Following our tour down in the Mississippi River Delta, we headed up to New Orleans for a couple of nights.

We first went east of downtown, pulling into a vacant apartment complex I wanted to photograph.

This is the DeGaulle Manor Apartments, featuring 17 buildings and 450 units.

Maybe 50 feet along the road which divides the property, a white car flew up on our car and started tailgating while veering left and right. Looking in my rear view and seeing a couple of teenagers, I decided to high-tail it out there instead of giving them the chance to do anything more foolish.

So I only got cell phone pictures from the road instead of real camera pictures from the courtyards.

Looking for somewhere to stay downtown where I wouldn't have to sell a kidney to afford it, I was bummed that the old infant home that Rosie, Shelloo & I stayed at was now an upscale motel.

I eventually found the Ben Louie Motel just up Tulane Street from downtown. This was one of those motels where there's no staff on site, which I don't like because I like to support labour, but not enough to drop an additional $250/night somewhere else.

Of course the room we were assigned had a door so flimsy that it felt like a toddler could kick it in - which wasn't great as my bike and laptop were inside. This meant spending a good hour of precious New Orleans time on the phone, trying to reach anyone with the Ben Louie management company to get us a different room.

The Ben Louie was amazingly only $114 CAD ($83USD) a night, so I shouldn't complain. I think the cost is kept down because of the neighbourhood - and I'll admit I was bit worried because I knew this rough area of town from exploring an abandoned brewery back in 2010. If the reviews about the "bad neighborhood" were that accurate though, the Ben Louie had compound fencing and we could call a cab and simply wait inside the fence until the cab arrived.

In the end, the Ben Louie was totally fine. I don't know if I'd put my mother up in it solo, but paying attention and walking south was all we needed to do. It wasn't fair to compare it to 2010 either, as there's a whole new medical center that incorporated that abandoned brewery facade, there's a big new landscaped park with fresh concrete everywhere, and the nearby liquor store felt like I was in suburban Detroit. I couldn't believe the turnaround in the last 12 years.

(The Ben Louie Motel closed about a year ago and is now the Iris Motel.)

Both of the other times I've been in New Orleans, we just wandered and ate whatever brunch/dinner we happened upon, save for a few special exceptions.

Isy & I tried this same tactic on this trip and it was sort of a miss. My muffuletta wasn't great, but Isy did love her red beans and rice.

Obviously we hit Bourbon Street for a few afterwards.

Although, for someone who enjoys getting a little loose now and then, I still haven't really gone too crazy in New Orleans. This night was no exception.

Part of the reason I was fine with not staying out too much past eleven, was that I wanted to get up early and head out to the New Canal Lighthouse while Isy was still getting ready.

This was only a 10 minute drive from the motel over to the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, but my happiness at an empty parking lot soon disappeared when I realized it meant the lighthouse grounds and museum were closed this morning.

Except there was no way I was leaving empty-handed. It was easy enough to hang on to the fence and squeeze my foot on to the tiny ledge to get over to the area "before the lighthouse."

The Coast Guard had a base here until 2002, when they then wanted to divest themselves of this property. The Basin Foundation wanted to apply for ownership at that time, but they didn't manage to do it until both Katrina and Hurricane Rita left this lighthouse in ruins.

Those ruins were gathered and put into storage, then in 2011, contractors rebuilt the lighthouse with a goal of reusing 50% of the original materials. The lighthouse was relit in September 2012 and opened as a museum in April of 2013.

After scooping up Isy from the motel, I wanted to go check out the site of the Calliope Projects, one time home of C-Murder, Silkk The Shocker & Master P.

I remember being amazed how close this was to the Superdome and the Smoothie King Center back in 2010 when Geordie and I went to a Hornets (now Pelicans) game. It made me think of how my friend CurlyRed said her uncle is a DA down here and to be careful with where we go.

