Most of this post will be about the Superdome.

It had stopped raining in Baton Rouge. The GPS unit in the Versa had a 'home' setting. It lit up with directions to Louis Armstrong international airport.

The drive was as good as the previous day was difficult. From Baton Rouge to New Orleans is mostly swamp, with the highway raised up out of the water. The artificial land which periodically flanks the road does nothing to detract from how wild the environment still is. It went on like this until we crossed the edge of Lake Pontchartrain and the highway lifted us up over the water.

Above Lake Pontchartrain

A taxi took us the rest of the way through Jefferson and Metairie to the French Quarter. Our room was not ready (nor had we expected it would be) so we left our bags with the desk at the inn and went to see what we could see. A few turns and we stumbled on a patisserie which became one of our favourite stops. Soon after we arrived there was a line out the door.

Some of the locals recommended we invest in some Saints colours before we made for the Superdome. Se would not want to be confused for 'poison,' the name for supporters of visiting teams. It seemed like good advice; already the dominant colours on the streets of the French Quarter were black and gold.

Suitably attired we made for the Superdome and Champions Square; in Lafayette we had been told to makce certain we checked out the square before the game.

Pregame entertainment at Champions Square

In a way were lucky; the Carolina Panthers had sealed up the NFC east division with a win the day before. The Saints were playing for a wild-card spot. Win and they go to the playoffs, lose and their season was done. Had it been any other way, the atmosphere around the game would have been quite different.

In our Saints gear. Who dat?

The Superdome was a surprise. We had not done our research and did not know that the stadium was fully enclosed and air-conditioned. While there were huge crowds outside not many people entered the stadium to watch the pre-game warm ups and it felt a little like we had the place to ourselves. The roof was well above us despite having nose-bleed seats, because we were sitting under one of the enormous screens.

The stadium food was a little different to what we get at home. In place of meat pies they had crawfish pies (Ali had one) and instead of hotdogs, alligator sausage po boys (of course I had one).

The New Orleans Saints, seen here kind of lying around.

The game started and there were still empty seats all around us. It wasn't until five or ten minutes into the first half that the stadium really filled up.

And then it got loud.

98% of these people are Saints fans and 100% of them are screaming

A display before the game began listed the top five loudest stadiums in the world - with the Superdome having recently displaced CenturyLink Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. During Tampa Bay plays, the crowd were encouraged to 'Get Loud' by the displays around the park. And they responded, screaming and banging on anything they could reach. When the subsequent play failed, the crowd were congratulated for having created a 'fan impact play.'

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

It was all a bit strange after coming from a country where the sportsmanship of crowds is being questioned and reviewed at the moment. In the defence of the NOLA group, nobody was shouting obscenities. They were just shouting.

There was no organised group of away supporters. Unless you looked hard, you would not think there were away supporters at all. The whole crowd seemed to be decked in black and gold. When Tampa Bay made a big play the stadium was silent.

This photograph mostly for the benefit of my brother

The first half was a tight contest but the Saints ran away with it in the third quarter. The stadium emptied out fast in the fourth quarter; also interesting from an Australian point of view. We usually only leave stadiums when our team is getting flogged.

The New Orleans crowd might have had the right of it, though. With the result clear the heart went out of Tampa Bay, while the Saints pulled all their star players from the game to protect them for the playoffs. The game ground to a halt and the last seven minutes dragged on for close to forty (and nothing happened).

I made Ali stay for the whole thing because I am terrible.

We walked back to the French Quarter to see what madness was unfolding.

Bourbon St madness

The crowds from the stadium had found their way down and joined the crowds from the bars. We pushed through until we found a nice spot on Royal and had very nice beers and po boys for dinner. In fact the beers were so good, we stayed for another.

We reached our beds a little later than anticipated. As is the way in New Orleans.