New Orleans (Pt 3)

Happy Birthday, J! To celebrate (well, not really), I slept in until almost 10. I must have really been tired from wandering around the whole day yesterday. We headed to the far end of the French Quarter for breakfast/brunch/lunch, at a place called La Pinache. Unfortunately, they were out of their crawfish scramble, so I had to settle for an omelette with grits and a biscuit, which was still good. We sat next to a bunch of folks who were from the area originally but now lived in Houston or other parts of Texas. After a long wait for our food and two servings each of our hot drink, we got our breakfasts and enjoyed them while chatting with our neighbors... 

A bust of Napoleon at Napoleon House

After lunch, we wandered around the area east of the French Quarter some more, as it began to pour. We headed back to the French Quarter along Rampart, which marks the northeasterly border of the district. We then went to Napoleon's, which has been around since the days of Bonaparte, and enjoyed a Pimm's Cup, their specialty drink that consists of some sort of combination of Pimm's (gin-based drink), soda water, and lemonade, garnished and slightly flavored by a slice of cucumber. It was surprisingly smooth, and the cucumber worked well with it. We took some pictures inside the historic bar and then headed back out into the rain to wander some more. I pretty much got soaked - my jacket was drenched, and you could very obviously tell I had been in the rain with my pants since they turn several shades darker with moisture. I could also squeeze water out of my hair, but, luckily, my baby camera stayed mostly dry, despite a few drops here and there. 

 
Anyway, we got back to the hotel and showered before heading back into the drippy weather for dinner. Granted, we really had no real plans for dinner, so we ended up wandering around the French Quarter until we finally landed at La Louisiane, a bistro and bar that's apparently been around since 1881. (We had first hit Nola, Emeril's less formal restaurant in the Quarter, but it was packed and we had no reservations.) We got a delicious appetizer of crawfish on a lobster cake and equally satisfying entrees of hanger steak with chipotle sauce and a blue cheese potato gratin and fried flounder topped with chunks (very very good chunks) of lemony crab meat... 

After dinner, we walked around some more before deciding to hit up a jazz performance. We also stopped at Café du Monde for a couple of souvenir mugs and drinks, before heading to Frenchmen St... We ended up at the Snug Harbor, ordered a Monsoon (signature rum punch) to share, and sat down to enjoy the music. The group scheduled to perform was Leon Brown (aka Kid Chocolate) & Chocolate City, but the audience was also treated to guest performances by two guest trombonists, including Delfeayo Marsalis. Overall, it was awesome! I really miss live jazz performances, hell, live performances of any musical sort. At the end of their final set, some drunk guy kept screaming for one more song, but most of the group just ignored him. Marsarlis, however, stuck around with the bassist and played a few more tunes for the few people who were left in the bar at 3am. I was already nodding off near the end of the set, so once all the performances were done, we headed on back to the hotel... where I crawled into bed and just fell asleep.

New Orleans (Pt 2)

This morning, we headed out on the town to hunt for breakfast. After wandering around quite a bit in the French Quarter, we landed at The Praline Connection, which opened pretty much just as we got there. We would have gone to Café du Monde instead, but there was a very long line and we were hungry. At Praline, we chatted and sipped on some Coke as we waited for red beans and rice with hot sausage and fried chicken with mac and cheese and collard greens. I don't really like collard greens, especially prepared Southern style, but the fried chicken order was worth it. I don't seem to recall ordering corn bread, but that came with the meal as well.

One of many doors and many colors

Anyway, afterwards, we headed back to the hotel and I grabbed my camera and headed out alone to conquer the French Quarter. Well, it was not so much conquering as it was shooting. I wandered around pretty much all afternoon taking pictures of everything from the trademark balconies to doors and windows. I actually think I took a lot of pictures of those, mainly because the color schemes were very bold and sometimes even contrasting. It made for amusing abstract shots, I think, but I suppose I'm in no real position to judge.

Particularly interesting, I thought, was the French Market area, which was basically a flea market or bazaar. The tightly packed tables of counterfeit luxury items, souvenirs, t-shirts, and trinkets reminded me of Thailand and its many bazaars. This definitely reminded me of why it is that I like to travel. Besides just photography and learning new things, traveling reminds you that, despite all the differences in culture and society, there remain common threads that link these varying people together. And as this "market culture" indicates, although economics is only recently emerging as the main vehicle of control in the world, it's influences have been around since man began bartering.

Little trinkets sold at the market

Anyway, after the fog or mist started rolling in, I started heading back towards the hotel, snapping some more shots on the way... Then, we headed just a couple blocks away for po boys at Mother's Restaurant. We shared a deep-fried catfish one and a Ralph, which was one with cheese, roast beef, ham, and debris (roast so tender that it apparently just falls apart in its on drippings, which are also included). Overall, really yummy and resulted in me being really full - two things that are never a bad thing, right? After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to figure out where to go next. I don't know if we actually decided anything though because we just ended up heading out and wandering around the French Quarter. We did manage to hit up the Tropical Isle for a hand grenade, which claims to be the strongest drink in New Orleans. I felt maybe a slight buzz from it... maybe ours were weaker than they were supposed to be. At that place, we sat on the balcony for a while people watching. Specifically, we were trying to spot Notre Dame paraphernalia, which is in short supply due to our location in Louisiana, home of LSU.

After an unsuccessful search, we continued wandering through Le Vieux Carré until we hit Café du Monde, where we relaxed on a café au lait each and split a plate of beignets, which is essentially powdered sugar mounded on French doughnuts instead of vice versa, to quietly celebrate midnight, when Jaime officially turned 30... After watching some people making fools of themselves by throwing powdered sugar on others and themselves, we ambled on and headed to the casino, where it was decided quite quickly that we wouldn't stay. We meandered back to the hotel and basically just crashed out after that, leading me to believe that the hand grenade may just be the strongest sedative in New Orleans.

New Orleans (Pt 1)

So, I arrived in grand style at MSY, the New Orleans International Airport. By grand style, I mean that I got off the coach seat, went into the terminal, and then sat for about an hour waiting for J's plane to arrive... After some unpacking, showering and football watching (Cal v Texas A&M, Holiday Bowl), we headed over to the French Quarter for some food and drink.

Our first stop was Acme Oyster House, where we were able to watch the rest of the Cal game, having only missed a minute of the end of the first half and the halftime report. Needless to say, Cal whooped some butt, steamrolling the Aggies, 45-10. As for food and drink, we had some fresh oysters ($10 for a dozen... cheap, huh?), Boo Fries (which are basically fries drenched in steak gravy and cheese... delicieux!!), and a little more than a pitcher of Abita Amber, a yummy local brew.

After the game was over, we wandered on down Bourbon St. and headed to Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, the "Oldest Bar in the USA Since 1772." There, I had a drink called a Hurricane, which seems to be one of several New Orleans specials, that consisted of 151 and orange something-or-another... We stuck around there for a while, listening to the pianist Johnny play and sing some tunes, mostly of the Christmas theme. And, afterwards, we staggered back to the hotel and crashed out. Let me tell you, though, drinking and then crashing out PST early means waking up early and consequently I am now adjusted to time here, being awake at 8ish in New Orleans time (2 hours ahead of San Francisco).