♫ "You gotta be 'bout it, 'bout it, 'cause I'm 'bout it, 'bout it

Third Ward, Calliope Projects, you know they 'bout it, 'bout it" ♫

The reason I was up so early and why we didn't spend too long at the Calliope site, was because we had a cooking class scheduled today. This presented another problem as I was hungry again after an early breakfast and Isy hadn't eaten at all.

Racing around Central City, we happened upon this amazing diner from 1946. The coffee, omelletes and setting were all so perfect and it was so annoying that we only had 20 minutes to take it all in. (Our waitress also didn't seem too pleased when we asked about what we should order if we were in a hurry; almost as if we should have went to a corner store instead. Whoops.)

The cooking class was fun. I was stressed out that the chef was going to call on me to do something I'd screw up, but Chef Dee Lavigne gave me tasks I could manage like peeling the bananas for Bananas Foster. We also made Creole gumbo and then sat down to our homemade meal afterwards.

Along the way, they gave us a chunk of time to go get a drink at the bar within the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, but also to walk around and check out the exhibits. Which we did, but someone else in our group asked if they could get more cocktails and eventually the chef and her helper had to come get our group at the bar, haha. My favourite part was during that section with the cocktails, the chef started into a story involving the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans, and the older couple chimed in to say that they were there!

That older couple was also going the hardest out of anyone. They weren't going to have any trouble saying they got on the sauce in New Orleans.

Afterwards we rode the streetcar downtown and wandered down to the Mississippi River and back up to Bourbon Street. After more red beans and rice we went to Preservation Hall, which is a bare bones building where local musicians put on a concert every night. I learned of this from Rosie attending back in 2018 and I always sort of wished I tagged along; so I was happy that I could rectify that.

Facing an early morning, we didn't stay out too long after Preservation Hall and soon enough we were having beignets at Cafe du Monde, right across from St. Louis Cathedral. I saw some guy stealing tips off the tables and Isy said she had better beignets back in Senegal, but overall it was a good way to get some early calories into our system.

Part of the reason for the early night was that I wanted to squeeze in a visit to New Orleans' Parasite DIY skatepark before leaving town, mostly because it worked as something that looked good enough to ride and because it brought us to another new area of New Orleans.

I want to say the gentle handrails in the street section were the best part, but the best part was Isy riding her board down one of the banks - even after I told her that I didn't think it was the best idea.

She handled it with ease.

We needed to get moving in order to get to Houston at a reasonable hour. There's a lighthouse between New Orleans and Houston which has eluded me on multiple trips and it would elude me once again today as our only stop was Tastee Donuts in Harahan, LA.

And while I am a fan of a good donut shop, we were actually here because this was the filming location from True Detective Season 1 Episode 4, where Maggie (Michelle Monaghan) meets up with Rust (McCaugnahay) to hear that Marty (Woody Harrelson) would like to see his kids.

I was super excited to sit in the same booth and may have even encouraged Isy to wear a red dress, but then we pulled into a lot without a single car in it. Tastee Donuts had closed!

Looking at Google StreetView today (Jan 31, 2026), I now see that we showed up at the second best time we could have. That's because this building has since reopened as another donut shop, where not only did they paint the Maggie/Rust benches red, but they also put down some HGTV gray flooring. Gah!

Christina On The Coast really needs to stay away from TDS1 filming locations.

We had to call an audible and find some breakfast in nearby River Ridge Louisiana, before then speeding west towards Houston. The Welcome To Texas sign announced that we needed to "Drive Friendly - The Texas Way".

Houston was another tough cookie to crack in terms of finding a place to stay. I'd initially thought about staying at this hipster motel that featured neon signs, pool floaties and an agreeable rate; but the reviews all said that the party never really stops and there's always loud 20-year-old influencers carrying on. It was still almost booked because of the rate, but there was also this place called the Scott Inn & Suites. It was on the edge of East Downtown near the Third Ward, where there were directions you wouldn't want to head, but there was light rail directly downtown and we could call a cab if we felt that unsafe, right?

