Day 1:
I left at 1:25pm on the Saturday, which was nice for a change and it meant security was easy and I had actually slept in for once. So this was an excellent start to my day. After a 3 1/2 hour flight, I arrived in NOLA! From the airport, I had to take a bus into the cityish, then another downtown, and then finally another to our Airbnb in the Bywater neighborhood. It took me about 1 hour and 35 minutes, but it only cost $3. A shuttle to downtown would have been $25 at least, so I'm okay with the time it took and the money I saved for more good food and drink.
When I got to our Airbnb, I won't lie, at first I was nervous because it looked a little sketch. But I think that is just part of NOLA and honestly the aftermath of Katrina. I also wonder if this area is one that's slowly being gentrified, because just across the main street, the houses look a little more well-kept. So, I found the house and the first thing I see is a couple of roosters. VERY random--more on this later. But then I saw Martha and we hugged it out because it had been so long since we've seen each other! She ushered me in to the house and it was so old and charming, I loved it! My first Airbnb experience looked like a success already.
After I changed, we decided to set out for a night in NOLA, first by walking through the Bywater neighborhood to Frenchmen Street, where we instantly heard live music and decided we needed to come back after we ate, except for we got sidetracked oh I don't know, 4 different places before we even made it to the restaurant. Here were our sidetracks:
1) On Frenchmen, the only (I think) night market, full of beautiful arts and crafts. Since this was the first place we went, I didn't want to commit, which ended up being a bad idea because we went back on our last night, the item that I wanted-her stand wasn't there that night :(
2, and 3, and more) A few shops with the masquerade and Mardi Gras masks. So many to choose from and again, I figured I'd come back if I didn't find one another time, so I could wear it for Halloween. Bonus: I also bought sunglasses because I needed new ones desperately. I had been wearing the free Howl and the Moon ones that are bright orange for longer than I care to admit.
4?) An adorable patio bar that was down a little aleyway. It drew us in with the smell of leather (weird, I know) and just the allure of a back entrance. We got some local Abita beers, and I was served my first "go" cup. There was also live music! After searching online, I have figured out that the name of this place was Balcony Music Club (BMC). We sat for a bit, enjoying the gorgeous night and the quaintness of the courtyard.
Then we continued on our way to Cafe Amelie, a French restaurant in the French Quarter that I had read great reviews on. The wait was about 45 minutes, but as soon as we walked up to the hostess stand, we knew we HAD to eat here. They had outdoor seating in this beautiful, big courtyard-AH everything was so adorable and old here! So in the meantime while waiting for our table, we walked to a "classic" bar on Bourbon street: Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. It's incredibly old and has been a bar since the 1700's--there aren't even real lights in there, just lanterns-loved the rustic feel. Here, I got a true "go" cup and left after admiring the bar, to go walk around. But we ended up getting called much earlier, so we hurried back to Cafe Amelia and I had to down my "go" cup.
Cafe Amelie, as I already said, was so precious. The ambiance was perfect. The food was also amazing! We ended up just ordering a couple of appetizers to share, which probably wasn't the smartest, because I think as we found out later, we probably needed more food. But what we did have was tasty: Brussels sprouts in a delicious marinade of balsamic and something else, a spinach oyster dip, and cajun poutine. I also got a Mississippi beer (first one ever). The waitress was really great and helpful and told us that no matter the time, we should end our night with beignets at Cafe Du Monde because it's open 24 hours. This was excellent advice as we would find, for more than one reason.
Next, we wanted to go to Sazerac, where the drink sazerac (which I've never had) was invented. It was a bit difficult to find because I failed to remember or notice that the bar is in the ld hotel, the Roosevelt-which was beautiful! It felt very 1920's-gilded and whatnot. The bar was busy, but as our luck would have it, we found two seats at the bar in front of a delightful bartender. We ordered sazeracs and he warned us that they were strong. With that, he made the drink made of whiskey and lots of bitters and then sprays the glass WITH ABSINTHE. Yup, we weren't done with this bad boy of a liquor just yet. The drink was quite good, but oooh boy was it a kick in the ass. Especially for the end of the night. The bartender was so sweet though and gave us some little bar snacks, when no one else got any and he also asked us if we wanted our drinks sweetened. Although I felt a little defensive because I like my drinks not sweet for the most part--t's just these were REALLY STRONG after a night of drinking, it was still very nice all the same and we gave him a good tip. The bartenders were also dressed in these fancy uniforms that would be typical of the early 20th century. Overall, loved the experience and glad I tasted a sazerac IN Sazerac.
