New Orleans - Day 2

Only our second day in New Orleans and we were on our way to our brunch reservation at the place for jazz brunch, Commander's Palace (1403 Washington Ave). It's a large old teal and white building with matching antique electric sign. This restaurant has been around since 1880! As a hostess walked us to our table, we walked through a tunnel of staff welcoming us to the Palace. Everyone was impeccably dressed. We walked past the jazz trio playing downstairs on our way upstairs. The trio was the best live music that I'd heard so far in New Orleans. There was another trio playing upstairs. Neither carried sheet music; and, they played all variety of songs on request ("You Are My Sunshine", "The Entertainer", "What a Wonderful Life"). The musicianship was amazing! Both trios roamed around their respective floors taking requests and playing to the table guests.

To compliment the elegant atmosphere and delightful live music, brunch was exquisite. All brunches were a starter, entree and dessert. My starter was turtle soup, poured into my soup bowl at my table with much aplomb (we were surrounded by servers who waited to serve us all at the same time). My entree was stuffed quail; and, I finished my meal with a triple chocolate truffle. At our table, we tried all the desserts, including bread pudding, strawberry shortcake, cheesecake and salted caramel ice cream.

After such a decadent meal, we needed a very long walk. Lafayette Cemetery is directly across Washington Ave from Commander's Palace. In New Orleans, since the water table is so high, people are buried above ground. The entire wall of the Lafayette cemetery along Washington Ave is wall vaults for burials. Inside the cemetery, the majority of graves are mausoleums, or above ground tombs. It was different to see rows of above ground vaults instead of tombstones.

After the cemetery, Byron acted as tour guide and directed us on a walking tour of the Garden District. The old homes here are indescribable. Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, died in one of the homes. Mark Twain often visited another. These are homes full of New Orleans history.

By this time, we we needed a snack and sit down break. We walked over to The Columns (3811 St. Charles Ave) and enjoyed light refreshments along with a beautiful view of St. Charles Ave on the outside patio. Light refreshments make one hungrier for a real meal. Tonight was an important play-off game; and, we went to dinner at Gordon Biersch (200 Poydras St), where the guys could watch the football game. 

After dinner, us girls headed for a walk down Bourbon Street. It was still early, 8 pm. However, Bourbon Street was already closed off. We joined the spectators meandering down Bourbon. On top of the bars that I expected to see, there were also much more adult offerings. New Orleans has some interesting policies. There is no last call. Alcohol is served 24/7. In addition, there is no open bottle restriction. You can leave the bar with your drink (as long as it's in a plastic container) and walk the streets drinking it.

New Orleans - Day 1

On a sunny Saturday, we boarded a plane to New Orleans. Southwest now flies direct; and, we purchased $100 round trip tickets for Martin Luther King, Jr., weekend. The early morning flight wasn't too early; and, it gave us plenty of time to get to our hotel before beginning our quest for lunch. What began as a simple decision to see Uptown/Carrollton area of New Orleans turned into an adventure. After waiting over half an hour for a streetcar to arrive going toward Uptown (and watching several go the opposite direction), three streetcars stopped in quick succession. However, the first was full; and, the second's driver simply looked at our group and pulled away. We fit into the third streetcar. Yet, more delays awaited us. After only a mile, the streetcar stopped; and, we all had to exit in order go get on a waiting bus that would take us past streetcar track construction. The bus driver left the bus claiming he didn't know how to drive the bus. After being crammed into the bus for 10-15 minutes, another bus driver arrived and drove us the mile past the construction. Then, we boarded another streetcar to the end of the line in Uptown. The 1.5 hour total transportation experience (from waiting at the streetcar stop to getting off at the end) didn't make for a very efficient first impression of New Orleans. However, it did make us all very hungry.

My first New Orleans meal -- a fried shrimp po-boy. A po-boy is a sandwich made up of a 10" subway roll filled with meat, lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise. It was delicious! Also delicious was the potato soup, which came with all the toppings of a baked potato. O'Henry's, 634 S Carrollton Ave.

 After lunch, we decided to avoid any more public transportation and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. The weather was so nice, we had eaten lunch outside on O'Henry's balcony. Now, we meandered down St. Charles Ave past Tulane to the Audubon Park. It was a large park with wide paved paths clearly marked for pedestrians as well as cyclists. There are bodies of water as well as several sculptures; and, large old trees provide plenty of shade. Walking through the park took us to Magazine Street and helped us forget the morning's public transportation fiasco. By that time, we were ready to use our day passes to catch the bus. The bus arrived relatively promptly; and, the return to our hotel was much less eventful.

After a few hours rest, we were ready to find dinner. We walked along Magazine Street and vetoed all places that had lines or couldn't seat us immediately. We'd had enough waiting for one day. Nile Ethiopian (2130 Magazine St) looked warm and inviting from the outside; and, the hostess/waitress moved two people from their one large table to accommodate our group of six. Everything from the injera (bread) chicken to curried lamb to the vegetarian platter was delicious! Although it is not typical New Orleans cuisine, Nile Ethiopian is on my recommended list for anyone visiting New Orleans.

Our evening wasn't over yet! After dinner, we caught the bus to Le Bon Temps Roulé (4801 Magazine St). It's a small bar with two pool tables in the front and a stage with bands performing in the back from 11 pm - 2 am. There's an older juke box up front that has an eclectic variety of music to choose from. While the band (Soul Fiya) wasn't quite our taste, we did enjoy playing pool for a few hours. Did I mention that there's an alligator in the ceiling? [Side note -- New Orleans does not have a smoking ban. Be prepared for smoking in all bars, restaurants, casinos, etc.]