$102CAD for a room in Houston was already a win, even before we entered the room that we both liked because it was dated and strange; while Isy also liked the cleanliness.

Speaking of Isy, she is the meat eater of our relationship. You know those ticks that make you allergic to red meat? I'm not concerned about them in the slightest, while Isy is deathly afraid of them and I doubt she'd hike on Martha's Vineyard, where they are prevalent.

With her affinity for a good steak, obviously we were arriving in Houston early enough to enjoy dinner at one of their fine steakhouses. And even though I can take or leave red meat, I was still looking forward to this after quite enjoying my meal when Geordie, myself, and his boy Adam ate at Houston's Pappas Bros Steakhouse.

Deciding to mix it up, Isy and I headed to Vic & Anthony's Steakhouse, almost right across the street from Minute Maid Park. Part of the reason for this was our struggle with what to wear that was fancy enough for a steakhouse, but comfortable enough for an evening of baseball, but then I saw that Vic's allows people to come in wearing jerseys on Astros game days. I no longer had to dress to the nines.

I'm sort of curious if dressing down bit us in the ass after we were seated at a pretty crumby table, right in the middle of things and at the bottom of a four stair. The waiters all had sniper ear pieces and rushed about at the top of the stairs and sometimes beside our table. I could look past it because I really enjoy efficiency after living in Corner Brook, but it wasn't Isy's cup of tea.

I ended up getting one of the specials and it was decent. Isy ordered a la carte and made some mistakes (choosing duck fat potatoes) which made for a ho-hum dining experience. When you add in decent drinks but mediocre dessert for the costliest meal of our lives? We both left really frustrated, especially as I'd been raving about that 2016 Houston Pappas Bros Steakhouse experience and the 2010 Route 66 steak near Amarillo, since the beginning of our relationship.

There was no better way to get over it than heading across the street to Minute Maid Park to watch the great Justin Verlander pitch for the Astros! Isy brought the book she was enjoying and I interrupted her reading to inform her that the pitcher is Kate Upton's husband. She asked why I thought she would care.

I guess Kate Upton has greater cachet with some of my other friends.

I was enjoying this game experience so much that I posted about it on facebook and Steven Twodamncute replied something like, "what the hell? I'm at the bar in Windsor and I see the Blue Jays game on and you're there?"

Hell yes I am, Steven. I am the man.

This was the first post-Covid baseball game for us and as mentioned, I was having a good time. Such a good time that I convinced Isy we needed to head to this dive bar after the game. Unfortunately, I then discovered cabs aren't really a thing in Houston anymore either and the night went south.

Isy was a trooper and worked to find public WiFi in order to use the Lyft app on her phone, since my phone is too old to download most modern apps (they say your iOs isn't supported by the newest app release). In downtown Houston though, it's all bank and oil high rises and very few free-WiFi options like Burger King or a Starbucks.

We eventually found a bank with open WiFi, except we had to be really close to the lobby for the WiFi to work. Since I was sulking and pissed that technology had left me behind and I couldn't believe a city the size of HOUSTON FUCKING TEXAS doesn't have cabs anymore, I decided to sit down while Isy worked the phone. This got the attention of security, who came out upset with the thought that I was inebriated. Isy explained the situation about us not having American cell data and just trying to get a Lyft and security still told us to move along. I also was definitely not allowed to sit on the ground.

This was all while Isy finally got the one Lyft driver that appeared on the map to accept our ride. She crunched against the cement wall and tried to hang on to the two bars of WiFi, in order to stay connected so the damn Lyft driver wouldn't cancel the pickup. Isn't this all so much better than just having cabs?

(If you think it must've been user error that we couldn't find a cab, I'll point you to this Reddit thread from three years ago where someone asks about Houston cabs and some jerkoff replies, "I mean it depends. Are you going to the pager store or the fax machine repair place?")

