A Break.

Here's a quickie so you can recuperate like we did. I'd heard really good things about Mangia Mangia, an Italian restaurant just 3 blocks from our house. The place always smells like garlic, and they make their own pasta. What's not to like? Michael's sister had kind of had enough of Duval St., so was quite happy we'd picked something off the beaten path. The food was very fresh, and the service attentive. I highly recommend this place (sit outside in the garden).

Then we headed down to Aqua to see a drag queen show. Michael & I had been wanting to go to one since we'd arrived here but had never gotten around to it. It turned out, as locals, we could have gone at any time for free (it's normally $15). And so we did. And 35 minutes into the 1+ hour show we left, happy we hadn't paid and sorry that Denise & Richie had. The whole show was one drag queen at a time coming out, dressed like no one in particular,  and lip syncing (badly) to a song. They'd stand on stage for a couple of minutes and then walk into the audience where their adoring fans could stick dollar bills into their cleavage and take pictures. That was the show. Period. When one drag queen finished, another one would come out and do the same thing - pretend to sing for a minute, wade into audience, get money shoved into their cleavage. Bored, we asked Denise & Richie to get their drinks to-go and left. What a disappointment. If the show got better, it was a half hour too late. We had more fun watching people on Duval St. Supposedly, the guys at 801 Bourbon St. actually sing/perform, so if you're looking for a show, go there.

Next up? The people's parade/masquerade march. Supposedly there are 60,000 people on island right now - a 4 mile by 2 mile island - normally there are about 20,000.

Note the weird aura over the sun today (Friday). It's a brisk 79 degrees, which meant a sweatshirt for the latest moped ride. Amazing what a difference a couple of days makes.

Photo by: Hurricane Hole