New Orleans Part 4

 Today is Barrett-Jackson day! It was slightly overcast and a bit of rain was predicted, but since were were going to be inside all day, it really wasn’t an issue. We had our breakfast at our Cafe on the Square and then walked down to the convention centre. It’s a 15-ish minute walk,  and when we were about a block away we could hear the screech of the tires, see the haze of the burning rubber and smell the aroma of warm brakes. Hot Laps!

So, I was a little surprised at how many people here, in Cranbrook, have never heard of Barrett-Jackson, and even more surprised at how many down there had never heard of it, considering it’s a massive event, held annually in Scottsdale and Palm Springs, and occasionally in other places like Reno, Vegas and now New Orleans. It’s a huge auto auction where you can see every kind of car imaginable being auctioned off. I mean from old Model A’s to every decade in between right up to the Not-Yet-For-Sale 2024’s. It’s incredible! 

When I booked the tickets online,  I just printed them out, as one does if one is from my era, but I also downloaded them to the phone, as one does in today’s era. That was in August. Then, about a week before we left I got an email saying that I could upgrade to VIP status, which would include access to the staging lanes, a private venue right up front, complimentary drinks and food. I figured “Why not?” You only go around once, right? The email said if you upgraded before Sept 8, your passes would be mailed to you, if it was after that, you would get them at the Will Call. All fine and dandy. Going to the Will Call works for me.

Then, 3 days before we were to fly, don’t I get an email saying that “Your tickets have been shipped.”?? !!! I had a bit of a panic about that, to say the least! 

I had all my confirmation numbers and whatnot, so I knew that while it might be a pain at the gates, I’d still get in. But, all my worry was for naught, Fed-Ex came through and they got here on time. Included with the VIP package was an invite to the opening night gala, cocktail attire to be worn. Ha! Nice invite, but as if. I seriously do not own a dress, never mind something “cocktail attire-ish”. I would have been horribly uncomfortable anyhow. 

But back to Day One of the auction. Outside the venue, they have Hot Laps. It’s a lap around a track in a high performance car, this year it was sponsored by Dodge and Toyota. It was early and there were no line-ups, so we quickly signed our waivers and went for a spin. It’s SO fun! The drivers are professional race car drivers, and I have no idea who mine was, but man, could he drive. I’m surprised that there aren’t more cases of whiplash. Thus the waivers I suppose. He told me that that they have to put on new tires every 35 laps. We each took a spin in both a Dodge and Toyota. After that rush, we went inside the venue, through all the security, bag checks etc. It’s a “clear bag policy”, meaning exactly that…no purses at all, everything in a specifically sized clear bag. They sent us two with our ticket package, luckily. You feel sort of dorky, with all your things being so visible, but everyone was in the same boat. 

The convention centre is just incredibly large.It has 1.1 million square feet of exhibit space and just over 3 million square feet in total (which includes bathrooms, restaurants etc) The front of it is over a kilometre long. You don’t want to get all the way in there and realize you’ve forgotten something in your car!

So we wandered through the astounding amount of vehicles that are displayed, and then found our seating area. Here are some of the incredible cars. When you get to the green Toyota Landcruiser, look closely at the back window. You will see Steven looking sadly through it as that is identical to our old vehicle, which sold at this auction for $58,000 US dollars. 😮

(Above) That’s the corner of our table, so you can see how close we were.

There was everything from Maserati’s to McLaren’s to Lamborghini’s as well as older ones from the 40’s and 50’s, those ones are my favourites. They always make me think of gangsters and Dick Tracy!

Before the cars get auctioned each day, they have a 2 hour auction of “automobilia” items. There was a 1920’s gas pump that went for $368,000 US dollars! Yes, you read that right! That fellow must have some Man Cave. 

This (above) was our private area right by the staging lanes. We chose to sit at the “bar” area where you can see that fellow dressed in red. You are literally 2 or 3 feet away from the cars, and no one in front of you to block your view. 

This (above) struck me as funny, the boss was showing the younger employees how to properly shine the vehicles, but using the mini-bikes as an example. But I guess if someone is going to polishing your million dollar car, you want them to know exactly what their doing!

There were also a lot of vendors selling other items, including, oddly enough, a fur coat area. In this heat? Who on earth will wear fur? They seemed to be selling though, so what do I know?

Unusual flavours of potato chips.

Below. Strange things for sale. All blown glass.

The auction goes really fast, a car is sold approximately every minute, so you really have no chance to be bored, and if you do need a break there was an area with comfy tables and chairs and live music playing, and lots of food trucks.

It was an amazing first day.

The auction ended at 5 pm, we left about 20 minutes prior to that because there was an awesome restaurant a block away that I wanted to try. It’s called “Mulate’s. I wanted to get there before the hoards of auction goers got there.

This legendary restaurant located in New Orleans, Louisiana is recognized throughout the world as the King of Cajun Dine and Dance halls. Mulate’s features live Cajun music and dancing along with great home-cooked Cajun food seven days a week. Mulate’s is a place where Cajuns come to celebrate their heritage and the world comes to join them in their celebration.

Above. He had jumbo shrimp, oysters, catfish and green beans. Below, I had alligator and frog’s legs. As they say, tastes like pork, tastes like chicken.

After we ate (and got to listen to some great music) we walked downriver to the area where the steamboats are (as we are going on one of those later in the week and I always like to make sure I know where things are ahead of time), it’s a really pretty area, lots of benches and grassy knolls to sit on. 

As I mentioned before New Orleans is so much more compact that you would think from looking on a map and so easy to get around in, that before we knew it…we were back on Bourbon Street! 

Saints & Sinners is Channing Tatum’s restaurant. We were’t hungry, but popped in for a beer.

After wandering through Bourbon Street for the second time, we headed back to out hotel. Stopped at a CVS and bought a 15 pack of small water bottles…best decision ever! 

Walked about 15km today and slept like the proverbial logs.