2008 Trip – I loved New Orleans so much, I decided to return the following
year. This time at Halloween as I’d always wanted to celebrate
Halloween in the US because I know they do it in style and make a huge festival
out of it. And where better to celebrate than in the home town of the Queen of
the Macabre, Anne Rice. I made sure that we all had tickets to her famous
Vampire Lestat Ball, which was held in The Garden District and to
town with my costume.
I have to say though the locals really know how to
create realistic Vampire costumes. We even found a shop that fitted vampire
veneers and contacts. I decided to go pre-vampire bite.
Other watering holes that deserve a mention was the Carousel
Bar. Named so because if you didn’t sit in one place your stool would be on the
other side of the bar as the whole bar rotated slowly around the room, whilst
drinking Martini cocktails and listening to a live pianist.
Another was the Pirates Bar by the
Jackson Square church, where the psychics all sit out during the day under
parasols and give you tarot readings. I wasn’t impressed by reading, so I won’t
dwell on it. All the tour guides met at the Pirates Bar and we were very much
made to feel welcome. I think they liked the English accent!
We went to a Jazz evening, which was very cultural and
enjoyable. I even bought the bands CD, which was signed by the members and I’m
very proud to say I own. I now play the CD whenever I want to return to NO in
my head.
The two best places though was Prague, a very Gothic and
atmospheric bar with a gorgeous courtyard out back filled with beautiful
scented flowers. Inside the décor was dark, mysterious, with red velvet drapes
Chaise lounges and chandeliers. Love it! And finally The Dungeon. Wow what a
club. Dark, dingy and grungy. Naturally this place like so many other great places in New Orleans had to appear in My Fourth Book in the Beyond Series - Lycan Lamia for the final reveal scene. 
We took our new travellers to a different
Plantation this time and we entered the sanctity of a real voodoo temple and
voodoo shop. Again I described all of these places in great detail in my last
book, but in a nutshell the different alters to different deities had a
plethora of offerings that made the temple and shop look like a cluttered
brik-a-brac shop.
Fascinating places though. Here's a typical alter to Papa Legba. Most people seem afraid of Voodoo, but it actually is like everything else that's mysterious and mystical, some people (especially the film industry) take pagan rituals to a dark place!
I also had the opportunity to look
around two of the houses used in the film Interview with a Vampire and a museum
based in merchants old Spanish style house around Jackson Square.
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