NOLA Trip

Want to see way too many photos from the trip? Check out our Flickr set here.

Also, take a look at this video of a brass band playing on Bourbon Street

A few quick and dirty highlights, as today is our last night in NOLA.

On Sunday, Antoines for brunch was exceptional.

Surprisingly, I liked the Pimms cup at Huck Finn better than the one at Carousel bar or at Mr. B’s Bistro. Meant to go to Napoleon, but we were too tired on our last night. After a fantastic dinner at Red Fish grill, hickory grilled red fish topped with lump crabmeat, roasted potatoes and the bbq oysters (I was an oyster virgin), I was disappointed with lunch at Mr. B’s. (crabcake, grilled fish were so-so, even the bread pudding dessert was off, cold sauce.) I like the b-fast at Mother’s but hubby did not. Their black ham is out of this world imo. We had b-fast a different day at Commerce, where Brad Pitt was filming the night before. Maybe I sat in his chair?

Deannies was a fun place to get messy with some great bbq shrimp.

We Loved Mark and the Pentones at the Funky pirate. The WWII Museum was excellent and moving. Carousel bar was cool, we snagged seats right away, stayed for a drink each. Frenchmen’s street was great, we went to dba and Spotted Cat and were very impressed with the music. As we were walking there, we walked right onto the set of a film they were making in front of LaFittes Blacksmith. There was dirt on the street, the street signs were down and it was very dark. All of a sudden there were men on horses in period costumes. Then we saw the trucks and equipment. They were not filming at that exact moment, no one stopped us from blundering in the way. We were told the title is “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”.

The courtyard at Pat’s was beautiful and we had hurricanes on our first evening. Thanks for the tip about turning the glasses in for some money.

The 3 day trolley pass was well worth the money and saved the aching feet. The NOLA school of cooking with Chef Kevin was hilarious. We also rode the streetcar down to Tulane Univ., walked the campus to the bookstore for a hat and tee shirt. We enjoyed the carriage ride with “Hot Stuff” the horse on autopilot.

Still to do: ferry boat ride, Kerry’s Irish Pub, cheap but good supper at Yo Mama’s.

 

A note about our accommodations:

The first 2 nights were at Holiday Inn on Royal St, in the middle of the Quarter, but one street away from the noise of Bourbon St.  It was exactly what we expected. Clean room, quiet, comfortable beds. Then we spent the next 4 nights at a Wyndham property on Magazine St.  It was exceptional, the one bedroom was huge, 2nd flat screen tv in the bedroom, came with a kitchenette (who cooks in New Orleans? Not us).  Beautiful, extremely comfortable, very quiet. Location was a block and a half out from the edge of the French Quarter, close to the Street Car line.  We walked in to the quarter for our meals, except for a great diner down the block. There is a little market out front for snacks and drinks for the room.

We have both noticed that the trip home isn’t nearly as exciting as the travel out. So just fill in your own tale about taxis, airports, planes, and buses.

Oh wait! A quick story:

I watched a gentleman ( who I’m calling red team jacket guy ) sitting near me get up a walk away, leaving his bag behind. After 10 minutes without his return, Kelly got nervous and informed a nearby ticket agent. He took the bag to his desk.

Later, when red team jacket guy returned, he had that “who took my stuff” look on his face. I just scowled and pointed in the direction of the ticket desk. When RTJG walked over, the agent said “Oh, this is YOU?”. RTJG was then asked to unpack the entire contents of his bag on the floor near the desk. Serves him right for leaving it unattended.

For some reason, we were up early today, so we went out for a light breakfast in the coffee shop of a neighboring hotel. The barista didn’t get it when I asked her if the white hot chocolate was truly white hot.

On a whim, we hopped on the St. Charles streetcar to visit the WWII museum. It is a wonderfully detailed account of the events leading up to WWII and the war itself, with the main focus on D-Day. First person accounts, photos, oral history, and many items from the era on display brought home the immensity of the invasion and the horrible price people on both sides paid.

Just when we thought we couldn’t take anymore, we turned the corner to find a similar treatment of the war in the Pacific. Even more intense. Enough reality for a while – we’re on vacation after all.

Back in the fantasy land that is the French Quarter, we stopped for lunch at Mr. B’s Cafe – an upscale place that is on everyone’s must do list. Kelly’s fears of looking out of place were confirmed when we got tripped up in the revolving door and spilled into the quiet room laughing hysterically. They seated us in the back.

Following our pattern of relaxing in the afternoon, we didn’t do much until early evening when we decided to ride the ferry over to Algiers Point. There’s not much for tourists to do there, so we stayed on the boat for the return trip.

