This year’s AAO meeting brought me back to New Orleans, but there were plenty of other good reasons to revisit NOLA. My Southwest flight landed last Thursday evening just in time for us to catch the last seating at Mr. B’s for BBQ shrimp. The next day, I took an extended lunch break from Subspecialty Day to compare Emeril’s version of BBQ shrimp, then rubbed elbows with retina big-wigs at the Michels Fellowship reception before receiving my award. In the evening, I hung out with other Dukies and retina fellows at a Genentech dinner reception, then danced the night away at one of Cornea Society’s epic parties. Exhausted, I awoke late Saturday morning to the jazz brunch at Court of Two Sisters, then slept off my food coma through the rest of retina program. Afterwards, I stuffed myself again at the Duke reception and confirmed my ignorance at the Retinal Jeopardy event, before joining some residency friends for some hot jazz-rock at the Maison on Frenchmen. By the time the meeting officially started on Sunday, I already felt that things were winding down. After lunch at the Heed reception, I spent the afternoon scouting vendor booths to peruse surgical instruments and imaging devices for my job next year. I then roamed the French Quarter with a few friends, sampled sweet pralines, shared beignets at Cafe du Monde, and brushed with death over a sample of ghost pepper salsa (Bhot Jolokia: 2007 Guinness World Records’ hottest-known pepper and 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce). I recovered enough to be coherent at the MEEI reception, then shared gossip with my old classmates over some jambalaya for dinner. On Monday, I was glad to have made it to Cochon Butcher for their muffaletta. But the day quickly turned south when I became engaged in a cat-and-mouse text exchange with a suspicious party who tried to sell us a shady diamond ring just 2 weeks after my wife lost hers. Fortunately, the failed interaction did not affect my presentation at the Duke VR course. I consoled myself afterwards at the CAOS banquet, where the research talks were drowned by the roar of the Asian diners enjoying chef Tommy Wong’s menu of Chinese food with a Cajun twist (seafood gumbo, stir fried alligator on bok choy hearts, honey-glazed pecan shrimp, etc.). It was rough waking up at 5am this morning for our flight home, and even tougher returning to clinic in the afternoon. But alas, I have survived NOLA for a second time, and it was every bit as good as my first trip there.