The Kickback Bar wasn't something I researched ahead of time. I got it in my head that we needed to go to a dive bar after the game, so I hastily googled 'dive bar near Scott Inn & Suites' and The Kickback popped up because of a few reviews mentioning the word dive. Even in extensive lists of Houston dive bars, The Kickback Bar isn't one of those popular bars that finds itself on those listicles. Heck, I'd classify it as more of a neighbourhood bar than a dive bar.

Walking in, there was live music that was more my style than Isy's, but we didn't plan on being here long. Dressed in my fancy shirt from the steakhouse, I let the bartender know that Isy would have a Jameson's while I would like a Twisted Tea - which, looking back at it now, may explain why reviews say the bartender is the best, but I found him to be a bit of a dick. He was probably wondering which tool factory manufactured me.

On the other hand, Isy explained our predicament to him and asked if he could call us a cab and he explained, "we don't do that." I've never ran into a bar that doesn't have a cabbie business card behind the bar, but maybe that's another thing that's been replaced by everyone having 17TB data plans and the constant ability to order a Lyft.

At the time, I just thought he was a dick. I still think it's rad that I've been to such an obscure Houston bar though, haha.

Annoyed with that bartender and still upset about technology abandoning me, we came out of the bar and a biker gang was out front. Isy was instantly worried that I'd start bitching to them or do something stupid like ask for a cell phone to call a cab, so she ushered me in the direction I wanted to go, which was just up the street to a gas station. The gas station was unfortunately closed.

Arriving at the bar at 11:30 and leaving at 12:30, it was now too late for the light rail that would have brought us back towards East Downtown. The only bus at this hour headed straight south, which would have brought us slightly closer to the Scott Inn & Suites, but it wasn't worth risking the possibility of ending up somewhere sketch in Greater Eastwood. Instead, it was time to hoof it.

We walked and walked.

It really is a difficult thing when you live on an island where nothing ever changes except getting a Wendy's, while the rest of the world keeps spinning and changing in ways you don't realize while living in exile.

It's like when I went to Wal-Mart with Donnie and Jacki one time and I was amazed that there were emoji pillows - but apparently all y'all on the mainland have had emoji pillows for years? How the F am I supposed to know that? Do they make podcasts for people getting out of prison where they explain that they've eliminated cabs from society, but at least we now have emoji pillows?

This is one time that I wish my internal navigation system was working better, or that I turned on Komoot to track my walk, or that I took more documentary pictures. Unfortunately, I have that picture from the gas station and then that picture from 1900 Milby - leaving 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of mystery walking. I know that if we found ourselves in front of 1900 Milby though, that we walked through some industrial corridors, with poor lighting, abandoned buildings & vacant lots.

Isy made a great point about this night, that not only was it one of our worst nights when you consider everything - which, hey, happens in every relationship - but it's even more remarkable because it happened on a night of such promise and excitement. We were in Houston Texas, gorgeous weather, going to a pricey steakhouse, going to a baseball game, maybe having a night cap. Still, fairly terrible night.

I would like to blame it on Lyft and society and take no personal responsibility, lol.

The next morning we hit up a Guy Fieri restaurant before leaving Houston.

Prior to the trip, I found this Google Maps document which I'm annoyed I can't find anymore. It had a bunch of Guy's visits marked and when you clicked on a placemark, it'd have whatever wacky Guy Fieri shit ("Always a party with Havarti!", “What a hot frisbee of fun!”) he said while featuring the place on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Anyway, today we were here in Houston Texas and THIS is Lankford's Grocery & Market!

Isy got the Guy Fieri-recommended ("a volcano of flavour") Grim Burger, which featured a half-pound patty, topped with mac & cheese, jalapenos, bacon, cheddar cheese, and a sunny side up fried egg on a brioche bun.

I wasn't quite feeling up to such a burger this morning.

Anyway, time to motor across Texas.

Continue to Part 4