We took off early for our long drive to New Orleans and made pretty good time only running into a bit of traffic. When we got close to The Big Easy, we started crossing very, very, very long bridges and miles and miles of roads constructed over the waterways and canals. They are a marvel of engineering and a sight to behold. We managed to find Zeus’s Pet Resort to drop Eddie off, who was singularly unimpressed to be dropped off again.
WAIT!!! WHAT THE FLUFF? I don’t belong here! Stop. Come back! Come back! Come….
The roads in all but the very interior of the French Quarter and the major highways in New Orleans, certainly leave something to be desired and by the time we found our Marriott Hotel, we were concerned the fillings in our teeth might be loose. We unloaded and, unlike Chicago, we found ourselves at the correct Marriot on our first attempt. After our long drive, we unpacked a bit and headed downstairs to have a drink and a bite to eat. While sitting in the bar, we noticed the M Club off to our left and wondered how one gains entry to the club. Michelle is a lifetime Gold member at the Marriott (after spending way too many nights away from home while working) and we just received an email the day before saying we had now obtained Platinum status so the attendant at the club door assured us we could get an entry card for the club at hotel reception. And indeed, it was just that easy. So, we entered the club to find all the free food we could eat and were delighted to discover local favorites such as alligator and shrimp gumbo, benignets and the like. Since we were a bit worn out by the drive, we opted to eat at the club, have another drink and retire up to our room.
I am so so happy for you. Do you realize the conditions you left me in? Barbarians! Barbarians ALL.
The next morning, we headed out for our small group tour of New Orleans. Oz, our tour guide, picked us up at the hotel and then another couple at a nearby hotel and off we went to explore the local environs. Anyone who has driven or been driven through New Orleans knows how narrow and congested the streets are, but Oz drove through them as if he was born to it and since is a native son, we guess he was. He told great stories about New Orleans’ colorful history, first being a fully French city, then being sold to the Spanish and once again sold back to the French only to have the French king almost immediately turn around and complete the Louisiana purchase. So, in 1803 the size of America essentially doubled, and New Orleans (and the rest of the Louisiana territory) finally became part of America. However, Louisiana never relinquished Napoleonic law and to this day is the only state that has parishes rather than counties and some laws closer to France than the rest of the United States. We toured many of the local neighborhoods and areas where the storm surge of Katrina broke through the canals (not the levees as was reported in the media, a distinction of note for the locals) and swamped most of New Orleans. We also explored the cemeteries in New Orleans where the graves are all above ground due to the very shallow water table in the city. Some of the entombment structures carry multiple generations of families and are quite ornate. We saw Anne Rice’s family tomb as well as other famous New Orleanians. After the tour, we went back to the hotel and focused on finding a restaurant where we could get authentic Cajan and Creole food. We found one in the French Quarter called The Gumbo Shop and had delicious crawfish etouffee and shrimp creole. Back to the hotel to rest up for dinner and more amazing regional food. We truly intend to eat our way through New Orleans. For dinner, we found a restaurant very close to the hotel called The Creole House. We started with half a dozen oysters and promptly ordered 6 more before we even ordered our entrees. Michelle had blackened Redfish and Sandy had Shrimp Jambalaya, both seriously delicious. For dessert, we had the best strawberry shortcake you can imagine. It had incredible strawberry preserves between layers of luscious shortcake and decadent thick whipped cream. We warned you we will be eating our way through The Big Easy, so be prepared for many more descriptions of food. Back to the hotel to rest our overstuffed selves for tomorrow’s adventures.
Bread and Water. That’s right, mommies. Bread and water. Did I mention the BARBARIANS?
The next morning was all about the New Orleans Museum of Art. We called a Lyft and made our way to the museum. When we arrived, there were cars parked on both sides of the very long driveway and our Lyft driver told us this was very unusual. As we arrived, we realized we had stumbled onto a Japan Fest! Not only was it much livelier than it would have been, but the admission was about half the cost of a normal day. Score! There were really cool Tiako drummers who provided great music while sweating in the New Orleans sun. The art museum itself is small but quite impressive with several impressionist art pieces, some modern art installations and a smattering of good representations of other genres. A lovely eleven-acre sculpture garden is adjacent to the art museum, and we happily wandered through it. A side note, we were also there on the day of the partial solar eclipse. As we walked into the area of the sculpture garden, a young man had a pair of eclipse approved dark glasses. Sandy asked him if he could see the eclipse, and he replied in the affirmative and asked if she wanted to use the glasses. Of course, she said yes and viola, she could see the eclipse. She tried to hand back the glasses and he told her to keep them. So, we got to watch the moon slowly occlude the sun. At first, the sun was covered by just a thumb nail and eventually most was covered. We then watched it crawl over the surface and reveal the sun. For us it was about 80%. Talk about a serendipitous day! An unexpected Japan Fest and glasses to watch the eclipse. Life is good. After a few hours, we walked into the nearby neighborhood and caught a Lyft. Then, as we did the day before, we poured through the possible restaurants in search of more oysters and regional food. We settled on the New Orleans Cookery and later found another Lyft. A note about our Lyft; when we requested it, we didn’t pay attention to what the make of the car was at first. When it was only a couple of minutes away, we noticed it was a Silverado. What we didn’t anticipated is that it would be a “lifted” Silverado. Hmmm, getting into it was a challenge. Sandy would have been happy with chains and pitons. From this point forward, we will more closely pay attention to the model for the vehicle. Lesson learned.
