Last Weekend for November 9-November 11: NOLA, plus bonus Monday action
M & I flew to New Orleans after work on Thursday. We arrived late and fell asleep once we arrived at our bed and breakfast in the Garden District. But why were we there in the first place?
My friend gieves turned 40 this month. Some time ago she said she wanted to do something special for the occasion, and I suggested that I had just been to a destination birthday party in Denver earlier in the year. She thought that the destination part was a fine idea and selected New Orleans. She and darlox also arrived Thursday night late; Mikey & Maria and Dustin & Sarah came in on Friday. As it happens, both Maria and M have birthdays very near that same weekend, so it became a rolling birthday party for all of them.
Friday
Friday morning the four of who were there had a nice breakfast and headed down to the French Quarter for a walkabout. It was a rainy day, so the roof of the French Market was much appreciated. We stopped and looked in a bunch of shops before enjoying lunch (in my case, a muffuletta) and a drink at the Napoleon House.
From there we walked by the Natchez, and in the face of increasing rain we went into the Aquarium of the Americas. As aquariums go, it was ok. The highlight was a enclosure full of parakeets that you could feed. It had entertaining signs about not accidentally sneaking a parakeet out.
After we left the Aquarium we met up with the newly arrived Mikey & Maria. We stood in line for the 5pm show at Preservation Hall and enjoyed a set from The Preservation Legacy Band with Wendell Brunious, which basically was some of the older guys who don't tour anymore. It's a tiny room with an intimate feel, and it was well worth the $20 a head we dropped. Also, as we stood in line, M and Mikey and gieves were able to get ridiculous bad drinks from Pat O'Brien's Bar, the original home of the hurricane.
After the concert, we wandered around the quarter. We had a brief drink at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop and ultimately ended up with dinner at the Chartres House. Here I knocked off red beans & rice from my culinary checklist for the trip. It was excellent. For dessert, we headed over to Cafe du Monde for beignets. Sarah & Dustin caught up with us here, which completed the fellowship. We walked down Decatur street and ultimately had several drinks at a club with some terrible band who I didn't pay much attention to before heading back to the B&B.
Saturday
Saturday morning we arose and took a leisurely walk through the Garden district. We passed Anne Rice's old house (later owned by Nicholas Cage) en route to the Lafayette Cemetery 1, which we wandered on foot. I also got to browse for a bit in the Garden District Book Shop, which was very nice.
From here we rode the street car down St. Charles to the French Quarter. There we had a very nice lunch outside of the Green Goddess restaurant. Here I had a duck based po'boy, which I really enjoyed. We then just missed going to the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum because it closed early. Instead we wandered the quarter some more. M and I hit Jackson Square (she acquired some art) and we generally had a pleasant low key afternoon.
Dinner that night was an event. darlox had managed to procure a dinner reservation at Cochon, which is a Beard Award winning eatery in the Warehouse District. Normally this place is booked months in advance, but apparently credit card concierges have magical powers. As a result, we walked a half mile from the B&B to have a very delicious and expensive dinner. The cocktails were great (M had a "Purple Rain" that was both pretty and tasty). My meal with the titular Louisiana cochon with cabbage, cracklins & pickled turnips. We also had appetizers, a bottle of wine, dessert (complete with three birthday candles) and generally one hell of a good meal. I'd go there again in a heartbeat; it was one of the best places I've eaten in a very, very long time.
After dinner we somehow managed to have a lot of beer at the Avenue Pub a short walk from our lodging. We sat outside on a slightly chilly night while a wedding party raged inside. Then we all went back and collapsed.
Sunday
On Sunday we split up. M and I left the rest of the group while they went to a po' boy festival. Instead, we met up with my old radio trainee Adam ten years after he'd been on my show. He coincidentally lived practically around the corner from our B&B, and he and his girlfriend Marina took us to Fat Boy Pantry. I had a very good sandwich and some ice cream.
After we parted ways with Adam, we took advantage of the superb weather and went to the Sculpture Garden outside the Art Museum. We had a very nice walk around the grounds, including a stop at the Singing Oak.
We then rode down to the quarter and visited the Insectarium, which is in the old customs house. They have many insect displays, both live, mounted and giant plastic. There is a big butterfly room. It was a pleasant few hours, but we had to hustle a bit because we had a date with ghosts. Or more accurately, with a ghost tour.
