My Unique New Orleans Experience

In this episode "My Unique New Orleans Experience" on "Conversations with Rich Bennett," Rich shares his personal journey to New Orleans, marking his first flight since the mid-nineties due to a past negative experience. This trip was motivated by a wedding, but it unfolded into a vivid exploration of New Orleans' soul during Mardi Gras. Rich delves into the vibrant atmosphere of the French Quarter, the tantalizing local cuisine including crawfish pie and alligator po'boys, and the mesmerizing street music and art. He reflects on the profound impact of Hurricane Katrina, particularly through the story of Charity Hospital, highlighting resilience and unresolved issues. The episode also covers his visit to the National World War II Museum, a deeply moving experience. Throughout, Rich encounters the warmth and friendliness of locals, sparking a desire to connect further with New Orleanians. The trip concludes with a beautiful wedding, underscoring themes of love, community, and the joy of discovery. Rich's narrative is a heartfelt invitation to explore the rich tapestry of New Orleans, encouraging listeners to engage with the city's history, culture, and spirit.

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Transcript

Rich Bennett 0:00

I normally don't do this. This episode is just me. I don't have another guest on here. It's just me, myself, and I. I want to tell you about experi ance I had. So as a lot of you probably know, I haven't flown since the mid-nineties and a terrible experience. I said, That's it. Never again. Until the seat cushions double as parachutes. Well, a young lady was getting married in New Orleans and I had to go. I just had to go to this wedding. So we flew down there. Actually, we landed on Super Bowl Sunday and we went to I forget the name of the bridge, but damn, it was a long ass bridge, 23 miles long. So the night we got there, we went to my wife's cousin's house. I believe it's in Covington to watch the Super Bowl. And then, of course, we had to come across that bridge again. But we stayed at the I think it's a holiday club vacation in New Orleans on. And if I pronounce any names wrong, please forgive me. I think it's Carondelet Street or something like that. But let me tell you that the staff there is just simply amazing. Now, down in New Orleans, I was not allowed to work because, believe me, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere because just the people I met and how friendly everyone was, I would have sat down for that equipment, turned it on and started recording right away. And I bring this up because it gave me an idea. No, I yeah, I would like to travel and record episodes of other people, but that takes money. But just being down in New Orleans doing Mardi Gras, especially, I saw so much and I want to talk about it. So first of all, if any of you that are listening live in New Orleans are from New Orleans or know anything about it, please, please get in touch with me because I want to talk to you. If you have a microphone in a computer, we can make it happen. But when we got down there, of course, we we visit as many places as we could. We went to the French Quarter, which was just. Wow, simply amazing. The musicians, the artist. 

It's just it's hard to explain. It's like I was in another world. But for the better part. And then, of course, also the food. I finally get my crawfish pie. I have the diapers of crawfish pie we went to I believe it was Arnaud's, and I got me some crawfish pie, some oysters. Not raw, but I wish I would. They were raw, but everything was just so sugar. And then we even went to the French street market. I believe the place we ate at was called the Market Cafe. And I got an alligator po'boy for a boy. Yeah, that was good, too. And again, just everybody in the French market was so amazing. I have to laugh because I'm walking through and I hear somebody say, Hey, Rich Bennett And I turned around and started talking to a gentleman and again, I just wish I had my equipment there so I could record it. And then we went to I believe it's Jackson Square Arena, some wonderful artist over there, and that when we got there, wow. I mean, just wow. Keep in mind, this is your Mardi Gras. So it was like anything goes there. It was like it was like you're at a giant masquerade ball. It was awesome. It it was just it was simply wild. 

But I mean, I recommend everybody to go. You have to go to at least visit. Then, of course, we had to go to Lafayette's because look, now all LA features on Bourbon Street, this old blacksmith shop, we went there because that's where my father in law used to hang out. So my wife's side of the family, every time they go there, they have to have a shot at Lafayette's. 

Now, I thought we do a shot of what he liked, which I thought was bourbon, but I was wrong. It was Scotch. So of course I got scotch. Bartender asked me if I wanted some water with his. I absolutely. I could do Scotch Street. 

