In which Kate does not flash anybody, but gets beads nonetheless.

Thursday night’s entertainment was an external trip to New Orlean’s most famous street – Rue Bourbon, or the-street-packed-end-to-end-with-bars. Ten publishers and author groups hosted ten different pubs along the street, handing out beads (all of them), swag (most of them), and free drinks (some of them). Bonus points to those of you who can figure out which were the most popular!

The general idea was to visit each pub and publishing group, collect beads, and then head back to the Marriott to collect a prize. This became harder as the crowds got denser, and the parties got more fun (shoutout to Razzoos, who were playing awesome 90s/early 2000s hip-hop and rap and offering personal invites to the dance floor). I didn’t make it there, but I also heard that Samhain’s Party at The Swamp went off as well.

Outside each of the bars, a helpful cover model in a bright yellow t-shirt was there to direct party-goers to the right door. Chaz, the final winner of the now defunct Mr Romance competition provided pole dances (on a lamp post) for drinks, and proved to be very popular, if not completely coordinated.

Another, whose name I’ve since forgotten, provided alternatives to the popular Hurricane drink, attempting to covert everyone to a Handgrenade instead. Frankly, neither were to my taste (overheard: Oh My God, that tastes like petrol), but they were certainly strong, and I think that’s real point on Bourbon Street anyways. I gave up after two sips, but from what I understand, by the tenth or twelfth, it gets quite bearable, and then from the 20th you can’t taste anything anyway!

Sadly, I’m under strict instructions to not share photos taken during our pub crawl, to protect the less-than-innocent. However, should I ever wish to get into the blackmail business, I’m sure that I’d be well-placed!

The crawl proved very popular, and the beads at each location soon ran out. I think we managed to collect 5 of the 10, and then had to make do with postcards and bookmarks instead.

In the Swag stakes, 1001 Dark Nights absolutely won the night, with a bag full of swag, and drink tickets that never ran out – congratulations, guys, and thanks for all the books!

Next Up: A Night of Magic and Mayhem.