And nothin's gonna bring your sweet, sweet baby back again. His grim welcome tempered my expectations of Southern hospitality. Finally reaching the rented room, I felt electric from the danger, real or not. . . . The nighttime is the right time in New Orleans. Bourbon Street flashes with lights and flesh.
Music pours out into the milling crowd.
Tourists and sinseekers parade up and down Bourbon and Royal in a sacred circle. They aimlessly ramble, looking everywhere but ahead. The Marigny is a hipper and funkier neighborhood immediately adjacent to the French Quarter. The main drag is Frenchmen Street, specifically three blocks jam-packed with restaurants and clubs. Reggae riddims, hardcore goth disco, and Brazilian drums compete for an audience.