Sadly, we were done for the night and hadn't made it to Frenchmen Street for live music. It'll have to happen another time. But we did take the advice of our waitress and headed to Cafe Du Monde, where the line for the takeout counter was only 5 people long as opposed to when people go during the day and it can be around the block. We split an order of beignets (3) and each got a coffee which is made with chicory in it. It was the perfect nightcap and I am now obsessed with beignets. No surprise, since donuts are one of my favorite foods. We grabbed a cab back to our place and went to sleep. Before I went to sleep, I took a picture next to the door in our room to show 1) how tall the doors are and 2) how far up Katrina reached--our place was on the second floor of this house :(
After getting in late last night, it wasn't very pleasant that all of those roosters I saw last night as I arrived, were crowing and cockle-doodle-dooing even before the sun actually rose. I'm a light sleeper, so I didn't get a ton of sleep and we ended up waking up at 7:30 when we didn't really need to until about 8:30/9. Oh well, it made for a very relaxing morning as we leisurely took our time getting ready, reading, or writing in journals. Then it was time to say goodbye to our humble little abode, and Sally and her husband Andrew (and adorable daughter Emerson) came to pick us up to go to brunch.
We went to the Faubourg/Marigny neighborhood, which is where Frenchmen Street is located, and walked around the neighborhood admiring the colorful houses while we waited for a table at The Ruby Slipper. This restaurant is a mini-chain around the New Orleans area and the menu is awesome! It was so hard to decide what to order so we all ordered something different and tasted each others (my favorite kind-of people to go out to eat with!). I ordered the Spanish Omelette that came with grits and toast. I've had grits before, but these (and the subsequent ones I had at various places) were corn grits and oh they are so yummy! Lots of butter too :) Everyone's meals were excellent. I also love the name of the cafe, which was "inspired by a powerful sense of homecoming when we returned to New Orleans after Katrina. To be back with family and friends in the city we love, well Dorothy said it best...'There's no place like home.'"
Next, we took the car and parked in the French Quarter kind-of close to the river. Now, I've seen the Mississippi before because I'm from Iowa, but I hadn't seen THIS part of the Mississippi, so we walked down to the pier/boardwalk/not sure what to call it and saw a steamboat or two. Next time I visit, I think I'd like to take a little steamboat cruise. We walked along the river for a bit towards more of the French Quarter and specifically to Jackson Square. We took the requisite pictures of ourselves in front of the picaresque square and went inside the St. Louis Cathedral. It's so wonderful to see pretty churches in the U.S. There aren't many of them here compared to in Europe.
We popped into a little book shop in Pirate's Alley right next to the Cathedral where Martha found a book that is absolutely perfect for her! Then we walked. And walked. And sweated, and walked some more. The French Quarter lends itself well to just walking and meandering around. Eventually we walked specifically to the French Market. Sadly, we were so full we could not sample the food at the French Market, but we did check out the stalls of crafts. Martha bought a hat, and I settled on a masquerade mask with peacock colored feathers-so pretty! I'll have to come back and eat some of the food next time I visit.
Our next stop was right across the street from one of Antoine's many entrances (it spans a whole block I believe), Leah's Pralines- FYI, it's "Praaaah-leen," not "pray-leen"-whoops! I learned something though. They let us try a little sample of a peanut butter (I believe it was) mixed praline and it was very yummy! They gave us a praline to go and I just realized now, that I never ate mine! I don't even know where it is. I'll have to search tonight and maybe have a snack for later :)
Next up was another popular restaurant in the French Quarter, Arnaud's. We first stopped at their more casual place, Remoulade, to have what else but shrimp remoulade, which was absolutely fantastic! I think it was the best thing I had on the whole tour! Everyone's remoulade sauce is a bit different, they said, but I would be happy to have a life supply of Arnaud's. After grabbing a drink to walk around, we were given a tour around the fancy part of Arnaud's, which was also really beautiful! The best part though was viewing the "Mardi Gras Museum" full of one of the past owner's of Arnaud's, Germaine Cazenave Wells's Mardi Gras Queen dresses. She was queen reportedly 22 times-- more than anyone else. These dresses were incredibly grand and beautiful, and MASSIVE. Seriously so big. I wish I could have captured the size better in my photos. This link has an extra tidbit/article on how Mardi Gras actually works with all of the krewes and queens and whatnot, because for us outsiders, it's confusing! I really liked taking a look at this museum and I recommend checking it out. It's open 7 days a week, whenever the restaurant is open and it's free! But I do want to say the word "museum" loosely. It's small, and you'd spend a whole 10-15 minutes there max.
Next up was La Davina Cafe e Gelateria where we had muffaletta, gelato, and cannoli. I'm still a little confused as to why gelato and cannoli were given to us, but I'm not complaining! I think it was to express the ways in which yet another immigrant group, the Italians, had an effect on the cuisine in New Orleans. While most people enjoyed muffaletta, someone like me who does not like olives, didn't enjoy it is as much. I had no clue until biting into it that the ingredient that distinguishes it from other deli-style sandwiches, is my least favorite food, an olive salad. Oh well! I still finished it because it was a small sample. Apparently, muffuletta is actually the name of the bread that is used, but also the name of the sandwich as a whole.
