The crawfish weren’t the only thing boiling

We were expecting a hot time in New Orleans, but they didn’t have to be quite so literal about it.

When my wife and I decided to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary in the Big Easy, the Big Easy decided to welcome us with record high temperatures.

It was late May, but the temperature was in the middle to upper 90s everyday we were there.

In case you’ve forgotten your geography — or never learned it — the city of New Orleans is located smack dab between two large bodies of water — the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain.

That means, no matter what the season, there’s usually one thing that’s pretty constant about the weather there, and that’s the humidity.

It meant that it felt more like 100 degrees or better for most of the four days we were there. But despite that, we managed to have a good time in New Orleans.

Our motel was located on Rampart Street, on the north edge of the French Quarter, so we quickly developed a routine for our days.

We would get up in the morning and have breakfast at the motel, then start walking around the French Quarter, shopping or checking out the sites. After lunch somewhere in the Quarter, we’d head back to the motel, get a shower, maybe a nap, change our clothes and then head back into the Quarter for a little more sightseeing, dinner and then partying or viewing the night life along Bourbon Street and vicinity.

It was the first time I’d ever been to New Orleans. Terry had been there before, but more than three decades ago, when she was still a pre-teen.

It had been long enough that she couldn’t repeat one of the highlights of that visit this time.

It seems that she and her mother, who had lived all their lives up north, went into a Woolworth’s looking for a soda and proceeded to sit down at the wrong end of the lunch counter at a time when customers were separated by race south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

After enduring some baleful stares from the staff and patrons, they were finally educated to the ways of life in the pre-Civil Rights Act south.

There was no danger of repeating that on this trip, as the French Quarter and New Orleans today are color blind — but still quite colorful.

For instance, along Bourbon Street we saw Abe Lincoln, Uncle Sam and Muhammad Ali, along with a variety of street musicians, dancers and magicians, a gold-painted living statue — and a silver-painted one — and even a man who would tell you pirate jokes for $1. Where else can you see all that free entertainment all on one street?

Terry even spotted Honest Abe one night playing a video poker machine in one of the bars along Bourbon Street. At least she didn’t spot him in Harrah’s Casino when we dropped in there, playing the penny slot machines.

The French Quarter, which is the original section of New Orleans, is like a 19th Century city dropped into the middle of a modern metropolis. It’s only a mile wide and half a mile deep, so it’s easy to walk around, and you walk down streets lined with buildings two centuries old, while the skyscrapers of the rest of the city loom over the neighborhood like man-made mountains in the distance.

We found out that the French Quarter is two different worlds, like night and day — literally.

At night, they close off Bourbon and Royal streets to traffic, the bars and stores throw their doors open wide. That was even more cause to linger in front of them while walking down Bourbon Street for a blast of cold air from the air conditioning inside.

You’re even allowed to carry open drinks on Bourbon and Royal streets — as long as they’re in plastic containers, not glass or aluminum.

As a result, we saw people carrying signs advertising “Big A** Beers” for sale — only without the asterisks. That wasn’t the name of a local brewery, it was a 32-ounce plastic mug of beer.

While we did sample — and enjoy — some of the local brews, we didn’t try the “Big A** Beer.” My days of consuming that much beer at once are behind me, I’m afraid.

We also sampled another of the famous local libations, the Hurricane. It’s a New Orleans invention that’s basically half-rum, half several different fruit juices, and all good. We had those several nights in a row and even brought back souvenir glasses — after we’d emptied them, of course.

In many of the restaurants and bars, you can eat or drink — or both — while watching the street life from the second floor balcony or gallery. And there is a difference in New Orleans — balconies are freestanding and self-supporting, while galleries are supported by poles or columns.

From up above, or at street level, we enjoyed the party life on Bourbon Street. NEXT WEEK: We sampled not just the libations but also the cuisine in N’awlins.