Bourbon Street and Bath Time

One evening we went out for an evening of enjoyment in the Big Easy ("we" being me, Morey, and my co-worker Sabaa who is also one of Morey's favorite friends). NOLA is not the most accessible city for several reasons; for me one of the biggest challenges was the condition of the roads and sidewalks. Whether it was due to water damage from flooding after Hurricane Katrina or to lack of upkeep, there were huge chunks missing from the sidewalks and uneven patches that made it seem like an obstacle course.I had to pay strict attention to where I was going or risk taking a tumble. Luckily we weren't in too much of a hurry so I could stop and take it all in.

As a service dog partner, there are times when you know you are about to put your dog in a situation you wish you could avoid. That was the case when we went out to Bourbon Street and beyond. I knew it would be dirty, loud, and crowded, and I wished I could have left Morey behind. I probably could have left him in the hotel room, but I was hesitant to leave him on his own. So, off we went for a night of adventuring!

As we wandered down Bourbon St., Morey got several compliments from passersby. He even got serenaded with a drunken rendition of "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog". When we stopped for dinner, Morey curled up and seemed to fall asleep. I knew better: in stressful situations Morey "shuts down" and tries to block out his environment. Once again, I felt guilty for bringing him someplace I knew would be stressful for him.

After dinner we went to the Preservation Hall to enjoy some jazz music. Although the inside of the Hall wasn't accessible, I could sit right outside the door and have an upfront view of the band. Where I was sitting the only place for Morey was directly behind me. There was a suspicious puddle of liquid on the floor and I just sighed as Morey laid down in it, resigning myself to the fact that a bath was going to be necessary when we returned to the hotel. Morey  tried to lick himself off, which I discouraged since I wasn't exactly sure what the liquid was (and wasn't sure I wanted to know).

After the craziness of the street, Morey seemed to enjoy the jazz music, especially the high notes of the saxaphone. When the performance was over, I gave Morey a few dollars to go tip the band, since I couldn't get up to where they were sitting. That earned him more than his fair share of attention and hopefully made up for some of the unpleasantness he had endured earlier in the evening.

A benefit of having a Deaf roommate was that I could bathe Morey at 11pm when we returned to the hotel without worrying about waking her up! Thankfully the accessible shower with a hand-held sprayer made it easy to shampoo Morey and wash him off. I had considered making him sleep on the floor and waiting until the morning to bathe him, but then decided it would be mean to kick him off the bed for the night just because I had made him come with me to dirty places. So, nice and clean, we both slept well after an evening of adventures in the Big Easy (more pictures to come from that night soon).