On the road again: a long trip, day 13CONtraflow, New Orleans, day 5

The morning went to work, though I did get some much-needed sleep before it. After checking out, we headed into New Orleans to a hole in the wall, Hobnobbers, that a con-goer, who was also a concierge, recommended. He said if you wanted real New Orleans food, you had to try it.

Damn, he was right!

It's a small place behind a bar, though you can reach it through a narrow covered alley that runs alongside the bar. Once you're inside, you see old tables, old chairs, metal on the walls, and linoleum floors. The initial vibe is sketchy...or charming, depending on your perspective. You go to a counter, place your order, get hassled by the perpetually annoyed woman taking orders, and pay in cash. No credit cards here.

The food makes it all worthwhile. The roast beef po boy was an amazingly tasty treat, though as folks had warned me, there's no way to eat it without covering your hands in its juices. The red beans and rice were the best I've ever had, and the sausage was damn fine.

I will definitely go back there the next time I'm in the area.

The rest of the day--and well into the next day, despite the timestamp--went to the usual rental car return, airport shuttle, security, waiting, flying, waiting, flying, waiting rituals of travel.

Unfortunately, today's flights were more interesting than usual.

No one wants interesting flights. You want calm flights. Standard flights.

On the first leg, a woman two rows behind me and to my right (I was lucky enough to have an exit-row aisle seat) went off. She was drunk and loud and obnoxious, but she turned truly shrill and annoying when she heard from another passenger that a flight attendant had (correctly) called her obnoxious. She then declaimed loudly for the rest of the flight and well into the terminal about how bad American Airlines was, what a great person she was, and then tons of personal details, from her name and number of children, to her destination, and so on. Wow. Where's the trank gun when you need it?

On the next flight, the one home from DFW, we started out late because of tornadoes to the east of DFW and lightning all around it. (As it turns out, the pilot told us that we were the last flight to the east to leave for quite some time.) The take-off and initial flight time were thus far more interesting than any of us wanted.

Still, I had a first-class upgrade, they brought me plenty to drink and a snack, and I was able to work. My ears still won't clear, but in time they will, so I can't complain.

In the end, I'm home and fine, which is all one can reasonably ask of any day spent traveling.