Jack Vegas

Flew down this weekend for the Bills game. It was my first game since 2010 since I moved away from Louisiana.

Aside from a brief unpleasant encounter with a few obnoxious Saints fans taunting visitors (see another thread for that), it was an absolute blast.

Seats were in section 650 on the top row in one of the little "valleys" in the corner of the end zone. Now I am notoriously bad with heights, and the stairs were a little steeper than I remembered, but I absolutely LOVED these seats. You can see everything that happens on the field and sitting against the back wall was great. Still, I chose to sit down and get crunk. Standing was just not an option for me.

Last time I sat in the upper deck was 09 and the players were like specks and you couldn't even see the ball. Definitely not the case here. I won't say it was the best seat in the house, but I imagine that the price-to-value ratio is pretty much unbeatable.

I really appreciate that they have reworked the escalators. Not having that one long escalator to the top made it a lot easier for me and my acrophobia tendencies.

I had one beer. It was $9. Kind of outrageous, but whatever. People who ordered cokes were getting a really cool black Saints cup with pics of various players. I told the vendor, "man for 9 bucks I'd like to at least get a collector's cup instead of the clear one." He said he had to serve the beer in a regular cup, stadium rules, but he waved down one of his co-workers and she brought me a collector's cup. Now that is customer service right there. I saw four more cups that people had left behind on the way down the stairs. Why would anybody leave those behind? They're awesome. I happily scooped them all up.

Plenty of awesome Saints fans in the surrounding seats, despite my earlier diatribe. Made friends with a couple folks, one couple which just happens to live less than 30 miles from me in Ky. My wife and I are going to their house next weekend to watch the game. Also made friends with the Bills fans sitting near us. Bought them drinks later after a chance encounter at Crescent City Brewhouse.

Night before: Had dinner at a place called LeBayou on Bourbon. Now, I would NEVER EVER EVER have chosen to eat at any restaurant on Bourbon, but two of the girls in our group insisted on it,and they were right. It was AMAZING. Go there. Get the fried alligator. Trust me, it is awesome. The shrimp po-boy and stuffed catfish were also fantastic. I had a foodgasm.

Walking down Canal, walked right by a jewelry store across from the Saenger. Just as we passed it, I hear voices screaming "Freeze!! Get down!!" Turned around just in time to see 3 NOPD's take down this dude who had apparently tried to rob the store. You could tell the first-time tourists, because they scattered. Everybody else turned and gawked. I've got a great shot of this guy getting his face smacked into the concrete. Haha.

The hotel shuttle to the airport early next morning was full of Saints fans, as was my connecting flight to Houston. We even got a small Who Dat chant started on the plane. Sure that woke up the other passengers at 5:30 a.m.

It was a good trip home and I miss it already.

AsylumGuido

LeBayou is our "go to" place for the pre-game meal. I always get the gator poboy. In fact, we introduced our very own Sgt. Hulka to it one game and he also had the gator. I will absolutely stop there for the traditional meal Sunday afternoon before the Sunday night game with Dallas!

AsylumGuido

Oh, and Hulka, I haven't forgotten that drink that you owe me.

Jack Vegas

Also ran into the remnants of the Saturday Halloween parade, saw a stormtrooper on a motorcycle (sweet), took a pic on the street with a guy dressed like Rob Ryan (complete with playcard, double sweet), had a po-boy at Popeyes served to me by surly waitress (Popeyes just isn't Popeyes without attitude), paid 14 bucks for a double Irish whiskey, then immediately paid another 30 bucks for a couple more; petted a giant cockroach at the Insectarium, got overcharged at Cafe du Monde, somehow piled 9 people (7 of us being rather fat people) into one taxi van, watched a guy get berated by the bartender at the Holiday Inn Superdome bar for bringing in outside food, hugged a homeless man and gave him 5 dollars, got kicked out of Scores for videoing two seconds of a lap dance, and had the traditional hangover meal at the Canal St. McDonalds (you want a quarter-pounder? Too bad, you'll get chicken Mcnuggets and you'll like it).

LOL. There is more I'm sure, it was all kind of a blur.

Srgt. Hulka

Yes Sir! It was great! I would recommend it to anyone. Thanks again Guido!



Oh I haven't forgotten either. One day we'll get together and I wll be happy to buy you that drink...or two. Long Island Iced Tea if I remember correctly. Tell your lovely wife hello for me.

homerj07

Sounds like a great time was had by all.

TheOak

Is it the Gator by content or theme? Fried alligator rocks.

Garry42

I hope I have half as much fun in a couple weeks!!

AsylumGuido

It is fried alligator. Almost as good as what I cook at home.

AsylumGuido

I had forgotten that you took that picture. LOL! Those are my hands about to dig into my poboy after loading it up with an adequate dose of Tobasco.

And you are correct! Long Island Iced Tea is my "go to" pregame spirit!