[Saturday] NOLA, Day 4

New Orleans has been an amazing experience thus far.

On Day 2, Lillian Winters and I had breakfast at a great healthy spot nearby called Satsuma Cafe where I stayed health conscious and had a delicious spinach scramble.  So far, I've mostly been able to avoid the comfort food out here, which my health is thanking me for.

After breakfast we made out way to the French Quarter.  Immediately after getting out of the Uber, I was approached by a woman asking if Lillian was "someone".  I told her that no, she wasn't anyone famous.  The woman refused to believe me.  This would be a reoccurrence throughout the day.  We were stopped a dozen times, and Lily even posed for a few pictures.   It was all quite hilarious.

Once in the Quarter, we happened upon the Craig Tracy Gallery. Craig, as some of you might know, is an amazing body painter and one of the judges currently on Skin Wars.  I had the opportunity to have dinner with Craig last year, a fact I shared with the gallery's manager, Phil Tracy, Craig's brother.  Phil was one of the nicest people I've met on the trip this far.  If you ever have a chance to visit the gallery, I highly encourage it.

Later we stopped at the famous Cafe du Monde for one of the best Cafe Au Laits I've ever tasted and some absolutely divine beignets.  

Soon after we ended up at Armstrong Park to catch the Jazz in the Park show with The Treme Brass Band who put on an amazing show.  It was a blast to hang with the locals, who were all very happy (and, I suspect, a bit drunk) and dancing to the booming band.  I'm pretty sure I had a shit-eating grin on my face the entire time.

We eventually left the Quarter and wandered downtown, where we promptly got lost and wandered for a few miles before finding our way back to the Quarter.  We walked the length of Bourbon Street, which is best described as a "redneck Vegas".  Very smelly, very gross.  Probably my least favorite spot so far.

Back home, with blues pouring over the house speakers, I took my second bath of the day in the glorious vintage copper tub.  We headed out to dinner at a local restaurant (who name escapes me) where Lily and I found ourselves in a very long conversation about life.  Best quote of the night:  "...and then two months later, there she was, banging the clown."

Before we knew it, the restaurant was closing, but we were told of a back patio bar they had tucked away, so we headed to the back for a nightcap and some more conversation.  Eventually we made it home and crashed out around 3am.

DAY 3

We started the day by shooting three different looks in the Wonderland parlor including a wonderful nude set on the couch, a sheer robe by the window and a beautiful burlesque gown by the fireplace and piano.

Shooting in the window was hilarious, as Lily was fairly exposed to the street.  Not sure how many passerby's actually saw her, but I'm sure there were a few.

Lily also Periscoped our third look.  I've not used the app yet, but it seems like it could be a ton of fun.  Anyone using it yet?

After the shoot, we headed to "breakfast" (it was 3pm) at Satsuma's, where we bumped into Wonderland's owner, Stacy, who looked very whimsical in a blue gingham dress and red sneakers.  Very Dorothy of Oz.  

Later in the afternoon, Lily was in the tub washing her hair.  The dye turned the water pink, so we ended up doing an impromptu shoot which ended up being some of my favorite shots on this trip so far.

Last night we attended the 7th Annual Burlesque Competition at Harrah's, where eight burlesque dancers competed for "Queen of New Orleans Burlesque".  It was one of the most amazing burlesque shows I've ever seen live.  We had amazing 3rd Row seats (thanks, Lily).

An acrobatic blonde named Stormy Gale took home the prize with her aerial moon act that had her performing crazy moves high above the stage.  I'm not surprised she won, though I was rooting for cute blonde Texan, Mary Lynn Mayhem who did a jaw dropping patriotic routine that ended with her firing off fireworks from her pasties.  'MERICA! indeed...

After the show, we headed over to House of Blues to catch a second burlesque show.  I enjoyed the show--which featured an amazing hola hooper named Valentina, a huge girl that stripped her way out of a giant hamburger costume and the sexiest lunch lady you've ever laid eyes on--but not the ridiculous drink prices (almost $40 for 2 drinks!).  

Also in attendance was a bachelorette party, complete with bride-to-be adorned with bobble-head penises on her headband.  We would later see another bride-to-be wearing a veil with a down tiny cocks sewn onto it.  Why do women do this?  Do you really want to walk around with cocks on your head all night?  Traditional/mainstream people weird me the fuck out.

It was 2am by the time we left HoB, but we weren't ready to call it a night yet, so we wandered down Bourbon Street in search of food.  The idiocy was in full effect as we dodged and ducked hundreds of drunk frat boys.  It reminded me of a scene from The Walking Dead.  Pretty terrifying.  

Eventually a very polite bouncer pointed us in the direction of Yo Mama, a bar & grill just off Bourbon.  The jukebox was pumping out some great songs, the swamp rat waitress was super sweet and it was a million times more chill and relaxed than the chaos we had just walked through.   

We chowed down on a burger and headed back out into the insanity to catch an Uber.  On the way, we saw no less than five different people being taken away on stretchers due to what I'm assuming was too much drinking. 

It's now Day 4 and we're getting ready to go shoot on this amazing metal bridge arch down the street.

On the downside:  bugs.  I've currently amazed about 30 bites in the few days that I've been here.  Definitely not fun.