My 2nd time ever staying at a hostel

My second time ever staying at a hostel was in New Orleans and it cost $16 a night. 
The first person I met there was a man who was about middle aged and dressed like an explorer. He walked into the dorm and we started talking. 
That's what I was starting to love about hostels; They are generally an open environment and very easy to meet people. I had read that they are like that but I was still surprised at how much of a sense of community I got from hostels. The first one I ever stayed at didn't have too many people in it while I was there, so I was still realizing what being a hostel stayer was like.
I told the man that I wanted to travel for 2 years and that I had just left home 2 weeks before. He said that he had also traveled for 2 years and now he is walking the Mississippi river. I was surprised. 
I had never met anyone else who have actually done what I'm doing. I remember thinking, Damn, that guy has lived my dream and now mine has only just begun. 

Later that night, someone in the hostel started talking to me. He sounded a bit redneck too and he was really friendly. He said I said go outside and have some beers.He led me outside to an area where several others were sitting around a table. 
He said, "hey everyone, this is Ben. He's going to hang out with y'all for a bit" and then he walked away. I thought that when he said I should come out, he was going to as well but I guess he had something to do, so he introduced me and left?
    Anyway, I sat down and drank beer and talked. I found out that they weren't just guests at the hostel; they lived there and paid rent every month.. They said that people from all over and other countries come and go. I was surprised that people were living at that hostel. They worked in construction and seemed to enjoy staying there.
The conversations were funny. The guy to my right, liked the idea of recording with my camera. The man sitting to my left was an old man with a big grizzly beard and everyone called him Pops.
I talked with him and recorded some of the things he said throughout our conversation.
I think it was a great video, feel free to check it out.
The man was a war veteran and I'm grateful to have listened to what he had to say.

Interesting Things in New Orleans

After going to Niagara Falls I decided to go to New Orleans.
It was too expensive to take a direct flight from Buffalo. After searching, I found that Southwest Airlines had a great flight deal from Charlotte, North Carolina to New Orleans! It was cheaper to take a bus from Buffalo to NYC and then transfer to another bus going to Charlotte and then taking that cheap flight to New Orleans. Being a vagabond and making travel money last longer is kind of like a game. A game that I enjoy.

It took more than one day to make that cheaper transit option and I spent a night camping while in Charlotte.  

I flew into New Orleans on my 23rd birthday. Of course the freaking airport was in the middle of nowhere, which I learned is how it usually is everywhere after getting more travel experience.

  I looked for public buses to the city but didn't find any. The only way out of there was either to walk all day, take a taxi, or if you reserved a hotel which offered hotel pickup.

I didn't book anything ahead. I had only stayed at a hostel once in my life and was still new to my travelling lifestyle so I wanted to go to the city and look at the different hostels first. I had a few addresses written down that I looked up before arriving. 

This was on the inside of the taxi I took

After finding a hostel, I went to explore the city.

There were lots of shops and a lot of those shops sold alligator heads... Or they could have been crocodile heads. I don't know the difference and I really don't care about being all technical and scientific. The point is they looked cool.

I also went into a store called Hippie Gypsy. Inside they had a picture of the United States with all states and it was labeled and color coded to show the marijuana laws and age of consent of every state. wow. It was titled, The Grey Areas of the Red, White, and Blue. I apologize for the glares on the picture.

Here are some pictures I took in a couple more shops...

While I was walking around New Orleans that day, a woman (well, I think she was a woman anyway but I'm not completely sure) with crazy hair that stood up and also was holding a Huge glass of some sorta red liquid (probably alcohol) looked at me as I was walking by and held out her drink and said "hey baby, you want a sip?"

She looked like a person whose name was probably Riesha or something. By the way, Riesha (pronounced Rye-eesha) is a fake name that I made up to call people who are tacky looking.

Anyway, she kept trying to talk to me like "hey, you going to the football game later?" I said something like "nope, fuck football" and walked away quickly. Don't be mad if you're a person who likes football; I was just trying to get her to stop talking to me.

Also, I walked down the famous street that everyone always talks about, Bourban Street. I came back to that street again at night it was a lot more active. Anyway, while I walking down the street during the day, a young woman was walking in front of me then an old guy comes from around the corner and bends over right in front of her and says "fuck me!" 

I'm pretty sure she didn't know the man and wasn't too happy about that.

I went into a restaurant later and ordered the Gumbo and Po' Boy Special.  I had no idea what a gumbo or po' boy was. 

That's why I ordered it. 

The Gumbo and Po' Boy Special
It was tasty! :)

I also checked out some of the art in the city...

lol

And I found some cool looking buildings...

The sign just said Bar

New Orleans also had a lot of gay pride...

When It got dark I went to Bourbon street and it was very crowded and also one big party! There was lots of bars and some strip clubs.

I had never drunk a daiquiri before in my life and I decided to try one since New Orleans is famous for them. I went into a place called Big Easy Daiquiris and ordered a large one. It was good but it gave me the biggest chest freeze in my life. 

I don't get brain freezes. I never have; I don't know why? 

Maybe, I don't have much of a brain? No, maybe my brain is just too powerful to get them! However, I do get chest freezes. :(

Next, I went into a voodoo shop. Not that I was intending to do any voodoo but I wanted to see what it was like inside. What pissed me off was that I was not allowed to take film or pictures inside. I wonder why? Would spirits attack me if I did?

All over the street were signs advertising the Hand Grenade as

New Orleans most powerful drink. It was even more popular than the Hurricane drink! I saw many people walking around drinking from the green tubes. I went and bought one. I have no idea what's in it.

 It was good though. Actually, I really would like to drink one now as I'm writing this!

The Hand Grenade

A church near Bourbon Street

I might have been a little bit drunk ^^

This is the end of this post. Thanks for reading.   :)