On the walk to our next stop, we saw a SECOND LINE!! This was very exciting and one of my goals :) Our guide didn't even notice that it was about to start, but Sally and Andrew recognized it and made us slow down. It was a wedding party with the bride and groom out in the front (the bride twirling her parasol), followed by a brass band and then the rest of the guests who wave little hankies. Everyone is dancing and just having a blast, I loved it! We arrived at our next destination, which was Tujague's. Here we had the beef brisket with creole sauce. I won't lie, I completely forgot the story behind this little piece of food but it was tasty and the brisket was really tender! This bar also is where the grasshopper (drink) was invented, but I completely spaced on that while I was there and didn't get one. Next time!
Our last stop was Creole Delicacies, where we received an excellent lesson in the back little courtyard about creole cuisine and we were able to try red beans and rice. The red beans and rice were pretty solid, but I really loved hearing the woman speak about how to make the perfect roux and what each roux (shade) would be used for. I learned a few more things about creole/cajun cuisine, least of which was the important ingredient in many recipes including gumbo: the "holy trinity", which consists of onions, bell peppers, and celery. Traditionally, the French mirepoix, includes onions, celery, and carrots, but when the French immigrated to New Orleans, they found that carrots couldn't grow here so they switched out carrots for bell peppers, which can more easily grow in the climate and soil of New Orleans. There also may be the addition of "the pope" which is garlic, added to the holy trinity.
I also learned the difference between Creole and Cajun cuisine and where they came from. Creole cuisine is a mix of French, Spanish, West African, German, American Indian, and more. Our guide for the tour mentioned she thinks that this mixture came together from the slaves who worked in the various households of families who were possibly French, Spanish, German, and so on and it was them who created a cuisine that included all of these cuisines as well as a little touch of West African. Seems plausible, and I like the idea :) Cajun cuisine stems from the French-speaking Acadians who were deported by the British from Canada. The philosophy of food and how that worked for the Acadians was local available ingredients trumped everything. Some real Cajun cuisine could include various game meats, seafood, or more. There are many variations, but it's typically looked at as more "rustic" cooking. I for one, thought the jambalaya I had the next day was freaking amazing.
Lastly, we headed to Madisonville, where Sally and Andrew live. Their house is really beautiful and very, very new! She is so adult, and here I am living in an apartment with roommates and only have furniture that I just plan on throwing out the next time I make a big move. I was seriously so impressed by their place, and a little jealous. Despite it only being 9:30 or something like that, we were all exhausted, so we crashed!
On Monday morning, we woke up after a nice big night of sleep (needed to catch up from the lack of sleep before), got ready, drank our coffee and set off for the city. Sally was gracious enough to let us borrow her car for that morning so we could drive into the city. It's about a 45 minute trip across the lake. As I explained before, the bridge to get to the North Shore is long, it's 24 miles long over Lake Pontchartrain. It's the longest bridge over water in the United States! For 8 miles of it, you can't see any land. It's eerie. But cool too :)
We drove straight in to the Garden District for breakfast at a place that I had read about called District: Donuts Sliders.Brew. I have three words for you: Donut.Breakfast.Sandwiches. Donuts are one of my favorite foods ever and so putting that together with some ham and egg and cheese sounds divine. And oh it was. I ordered the Croque Madam Croquenut (donut sandwich), it had smoked ham, havarti, dijon, bechamel, and a sunny-side up egg. I had to get a sweet donut as well so I ordered the peanut butter walnut honey donut. YUM! I also ordered an orange juice, but they were out of that and had just switched over to satsuma juice. Satsuma is an mandarin orange-like fruit, so the juice tasted very similar! I would highly recommend this place because they also have coffee and the "sliders" part of the title is for the lunch/dinner time where they have burger sliders! They also serve the breakfast all-day, so basically come around 12 and you can get a little bit of everything!
After our yummy breakfast we headed to the Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. If you haven't heard, the cemeteries in New Orleans and some of the swampy areas in Louisiana are above ground or shallow graves because of being built on the swamps, but this isn't necessarily the only reason. This article explains the tradition of above-ground burial in New Orleans. For whatever reason, the tombs are more like family mausoleums and they are very striking and beautiful. Much better than the cemeteries back home that are full of tiny grave markers. We walked around for awhile, admiring the tombs, and getting a little freaked out when we saw ones that were very recent. There's something different about knowing that the corpses are at your same level and not six feet below.
After leaving the cemetery we went on a Garden District Walking Tour that my Fodor's guidebook had outlined. It was a beautiful day, and the walk was perfect. The houses here are absolutely beautiful and charming. This is clearly like a millionaire's row as many of these houses are massive. Others might be smaller, but they are so decorative from the colors to the ironwork. Definitely make it a priority to take a walk around the Garden District, it's worth it and very relaxing.
