We talk, constantly about the benefits of solo travel, how we discover so many things about ourselves and end up loving ourselves even more after traveling alone. I did so, travelled to New Orleans my favorite place in the entire United States, and discovered that I was a scaredy cat. I could not trust myself to go anywhere alone; anywhere that was outside my comfy AirBnB room that is. On the night of my second day there, I decided enough was enough (not really) and called an Uber (baby steps people) to go get food. As they always say, “if nothing will get you out, hunger will”. Let's just say I had heard way too many stories about how the Popeye’s in Louisiana tasted so much better than anywhere else that I could not leave without trying at least that, and so off I went.
My Uber arrived and I shamefully slinked in; me the person who could not walk 3 miles to the Popeye’s because what would I do by myself in a city unknown?
The driver was a godsend for so many reasons. Upon getting in, I was prepared to be my usual grumpy-will-not-talk-to-anyone-let’s-just-drive-and-go self (an Uber driver once called me that), however this driver Stan would not let me. The first thing he said to me was “Well you don’t look dressed for work”. Yes, I had dressed up in one of my favorite dresses just to stay home. I answered that I was just grabbing food and someway somehow launched into my tirade of how this was my first time coming to New Orleans and I had not been anywhere yet because I could not figure out what to do with myself. I had a list of all the places I wanted to see and go, but for the life of me, I could not do it by myself.
Stan looked at me like I was insane and asked why? I could not give him a suitable answer. We then passed conversation about our individual lives; his jobs and past experiences, my college, my major, where I was from and even my accent. In my whole life, his was the only question about my accent and my background which did not sound condescending.
We got to Popeye’s, I got my food and reluctantly turned to go home. I proceeded to change the destination back to my AirBnB when he stopped me and put his meter off, saying “I cannot let you come to my city and leave without seeing it”. I was shocked and did not know whether to be afraid that some man was taking me in his car with his Uber meter off and could kill me without anyone noticing, or to be excited that I was going to see New Orleans at night most likely for free. I thought real fast and realized God would probably not let anyone kill me and that my friends would probably look for me after a while anyways.
And so I told him to please go ahead and had the most wonderful ride of my life.
Mid-city New Orleans at night, is one of the most peaceful scenic places ever. I watched and took pictures of the beautiful streetcar illuminating the night, I saw the huge houses of St Charles Avenue- houses I hope to one day live in and I saw the French Quarter at night. Bourbon street is nothing short of lit at all times of the day, so one can only imagine how it goes at night. I sat in the car and took in all the scenes. Jackson Park, Harrah’s Casino, the tourists and locals strolling up French Quarter and the streets, the horse carriages taking people around, the museums, the art galleries on Warehouse District and Magazine street, all of it while munching on the best fast food ever. The most memorable part of the night though was Stan. I was not only amazed by his hospitality; the kind only rivaled by that of the Ghanaian people, but his commentary of the city’s sights and how he shared his life with me was just beautiful. He told me how the only reason why he could give me the history of all the sights he pointed out was because he had once been a tour guide. He regaled me with stories of his years as a soldier in Kenya and made me laugh with his imitations of the Kenyan men being aggressive to prevent him and his from taking their women. He talked about Ivory Coast, Japan, all these countries and talked to me as a human being, a Ghanaian and not just an African. We compared and contrasted how men around the world were possessive of women they thought as theirs for the taking and complained together that these men usually do not end up taking the women. He made me laugh, talk about things I do not even discuss with close friends and gave me renewed faith in humanity.
I cannot even begin to understand how we hit it off so fast to delve into the things we did. We talked about his marriages, his failings as a husband and his successes as a father. We discussed the weaknesses of men and women and humans in general. It was a two-hour life-changing ride that I would give anything for. I mean what comes close to seeing the city that makes your heart sing at night; all the parts that have gone to sleep and the parts that have come alive, while munching on excellent tasting Popeye’s chicken and having a heart-baring conversation? Nothing. At the end of the night, when the ride came to an end like all good things do, I bade him farewell and thanked him for his gesture which I will never forget. And when the bill of just $8.99 came up on my phone, I truly realized the meaning of how the most important things, the most valuable things are priceless.