At any rate, we slid out of the truck and arrived at New Orleans Cookery. What a great choice! We ordered more oysters and gobbled them down. A short word on gulf oysters. They are incredibly delicious! Plump with subtle brine and a great finish. It’s too bad we can’t get them out west, but most gulf oysters are consumed locally and, if exported, it’s usually to nearby states. For our entrees, we had “A Feast of New Orleans” which consisted of Shrimp Creole, Jambalaya, Crawfish Etouffee and Red Beans and Rice. We adored Tanisha, our food server, and she mentioned that we should try their upscale sister restaurant, Briquette, where her fiancé, Perry is the executive chef. Well, as you all know, we are always up for upscale food, and we were eager to experience New Orleans food at its finest. Michelle immediately made reservations for the next evening. During dinner, a parade went by our window seat and Tanisha told us it was typical of a French Quarter wedding and she and Perry and their wedding party would be parading through the French Quarter next year in May. After dinner, we decided to walk back to the hotel and experience Bourbon Street on a Saturday night.
Michelle was in New Orleans for a conference a few years ago and explored Bourbon Street, but this was Sandy’s first visit to the Big Easy. It was everything you might think, a great cacophony of sound, men and women standing on balconies yelling down for people to do something so they can throw bead necklaces at them, people putting necklaces on women and hoping for a monetary award, live music and karaoke in the many, many bars and men and women walking around with alcoholic hurricanes and hand grenades. We ended up at the New Orleans Hard Rock Café and of course, bought pins and a t-shirt. We left Bourbon Street bejeweled, and we will leave it to your imaginations on how that happened. We made it back to the hotel and sat in the M Club discussing our day.
BREAD AND WATER! Is anyone listening? Wait, I am soooo happy you are having a good time.
On our last full day in New Orleans, we were scheduled to go on an Anne Rice walking tour in the Garden District. However, the day dawned quite cold and VERY windy. We probably could have struggled through one or the other, but not both. We opted to hang out in the hotel and take a ‘down’ afternoon. We had breakfast at the M Club, as we had every other morning in New Orleans, and then read for a few hours. However, we still had one more dining experience to go at Briquette. We caught lift (a regular car this time, thank goodness) and found ourselves at the restaurant a little bit before our reservation. We were greeted by Perry when we arrived. Good grief, the food was incredible! We started with a Crab Napoleon that was out of this world. Layers of gulf crab barely held together so the crab was the star of the dish. Amazingly tasty – for entrees we both had fish. Michelle had Branzino on the bone (!) covered with an olive relish and accompanied by a red cabbage slaw. Sandy had a whole Red Snapper on the bone (!) with a puttanesca sauce. For dessert we had a lovely crème brulee. A wonderful bottle of Sancerre complemented the meal. A lovely shout out to Charis, our food server who added to our delightful evening with great conversation and outstanding service. And thanks to Perry for a truly spectacular dinner.
Again, just saying, bread and water and DOGS who certainly are letting the good times roll. I can’t get any sleep,
Back to the hotel – tomorrow we drive to see Sandy’s brother, David and our sister-in-law, Lee. But first a couple of last notes on New Orleans. The first is a charming aspect of New Orleans, our Lyft drivers were almost all women (except the Silverado driver – figures) and most of them told us great stories either about their lives or about the city itself. I would imagine that’s because they almost always drive tourists as opposed to current residents but it charmed us. The second is a frighting aspect, young men on Japanese motorcycles driving through the downtown streets doing wheelies, standing on the seats on one leg and doing other tricks at outrageous speeds. It freaked us out, mainly because we didn’t want to see them or anyone else hurt – it was seriously scary.
So, with that, goodbye to New Orleans. We can see us coming back here. If for no other reason, to have more gulf oysters!