In any other town, a place like Yo Momma’s would be considered a total dive, but in the quarter, it’s an award winning hamburger place. Sitting at the bar, I enjoyed the mushroom burger, while Kelly had the PB and bacon burger. Both were tasty, but underdone. My medium and her medium well were both a tad more than rare. Luckily Kelly didn’t notice until she was 2/3 done, so she enjoyed her meal – and didn’t get food poisoning. ( The title of this post was the joke printed on our check )

Before heading in for the night, we stopped at the Kerry Irish Pub. Nice atmosphere, but not very crowded. Instead of the expected Celtic music, we had a couple of hippies doing 60s and 70s tunes. Not bad, but not what I was there for.

Thus endeth the last full day in NOLA.

I’m calling this day Best So Far!

After my disappointing breakfast yesterday, we decided to try the place down the street that the other concierge had recommended earlier – the Commerce. This quiet, neighborhood diner was the site of a shoot for the Brad Pitt movie a couple of nights ago, but all was back to normal today. My eggs,sausage, and biscuits were perfect.

From there we jumped on the streetcar to head out to the Tulane and Loyola campuses. We saw lots of red brick and limestone buildings.

I think that Kelly was a little disappointed by the trip because the promised shopping and restaurant districts didn’t materialize, but I just enjoyed the ride.

In the afternoon, we had a ball at the Aquarium of the Americas. Sure, the fish displays were nice, but what we really enjoyed was Parakeet Point. This was a small aviary full of parakeets. We each had a food stick, and the very tame birds would jump on the stick to eat the seeds. I think we spent half an hour in there playing with birds.

Before dinner, we stopped for a drink at the Carousel Bar – a bar that actually rotates. I usually get dizzy after I drink.

Dinner was at the Red Fish Grill. It is tough to define in words how good this meal was. I’ve only tried oysters once before in my life, but the ladies at the next table talked us into trying the BBQ oyster appetizer – a signature dish of the establishment. Wow, were they good. I could have had a meal of just a big plate of those.

But luckily, I instead had their signature entr̩e Рhickory grilled red fish. Another great dish prepared to perfection.

Afterwards, we decided to walk down Bourbon Street across the quarter to visit the jazz clubs on Frenchman Street. After a few blocks, it gets more residential and a little dark to be walking at night.

However, we soon came upon yet another movie set. They were apparently between takes, and no one stopped us as we accidentally walked into the middle of the set. The streets were covered with dirt, and all of the street signs were down. Several men on horses were milling about. We were told the movie will be called Abraham Lincoln and the Vampire Hunter. Um … OK.

On to Frenchman Street, which was nothing like what I expected. Jazz clubs should be classy places where the musicians wear tuxes while the patrons drink martinis. Not here. Both DBA and The Spotted Cat are dive bars, but we were very comfortable in both. the first featured a band called the Tin Men, consisting of a tuba, resonator guitar, and washboard, and playing a mix of 50s covers and Leon Redbone inspired originals. Very fun stuff. Oh, and we saw the ladies from the Red Fish that had recommended the oysters. They were taking photos with the band members as they played.

At the Cat, there was an unnamed group playing jazz standards – trumpet, trombone, clarinet, piano, bass, and drums. These guys were very talented, and seemed to really enjoy themselves.

At the end of night, a cab appeared right as we were ready to leave.

Today began like every day on this trip – with a brand new pair of socks. it’s funny how much pleasure I can get out of a $7.71 pack of Fruit of the Loom crew socks.

Everyone says go to Mother’s for breakfast – the cab driver, the concierge, people on travel web sites – they all love it. Lucky for us it is just down the street.

Even at 9:30 on a Tuesday there was a line outside. After a short wait we were ushered inside and sent to the end of the order line. The decor inside was screaming tradition, with many photos of famous actors, singers, and especially military men. There were also old newspaper reviews of the restaurant framed and hanged with pride.

I was feeling a Billy Goat Tavern vibe as we had many rules to follow – don’t block this, don’t stand near that. Ordering was quick, mostly because of the military style efficiency of the clerk. “Next order please!”. I felt sorry for the poor woman behind us that tried to order from the lunch menu before 10:30.

We found a table and gave our receipt to the server. It wasn’t too long before our food came out. At this point, Kelly and I have very different thoughts about the place. She had Mother’s famous ham with her meal, and it was delicious. Her eggs were done just right, and she even enjoyed a few bites of the grits. The biscuits came out a little late (“Is coming biscuits, lady”), but they were tasty.

My eggs, however, were pretty much awful. Undercooked yet burned at the same time, and cold. My grits were a cold patty (as in cow patty) of wallpaper paste. The sausage, while good, was way too spicy – my own fault for ordering them. So I basically sat there and watched Kelly enjoy her breakfast waiting for my biscuit (“Is coming biscuits”). I don’t think I’ll be going back there again.

