Thrill Side!

Like thousands of immigrants, or should I say  millions, my parents sacrificed a whole lot for a better life for my sister, brother and I. They left their homeland, and family behind.I have a great job now,I have my own business too. I like to think that all that is evidence of my parents sacrifices not going in vain. I’m super thankful.

We all grew up in deep east Oakland. Most of us  from the 60s to 100s. We’ve all been through our share of trouble, some more than others. It’s a great feeling being able to take these trips with each other even if it’s once a year, I think it’s real cool that we keep in touch and hang out here and there.

Last year we went to Denver to watch the Raiders play the Broncos, this year we all agreed with New Orleans.

As soon as we got off the the plane we got hit with that humidity. FUCK! it was almost as hot as me out there. Our sweat was sweating.

We stayed at the Marriott on Canal street. We did not get a rental since bourbon street was a few blocks away as well as the Super Dome and plenty of other must go to spots, with exception of the swamp tour.

We checked in and headed straight to Bourbon street to eat.

My boy Manny rocking 50 shades of yellow.

Ate at Pier 424 Seafood market , also my favorite food spot from that trip. I had Frog legs. They tasted something between chicken and fish.

This was pretty tasty too, if I remember correctly it is was blackened fish.Fresh catch of the day served with seasonal steamed vegetables and chicken and andouille sausage jambalaya.

Had some of this local beer.


We walked around, had some Hurricanes and looked around the gift shops.



The Raider nation was DEEEEP!
man it was awesome to see so many fans all over the place. Did not even look or feel like we were the visiting team. Bourbon street was packed, even ran into a bunch of folks from back home.






This woman pretended to show her boobs, and a man pretended to reward her with beads (Homie don’t play that)
The homie Alex and Silvi bought some Huge ass beers, I swear I saw them walking around with them for hours. They could not finish them lol.



We hung out on Bourbon street untill like 4 in the morning, chanting, drinking, eating, dancing.

Some people slept there.

The next morning we ate breakfast in the lobby and headed to a swamp tour that the homies had booked for us. Waiting on the shuttle in front of the hotel we saw this lady rocking this unique shirt.

On the way there on the shuttle we saw a lot of houses who had been raised significantly due to the horrible Hurricane Katrina disaster.


During our swamp tour it started pouring rain on us so I don’t have many photos.





We saw a few gators along with other birds and some fish that kept jumping out of the water. The whole experience was awesome and the rain soaked us and enhanced it. I recommend it.



We went back to the hotel, freshened up and went to hit this “must try” spot called Mothers. There was a long line which moved fairly quickly .We all pretty much agreed that it was nothing amazing or life changing. It had a better history than it did flavor.

My homie Alex just here, chillin. With a whole chicken on his plate.

We left Mothers , chilled at the Marriot for a bit and then back to Bourbon st. Had to wait on another elevator cause we were too deep.

Bourbon st is filled with characters. Brides to be, birthday girls,Shoe shiners, Raiders super fans, strippers, you name it.





And everywhere I go, I run into someone who’s nickname is “Beast”.  Check this guy out, had it tatted on his knuckles.


We hung out on Bourbon st. till about 4am with the Raider Nation.
It was real cool running into people so far away from home rocking the brand.

Some of the crew taking in all that was going on.

The next morning , some were woken up by the homie D-bo. D-bo had the room next door and he was banging and scratching  on the walls and door tying to get in, sounding like a puppy anxious to greet his master. We opened the door and this dude looking like a mexican Ja-rule. HOLLLLAAAAAA!!!!

We had a quick breakfast at the lobby and marched down the street to the stadium.




People wanted to take photos of us and everything.
The hospitality was great too, quite a few locals genuinely thanked us for going over and wished us a good time.




The homie Juice and his Signature pose with the Beast Oakland flag.



That Super Dome is a fucking awesome structure. It reminds me of some kind of space ship. We had a photo shoot outside.







We were glad to finally go inside and enjoy the beauty of AC.


It was a hell of a game. The heckling was not so bad as The Raider Nation was very well represented with crews from all over the country.

We got that well deserved W and the celebration was well deserved as well.
Some people high fived, hugged, and others cleaned their shoes with the Saints’ towels.





That walk out of the stadium was sweet. Everyone was celebrating.

We got outside where the Raider Nation was gathered and it was a whole other photo shoot again.

Guy in the background is like “That’s him Jerry, that’s the guy that teased me”.








We rested at the hotel for a bit and went right back to ,(guess where)to Bourbon street. Homie Buyo was greeted like this by one of the shoe shiners. (La Onda don’t shine shoes)


We hung out here our last night and celebrated with the Nation.
Chopped it up with hella people, had drinks, re-capped the game, etc.

Big Ferm and his shananiggans.

We ended our night eating here. Good food, those biscuits were SMACKING too..

It was a great experience. I’ll close with this,
spend money wisely, stay out of trouble, see new cities , talk to different people, and make your family proud.
Thank you for visiting.