We met up with the rest of our group at a booth next to Jackson Square. Our guide led us through the Quarter and told various ghost stories tied to the area, with a smattering of other history. Unfortunately, our tour guide wasn't amazingly skilled (we surmised that he was a fill in) and most of the tour was sort of bleah. I mean, we didn't hate it, but it could have been so much better.
Our dinner on Sunday was one that actually required a certain amount of dressing up. We had reservations at La Petite Grocery. The blue crab beignet we split as an appetizer may have been the best single thing I ate in New Orleans, and I had some gumbo with a great roux as an opener. For dinner I had a seafood stew in a clear broth, complete with crawfish. On the whole, I'd rate this behind Cochon (most things are) but it was still a very enjoyable meal.
Monday
Mikey & Maria headed for the airport after breakfast. The rest of us went over to Magazine Street and wandered through various shops. When a rainstorm hit, we opted to ride over to St. James Cheese Company in the Warehouse district for a leisurely lunch. I had a ploughman's lunch. We concluded our trip with a visit to the swanky Sazerac Bar in the very pricey Roosevelt Hotel to have one of their titular drinks. Alas, although the company was superb, I did not much care for the drink. From there we went to the airport for an uneventful flight home (although I did run into my fraternity brother Nick on the second leg).
Books
In other details, I finished three books on the trip. On the flight there I knocked off a baseball book from my slush pile. Mike Shropshire was the beat write for the 1973-1975 Texas Rangers, who were so terrible that Seasons in Hell, his book about the ordeal, is a fun if lightweight read. I also finished most of the Jesmyn Ward memoir Men We Reaped on the flight and knocked off the rest on Saturday. It was a moving, depressing view of growing up poor and black in Mississippi, and all the kids who didn't live long enough to try to pull themselves out of poverty as she did. Jesmyn Ward is great, go read her. On the flight home I finished Crystal Fleming's "How to Be Less Stupid About Race" which was both good and depressing in completely different ways. I feel like I should probably re-read that one again, as I suspect parts of it sink in better after multiple readings and some contemplation. Alas, it is brand new so I couldn't renew it.
My friend gieves turned 40 this month. Some time ago she said she wanted to do something special for the occasion, and I suggested that I had just been to a destination birthday party in Denver earlier in the year. She thought that the destination part was a fine idea and selected New Orleans. She and darlox also arrived Thursday night late; Mikey & Maria and Dustin & Sarah came in on Friday. As it happens, both Maria and M have birthdays very near that same weekend, so it became a rolling birthday party for all of them.
Friday
Friday morning the four of who were there had a nice breakfast and headed down to the French Quarter for a walkabout. It was a rainy day, so the roof of the French Market was much appreciated. We stopped and looked in a bunch of shops before enjoying lunch (in my case, a muffuletta) and a drink at the Napoleon House.
From there we walked by the Natchez, and in the face of increasing rain we went into the Aquarium of the Americas. As aquariums go, it was ok. The highlight was a enclosure full of parakeets that you could feed. It had entertaining signs about not accidentally sneaking a parakeet out.
After we left the Aquarium we met up with the newly arrived Mikey & Maria. We stood in line for the 5pm show at Preservation Hall and enjoyed a set from The Preservation Legacy Band with Wendell Brunious, which basically was some of the older guys who don't tour anymore. It's a tiny room with an intimate feel, and it was well worth the $20 a head we dropped. Also, as we stood in line, M and Mikey and gieves were able to get ridiculous bad drinks from Pat O'Brien's Bar, the original home of the hurricane.
After the concert, we wandered around the quarter. We had a brief drink at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop and ultimately ended up with dinner at the Chartres House. Here I knocked off red beans & rice from my culinary checklist for the trip. It was excellent. For dessert, we headed over to Cafe du Monde for beignets. Sarah & Dustin caught up with us here, which completed the fellowship. We walked down Decatur street and ultimately had several drinks at a club with some terrible band who I didn't pay much attention to before heading back to the B&B.