For tourist purposes and because it meant a little less walking, and we already had been (and would be) doing lots of walking, we took the St. Charles Streetcar, which was so adorable and old! Even though I've been to San Francisco twice, I've still never ridden on a streetcar and it was so quaint. We rode it to more of the Central Business District (CBD), so that we could check out Cochon Butcher for lunch. Cochon, the parent restaurant is all the rage right now in New Orleans, but their butcher sandwich shop just next door has gotten a lot of rave reviews as well. I wanted to try it out because the menu looked pretty good and again had a decent beer menu. Since we had a late breakfast, I just had some small plates: the Hot Boudin (another regional-type food) and potato salad as well as a beer, of course! I love sausages and trying different kinds and the boudin was very tasty. I would definitely go here again, and I recommend for something good quality, popular, and affordable!
Then we walked around some more (see? lots of walking), popping into shops here and there. We rounded a corner and Martha smelled a flower she really liked. It was from a tree near some beautiful houses right on the border of the French Quarter and Faubourg/Marigny. A man stopped us and told us it was a name that escapes me right now (this'll really teach me to write my posts A MONTH later-yikes). He was a very pleasant man and told us about a woman who owned a house (if you can call it a house) that spanned this whole block. It was beautiful. And rumor has it that she has tons of priceless artwork inside. This man was just another example of the kind-hearted souls that live in NOLA.
Now, it was time for us to find a balcony in the French Quarter so that we can get a view from above. We ended up going to Cornet on Bourbon street. The menu was very New Orleans, so we decided to try our hand one last time at some of their famed cuisine. This is where we had the gumbo that wasn't seafood, and sadly wasn't as good as the gumbo at Antoine's. It was still pretty good though. What we did love though was the alligator sausage we ordered. It was so flavorful! We also ordered some drinks, me a bloody mary (I know, I know, at 5 at night?), and Martha a margarita of some sort. They sounded intriguing, but they were not very good at all. I honestly have no idea why I ordered a bloody mary anyway, I don't really like tomato juice. Dumb choice for me. It's all good though, it was a wonderful view and a nice stop.
We then headed down to Frenchmen so that we could hopefully grab that piece of art that I wanted, but sadly the lady's stand was not there :( I ended up buying a bracelet at another stand that was made out of acoustic guitar strings. It's simple, and I really like it. Because we were really thirsty (did I mention it was hot still?) we went into Cafe Negril which was one of the jazz clubs that I read about, to grab a drink. I had some of a beer and we listened to the music for a bit. There was barely anyone in there, but it was Monday so I didn't expect there to be much. I do know that I absolutely need to come back and do more of the live music scene on Frenchmen.
Finally, we grabbed an uber to take back to our car parked in the Garden District and boy was it an interesting ride. This young man had just found out that he has a 2 year old son in Italy. You could tell he was beyond shocked and the poor guy kept asking us for advice. It was slightly awkward, but really not that much. He was a very nice guy, who just got dealt a huge blow. In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have been driving for uber that night, but oh well. It was entertaining for us! We made it back to our car and drove back to Sally's house (after having some problems getting her address into the GPS). Chatted with Sally a bit, who wasn't feeling well, and then hit the sack!
The last day in Louisiana was quite relaxing. We leisurely slept in a bit and then drove to another one of the branches of Cafe Du Monde, because it's just not possible to get enough beignets and coffee with chicory! It was delicious again, and I will be honest and say that I was happy to have my own helping this time :) Afterwards, we went back to Sally's place and played a game. I miss playing board games, strategy games, any kinds of games, and so it was my suggestion that we do that with the hour or so we had left before leaving for the airport. We played Quelf. It was an uber ridiculous game, but it was crazy fun!
Sadly, then it was time for us to drive the 45 minutes to the airport. Instead of crossing the lake this time, we drove around the lake which meant we ended driving by some of a bayou (I think that's what it was). Sally pointed out the cypress trees that line the area and I had never seen any trees like that before, they were really quite pretty. Next time I visit New Orleans, I'll have to take an extra couple of days and visit more of the swamps and Cajun country. We dropped Martha off at the airport because her flight was a few hours before mine, and Sally and I grabbed a quick lunch at Zea's Rotiserrie and Grill, a local mini-chain. It was actually pretty tasty, I had the garlic herb chicken with a side of corn grits (so buttery!) and red beans and rice. They even brew some of their own beer too, so of course I had to try some :)
Alas, it was time for me to get dropped off at the airport, and start my journey back to Boston. But no worries, I'll definitely be back again someday. New Orleans, you were at the top of my list to visit, and now you are at the top of my "to revisit" list :)