Sister-in-law, P.I. and the case of the missing joie de vivre

She had only just rolled into town, but it was long enough to recognize that something was missing.

Somewhere between the house hunting, the packing, the unpacking and the demands of a middle schooler whose capacity for demand is, as they say in these parts, a Category 5, the joie had gone out of the whole moving experience for my sister-in-law, a licensed private investigator who specializes in making the rest of us seem really dull.

If there is rum fun to be found in a 50-mile radius, My Sister-in-law, P.I., is going to find it.  This is a lesson many of us in the family have learned the hard way, in venues ranging from biker pool halls to transvestite karaoke clubs. 

So it is no surprise really, to learn that within minutes of unpacking the first last of the boxes, she makes the following discovery in her new neighborhood on the Louisiana coast: drive-through daiquiri shops.

"They're everywhere," she tells me. They are apparently not kidding about the whole bon temps rouler thing in these parts.

From $4 for a 12 ounce cup, up to $22 a gallon, the adult residents of Greater New Orleans can drive away with a margarita or a daiquiri in flavors ranging from "alligator" to "quaalude."  Happy hour is from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.  

In my neighborhood, the hours between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. are devoted to lawn maintenance.  Transvestite karaoke, as I learned during my sister-in-law's visit last summer, starts a little later.

Comments

[Paulita]

And I had a job offer in New Orleans those many years ago. What was I thinking going to Florida? I miss all the fun.

[Seriously, Jess]

I'm guessing drive-thru margarita joints and liquor stores are coping mechanisms for oppressive heat and humidity and ginormous bugs.

For me, in the Midwest, I'm ok mixing my own.

[Suburban Kamikaze]

You're probably right. I don't see the drive-through frozen cocktail thing catching on around here. Mulch, on the other hand, would be huge.

SK

[Suburban Kamikaze]

Sadly, P, it is true that you missed out on a lot of fun. But we made some videos for you. Just be sure the children are all in bed before you watch them.

SK

[LouLou]

This is an interesting town, New Orleans. Yes you are right, between humidity around 200% and lovebugs whose name is decieving, we need something like a drivethru daiquiri place.