(OK, I’m done whining. )

After breakfast we hopped on the streetcar to head to the far side of the quarter, where we found the flea market and French market. Much of our souvenir shopping was taken care of there.

At this point the heat had gotten to us, so we caught the return streetcar back to the timeshare. During the ride we had a nice chat with a couple from Arkansas. They have spent several vacations in New Orleans and had some tips for us.

Hot and tired, we had a cold drink and took a nap.

For supper we went to El Gato Negro. The cat outside wasn’t entirely black, but he did seem intent on keeping the area in front of the restaurant free of pigeons.

Why would someone visit a Mexican restaurant while in New Orleans? Because this one does it really well. They are known for their margaritas, but what we will remember most was the made at our table guacamole.

Actually, something that we may remember more was the deluge of rain that started coming down while we were eating. The amount of water was unbelievable and it just kept on coming. At one point, while we were at the door waiting on a cab, the owner was outside catching dime-sized hailstones.

Unfortunately, our cab never came, so we ventured out under cover of the many balconies to a busier street. it didn’t take long to find a cab and head home.

Today we changed hotels, moving from the Holiday Inn to the time share.

We started with a quick bite from Cafe Beignet. This is their satellite location housed in a 200 year old livery stable.

After checking out and stowing our bags, we strolled down to the New Orleans School of Cooking. Imagine a small restaurant where the chef spends two hours cooking your meal, giving hints, and telling funny stories.

Our menu was red beans and rice, cornbread, pecan pie, and pralines.

Chef Kevin was very engaging, and his food was magnificent. I recommend visiting the shop on a day when he is there.

After lunch, we wandered down to Jackson Square. Some street artists had setup shop around the square on the sidewalks, so we took some time to peruse their wares.

Next, we caught a carriage tour around the French Quarter. This was a cheesy, tourist thing to do, but we had fun anyway. Howard and his autopilot horse Hot Stuff gave us an entertaining 20 minutes.

Now, our problem after the ride is that we were both pretty tired and it was prime nap time, but we had no home, as it was almost two hours until check in at the time share. We ended up spending a good share of that time at the Checkered Parrot enjoying the cool air and a cold drink. Finally, it was time to gather our bags and head over to the Warehouse District.

This timeshare place is pretty nice, and much more upscale than we are used to. Our unit is a one bedroom with plenty of room. Plus, the staff is very helpful. We checked in a almost immediately started the daily nap.

Supper was at Deanie’s seafood. Abita beer, BBQ shrimp, and crawfish étouffée made for a great dinner. Loved the upscale diner atmosphere, and the prices were affordable. Kelly’s shrimp was especially messy and fun.

After dinner we wandered up and down Bourbon street listening to cover bands. It was a short walk back to the timeshare where we rubbernecked at the movie set before we went in for the night.

Another great day!

What a lazy day!

It was almost 10:00 before we got up, and we then didn’t leave until almost noon. Our first destination was Antoine’s for the jazz brunch.

Kelly had a pork chop with potatoes, all covered in an apple sauce, and I the eggs benedict (pictured-already in progress of being devoured). There was a trio (bass, guitar, vocal) playing jazz standards. Wonderful food-good entertainment.

Most of the rest of the day was spent either walking around or napping.

At supper time we went out to cross a couple of our “must dos” off the list. First, a hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s. It is a good drink, and they certainly don’t skimp on the rum!

What better way to work off the buzz, than to head over to the voodoo shop! Lot’s of weird stuff, and I think the staff there take it a lot more seriously than most of their customers.

We next caught a blues/rock band at the Funky Pirate bar. Mark and the Pentones did a nice job.

After a long walk back, we found a hole-in-the-wall gyro place hidden next to our hotel. Holy grease bomb, Batman!

An early night tonight, but we have big plans for tomorrow.

Traveling is usually very stressful for me. I’m always in a hurry, filled with the fear of being late.

I tried pretty hard to keep myself in check, but there’s always something to get me going. For example, I had to backtrack twice for the same camera – it really didn’t want to go.

Luckily, this turned out to be an education day. Here are a few of the things I learned:

• Apparently, flight attendants like trashy magazines.
• Reese’s Minis are DELICIOUS!
• Entering HTML tags using an iPhone is pretty tedious.
• Just because the monitor at the airport says that a flight will be leaving from a certain gate doesn’t mean that it will. Also, no one will mention the change
• It’s pretty cool when the flight ends in a destination 50 degrees warmer than the starting place.

Best part of the day was once we jumped into the airport shuttle, Kelly and I started having fun – making comments about the other passengers, giving them nicknames, saying how things would be different if WE ran the airport – fun stuff.

We finally arrived at the hotel after 12 hours of travel, and it wasn’t more than 15 minutes before we fell onto the bed and sacked out.