Saturday
Saturday morning we arose and took a leisurely walk through the Garden district. We passed Anne Rice's old house (later owned by Nicholas Cage) en route to the Lafayette Cemetery 1, which we wandered on foot. I also got to browse for a bit in the Garden District Book Shop, which was very nice.
From here we rode the street car down St. Charles to the French Quarter. There we had a very nice lunch outside of the Green Goddess restaurant. Here I had a duck based po'boy, which I really enjoyed. We then just missed going to the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum because it closed early. Instead we wandered the quarter some more. M and I hit Jackson Square (she acquired some art) and we generally had a pleasant low key afternoon.
Dinner that night was an event. darlox had managed to procure a dinner reservation at Cochon, which is a Beard Award winning eatery in the Warehouse District. Normally this place is booked months in advance, but apparently credit card concierges have magical powers. As a result, we walked a half mile from the B&B to have a very delicious and expensive dinner. The cocktails were great (M had a "Purple Rain" that was both pretty and tasty). My meal with the titular Louisiana cochon with cabbage, cracklins & pickled turnips. We also had appetizers, a bottle of wine, dessert (complete with three birthday candles) and generally one hell of a good meal. I'd go there again in a heartbeat; it was one of the best places I've eaten in a very, very long time.
After dinner we somehow managed to have a lot of beer at the Avenue Pub a short walk from our lodging. We sat outside on a slightly chilly night while a wedding party raged inside. Then we all went back and collapsed.
Sunday
On Sunday we split up. M and I left the rest of the group while they went to a po' boy festival. Instead, we met up with my old radio trainee Adam ten years after he'd been on my show. He coincidentally lived practically around the corner from our B&B, and he and his girlfriend Marina took us to Fat Boy Pantry. I had a very good sandwich and some ice cream.
After we parted ways with Adam, we took advantage of the superb weather and went to the Sculpture Garden outside the Art Museum. We had a very nice walk around the grounds, including a stop at the Singing Oak.
We then rode down to the quarter and visited the Insectarium, which is in the old customs house. They have many insect displays, both live, mounted and giant plastic. There is a big butterfly room. It was a pleasant few hours, but we had to hustle a bit because we had a date with ghosts. Or more accurately, with a ghost tour.
We met up with the rest of our group at a booth next to Jackson Square. Our guide led us through the Quarter and told various ghost stories tied to the area, with a smattering of other history. Unfortunately, our tour guide wasn't amazingly skilled (we surmised that he was a fill in) and most of the tour was sort of bleah. I mean, we didn't hate it, but it could have been so much better.
Our dinner on Sunday was one that actually required a certain amount of dressing up. We had reservations at La Petite Grocery. The blue crab beignet we split as an appetizer may have been the best single thing I ate in New Orleans, and I had some gumbo with a great roux as an opener. For dinner I had a seafood stew in a clear broth, complete with crawfish. On the whole, I'd rate this behind Cochon (most things are) but it was still a very enjoyable meal.
Monday
Mikey & Maria headed for the airport after breakfast. The rest of us went over to Magazine Street and wandered through various shops. When a rainstorm hit, we opted to ride over to St. James Cheese Company in the Warehouse district for a leisurely lunch. I had a ploughman's lunch. We concluded our trip with a visit to the swanky Sazerac Bar in the very pricey Roosevelt Hotel to have one of their titular drinks. Alas, although the company was superb, I did not much care for the drink. From there we went to the airport for an uneventful flight home (although I did run into my fraternity brother Nick on the second leg).
Books
In other details, I finished three books on the trip. On the flight there I knocked off a baseball book from my slush pile. Mike Shropshire was the beat write for the 1973-1975 Texas Rangers, who were so terrible that Seasons in Hell, his book about the ordeal, is a fun if lightweight read. I also finished most of the Jesmyn Ward memoir Men We Reaped on the flight and knocked off the rest on Saturday. It was a moving, depressing view of growing up poor and black in Mississippi, and all the kids who didn't live long enough to try to pull themselves out of poverty as she did. Jesmyn Ward is great, go read her. On the flight home I finished Crystal Fleming's "How to Be Less Stupid About Race" which was both good and depressing in completely different ways. I feel like I should probably re-read that one again, as I suspect parts of it sink in better after multiple readings and some contemplation. Alas, it is brand new so I couldn't renew it.