Tom

Could blame my laptop's power supply for dying halfway through the trip, and hence not posting the trip report.  But in fact, I plain forgot.

So, what happened?

Arrived late Saturday night, in the darkest of dark Southern nights, to be transported across a seemingly endless vista of light industrial plains until finally the mountains of the CBD reared their heads in front of me.  Dropping down off the mountain trail into the creekbed below, the conveyance suddenly turned into a dark tunnel which opened out into a dimly lit cave disguised as the Regency Hyatt foyer.  Upon further exploration however, the cave opened out into a magnificent chamber rising a hundred metres or more and lit by a plethora of twinkling lights.

Sunday was spent trying to finish my papers for the symposium I was attending, unsuccessfully.  Slipped out briefly for dinner with a couple of UK colleagues who were there, then back for more writing.

Monday was into the ASTM committee ring with tag team subcommittee meetings going in different corners.  When the action got hot in one corner, additional support would rally from the other corner, and vice versa.  Of course, some contests were more interesting to the spectators than others, and so gained much heavier attendance and participation.

At the end of a long day, we retired for some rest and recuperation down Bourbon Street.  One of the Chicago contingent (and there were many) wanted to check out some dive called the Gumbo Stop or something similar.  Not bad me thinks ... a table for 12 with no booking with a wait of no more than 10 minutes.  Strolled back along the B Street, and members of our party were most taken by the silhouettes in the windows.  Amazing how real some of those shadows looked!  "Better than the real thing" one member was heard to mutter.

Tuesday was more action in the ring, although with less passion after our exertions of the previous day.  Then I spent 12 hours trying to finish my papers.

The big day of the symposium dawned bright and early (and I was still writing).  Some good papers.  Some great papers.  And the rest.  Including mine.  Part way through the morning I turned round to find myself looking at the name tag of an eminent BP member.  Kent Diebolt had rocked along to hear about dimension stone cladding.  So we had lunch together (the Po'Boys are just a roll by another name!) and a drink or two later in the evening.  [PS If you are reading this Kent, I haven't forgotten the standards I promised to send you]

Come the end of a torrid day in the symposium hall, and not enough talking in the lobby, we headed down to Bourbon Street for another relaxation session.  This time there was no pressure on performance for the morrow, so no quarter was asked (and only the French quarter was given).

After a hearty steak (which I'm afraid to say I failed to finish ... there is such a thing as TOO MUCH MEAT) somewhere, we headed across the street to Pat O'Briens where some hurricane damage was inflicted.  Most of the party headed back to the hotel pleading early flights as an excuse, and I wandered on and checked out an assortment of bars with blues and jazz and bands and .... 

Don't remember much about Thursday, but I did manage to drag myself out late in the afternoon, and jumped the St Charles streetcar to the end and back.  WOW.  What a sublime way to spend a sunny afternoon.  Would have been good to do it on a bicycle.  Easy to stop wherever you please.  Great suburban sights.

And finished up with dinner at Mulate's where the food was pleasant and the music and dancing great.  A real change from the pace of the night before.  And heritage in action.  That's smart business.

So, my fleeting glimpse of N'Awlins was much less than it could have been, but considering what I was there for, still gives me a snapshot to store away with many others from my travels.

Cheers

david