That shot turned into a drink. I was the only one who got one. Everybody else got lemon drop shooters and green tea shooters or whatever. I was the only one to get a damn scotch or water. But I tell you what, I sipped on it. It was good. But that place, just the history down there, Lafitte Saloon and everything else. Oh, my God. I want to talk to people that know about it, about that and everything else in New areas, because the history is simply amazing. And the people down there are amazing. Now, we brewed past this one place, 

and my sister in law told me about it and my heart just dropped and she told me to watch a documentary about it. So I did. When I got home, I watched the documentary. If you ever get a Chance, watch your documentary. It's called Big Charity. It's about Charity Hospital, which was the largest hospital in the United States. 

And the way this hospital was rent dating, they didn't ask you about, you know, when you went in there, whether you had health insurance or not. They took care of everybody. Well, as we know, Katrina happened. 

And I don't want to give too much away about the documentary. You got to watch it. But the I believe it was the National Guard and the doctors and nurses went in after Katrina. It cleaned everything up because they had to evacuate the hospital, cleaned everything up and got it operational. 

And the state said they were not reopening it. 

The meanwhile, you have patients, 

residents, people that need it, that hospital 

and 

they they said, no, there was nothing wrong with that hospital from what I know. 

And to top it off, they wanted to build a new hospital. When I say they, I'm talking about I believe it was a state that wanted to do it 

and or else one of them I can't remember. Anyways, I think you saw affiliate state. So where they built this hospital, they and I don't even know if it's finished. She may still be building it. Who knows? Anyways, the 

took a lot of property and basically destroyed the houses where people were living. People that grew up in these houses were taken away from them because it was better for the people. I don't know how, but that's what they said with me. Why you got a hospital there, which is the largest in the United States that's operational. I don't understand it. So anybody listening, 

if you were in any way affiliated with Charity Hospital, whether you were born there, a patient there, if if you worked there, I want to talk to you. I want to learn more about this. So please, please get in touch with me. Another one? I'm one. I didn't get a chance to go there, but was the Jazz Museum. And I definitely want to speak with somebody from their. However, one museum I did make it to was the National World War two Museum. 

Wow. That is amazing. It's it. It'll take you all day if you do the whole thing. It's going to take you a whole day to go through it. Maybe even two days. I mean, we did it. My 

I'm just going to say my brother in law, me, my brother in law did it in a whole day. But it's it'll open your eyes up. 

Definitely something that you have to do if you go to New Orleans besides the food and the music and the art and everything else. 

The thing is, I have to go back down there again because there's so much that I want to see that I didn't get a chance to like the Jazz museum. I want to go to the Sazerac bar where I believe the Sazerac, which is a drink, was 

made up. That's where it was invented. So that's something else I want to do. Bourbon Street. We didn't really do that much of because like I said, it was Mardi Gras. So there's some other places I want to go down there just to find out more about. And I want to talk to somebody about all the different parades. Oh, my. Q I cannot believe how many parades there are during Mardi Gras. I know the one night we went there, I think we saw two parades and then the next day we went, we were supposed to watch, I think it was three parades. We ended up leaving early, didn't even finish watching the first parade because something happened. That parade got stalled and everybody was sitting there for a long while. But the floats. Oh, man, yes, I did get beat. 

The floats are just simply amazing. Simply amazing. So, again, if you're from New Orleans, if you live there now, if you have lived there in the past, if you know any history of it, especially about Charity Hospital, the National World War Two Museum, the Jazz Museum, even the Katrina Museum, if you're a Katrina survivor, I want to talk to you. I definitely want to talk to you. So please, please, please, please contact me and we'll get it set up. Of course, I got to tell you that we ended our trip 

with a very, very lovely wedding. 

And I am so happy for Rebecca and Tony. I know they are going to be together for a lifetime because they are the perfect couple. And this wedding was just amazing. The church was out of this world. The reception where they had it was breathtaking as well. So again, I know they are going to have a lifetime of happiness. And of course, I got to say thank you to Gretchen, Liz and my boo. She knows what I'm talking about, Mary Ed, because you guys just showed so much love and showed me a good time and always a good time. And I want to thank you for that. And of course, I got to say thank you to my wife, my daughter, my sister in law, and my brother in law for encouraging me to get on a plane and fly down there. Man, I've been missing a lot because that flight was fine. There was nothing wrong with it, which means I guess I'm going to have to be boarding some more planes and going elsewhere, everywhere around the world. Hopefully then I can take my equipment and talk to everybody out there.