Saturday Morning
I got a wake up call from my SO. We chatted while I got up and got dressed. He was going to try to enjoy my trip vicariously as he was stuck up north in the cold weather. I checked out of my room and into a bigger room with a kitchenette and sitting room that I was going to share with some of my friends. As the ladies arrived, the room filled with luggage, noise and laughter. We decided to explore Bourbon Street together in the early afternoon.
On our way out I received another call from John, so I filled him in on our plans as we walked to the elevator. While on the elevator to the lobby, a gentleman spoke to our group, commenting on our different accents. We found he was from the same country as my SO. I explained the situation to John and asked him how to say "Hello." The gentleman was surprised to hear to hear a rather bad version of a greeting in his native language. John asked to talk to the man. Imagine his surprise when, upon taking my cell phone, he was speaking with a man in his native language. They chatted for several minutes before the man handed my phone back to me so I could finish my call with John.
Some of the group had visited New Orleans before and acted as tour guides for the rest of us. We walked around, poking into the shops and bars, taking pictures, with the northern girls enjoying the treat of sunshine and heat. I ordered a mufaletta which is a New Orleans sandwich made with ham, Genoa salami, mortedella, provolone, Swiss cheese and olive salad served on French bread coated with garlic olive oil. Yum! After our visit we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.
We took a taxi van to a restaurant named Tujaques, which had been suggested by a friend of mine. Unfortunately, our group was so large they directed us to an upstairs dining area. I managed the steep, winding staircase with difficulty. We were served a wonderful meal, which included a green salad with shrimp and a horseradish dressing, crusty bread, chicken breasts over rice with an artichoke sauce and cranberry bread pudding. I learned a valuable lesson about clarifying 'special arrangements' as we were charged $50/meal, which was more than if we had ordered from the menu in the downstairs dining area. While taking photos of each other, a gent from a nearby table offered to take a few group shots for us. We found he was with a group of equally friendly School Board members from Colorado.
After another taxi ride back to our hotel most of us walked back to Bourbon Street for a nighttime walk through the area. The atmosphere was much different in the evening hours as compared to the early afternoon. There were young people lining the balconies above and everywhere in the streets, throwing beads back and forth. The street is completely blocked to auto traffic and was very crowded. It made it difficult for our group to stay together. We bought some daiquiris to drink as we worked our way down the street. Some of us bought feather boas and a few souvenirs along the way. We were very late getting to bed that night
Saturday Adventures
Ever adventurous, we headed back to the French Quarter for breakfast. With the help of a fellow at a shop, we found a small restaurant with a local feel for the breakfast special of eggs, hash browns, toast and bacon. After breakfast we again wandered through the streets, stopping to shop and take photos. The group split up and headed to different destinations. My legs and back were bothering me from the slanted, uneven sidewalks and a poor choice of shoes that morning. I headed back to the hotel for a nap and the opportunity to pick up some Gator Stiks. Gator Stiks are like beef sticks but made of pork and alligator meat. John was encouraging me to try new foods and new experiences even though he is not adventurous with food. I bought some gator jerky and a gator stick for him to try. Heh heh heh.
Still alone after a nap, I set out to find some lunch. I asked at the front desk of the hotel and was directed to a small restaurant where the staff often ate. The Half Shell Restaurant had the same neighborhood feel as the restaurant I worked at when I was 16, just a few tables and a very friendly waitress. She suggested I try the catfish nuggets and the gumbo as Pearl, the cook, made "the world's best gumbo". I found that I love gumbo (at least Pearl's gumbo)! From there I found a souvenir shop on Canal Street named OM Enterprise, that carried much the same inventory as found on Bourbon Street but at much lower prices. A very friendly young man named Silva helped me find everything I wanted.
Everyone gathered in our room and we decided to head out to the same restaurant where I had eaten lunch. The Half Shell is actually two restaurants in one building and we ate dinner in the other half, known as Lenny's Piccadilly Lounge. We ordered Pearl's red beans and rice which was nothing like the red beans and rice I had eaten up north. It was soupy and very flavorful which helped to make up for the extremely slow service by the fellow behind the bar.
We walked the couple of blocks back to the hotel and I opted out of another foray into Bourbon Street. I took a shower and tried to figure out how I was going to pack my suitcases with all the gifts I had bought to take home. When my friends came back to our room they had bought everyone feathered masks and more feather boas. I collect frogs and a couple of them had bought gifts for me. I now have a winged frog to hang on my porch and a carved gardening frog complete with patched jeans and a rake.
Egging each other on, we gathered our boas, feather masks and cameras and trooped down to the huge lobby. We gathered in the sitting area while the bellman took our photo with all of our cameras while we sat laughing behind our masks. Back in the room we continued to take pictures since we don't know when we will all get together again. The boas tend to shed feathers when tossed around a lot and our room soon looked like we had slaughtered yellow, orange, purple and black chickens, as feathers were everywhere! To help make up for the mess of the feathers, we left an extra large tip for the woman who cleaned our room.
Sunday
Two of the group left very early, leaving their goodbye note in our room. Two more left at noon, leaving just two of us who were not leaving until Monday. I packed up my bags and checked out of the big room and bunked in with my remaining girlfriend.
We decided to explore and soon found ourselves on the St. Charles Street trolley. It was our first trolley ride so we rode it to the end and back, $1.25 each way. We stopped at a small Greek restaurant for falafel sandwiches, which we took back to the hotel. We took a 4-hour City Tour which picked us up in front of our hotel. We were sharing the tour van with School Board members from Ohio. The driver took us through the French Quarter, the Garden District, the riverfront, a cemetery, past mansions, Lake Pontchartrain, stopping for a snack midway through the tour. Our driver, Paul, kept up an entertaining, informative stream of conversation during the tour and delivered us back to our hotel. Paul was attractive and engaging so when we paid our $40 each for the tour we seriously over-tipped him.
Our final night in New Orleans took us back to Bourbon Street for dinner. We went to Patouts, a bar with a loud Cajun band. Remembering my promise to John to try alligator, I ordered alligator balls and chips with an artichoke dip. Alligator balls are much like meatballs, made with ground meat and very spicy. We ordered hurricanes, ate and listened to the music while watching the band and the occasional dancers late into the night. Picking up the last of the t-shirts and souvenirs we headed back to our room and our final packing. I managed to get everything stuffed into my suitcases and expanded my briefcase so I could stuff it with the T-shirts I bought. Normally, I carry my briefcase onboard with extra clothes, makeup and anything I would need if stranded without my luggage. This was one night we didn't lay in our beds chatting until the wee hours, travel takes a lot out of you and we wanted our rest.
Next - The Trip Home.... A Nightmare!!!
