best muffuletta in the city.  It was about an hour and a half round trip walk but on a beautiful sunny day it was a great to be alive moment.  Last night I found a German bar down a bit of a side ally off Piety called “Bratz Y’all”.  I didn’t stay to eat but they had a nice stage and looking at their schedule it gets used often.  They have music there most every night.  I enjoyed a couple of beers with some great music and ended up eating pizza at a place next door.  ...That turned out to be a mistake.  I totally should have had a brat ...y'all.

What is it they say about one
man's junk is another man's ????

Another Bywater find, there is a junk shop to beat all junk shops at the corner of Louisa and Dauphine.  A place only a New Orleans fire marshal would pass.  A truly outstanding collection of detritus. 

I took my laptop into Markey’s Bar and enjoyed a really reasonably priced margarita.  It was a beautiful evening and they had the doors all open.  People were coming and going and it was a lively fun crowd.

I mentioned a couple of posts back that it is good to keep notes.  It is funny, I have been traveling full time for two winters.  I haven’t been in *all* that many places. But these memories imprint in my mind and I get them wrong.  Just a couple of days ago I was thinking I needed supplies.  I should head over to that nice grocery store connected to the closed shopping mall.  Big parking lot, lots of open space, plenty of solar.  I could work there for the day and grab groceries over lunch.  Oh wait, that’s in Austin Texas.  …Or maybe it is alzheimers.