Thanks to everyone on the board. I've been lurking here for a few months in preparation for a trip to a city I have been dying to visit for some time. The trip was much too short, but I was in New Orleans for the first time April 6th - April 9th. What a great place! I've traveled quite a bit, but this city is like no other I've ever been. I'm still trying to put my finger on exactly what makes it so special, and I may have come up with something: there's a European flavor to it, yet it is very very Southern...and the dichotomy of these two regions is what makes New Orleans so unique.
We arrived at about 4:30pm last Thursday, hopped into a taxi & took a quick ride to the French Quarter. We checked into the Hotel Villa Convento - 4 women, 3 of us single, ranging in age from 34 to 52, staying in a place that used to house nuns. Ironic?? For the price and location, I would recommend the hotel, although it is a bit run-down (which I felt added to the charm). We paid $89/night for a double room & while it is not in the middle of the Quarter, it is really not far from the action. The other two friends had a king room for $109 (still a steal), which was actually much nicer. The staff was wonderful - very friendly & accommodating - (in fact, everyone in New Orleans seemed friendly). A breakfast of coffee & croissants was included in the price.
We did some quick unpacking & headed out to explore the Quarter. First impressions: 1. what lovely, quaint buildings, and 2. ohmigod, it's an endless party - everyone walking around with those big cups filled with I don't know what (but I soon found out) and 3. there is music pouring out of every nook & cranny - I love it! We walked up Decatur to Jackson Square & then back up around Royal Street. At Jackson Square, we stopped & listened to a terrific band with a great clarinet player - that's right, Doreen Ketchens, whom I had just read about on the plane. (Good article in April's Travel & Leisure, btw, on the Insider's New Orleans).
Stopped at a bar to sample my first hurricane, but alas, they weren't 'done' at this particular place so I settled for a margarita...Back to the hotel to freshen up for what was to be our first of three gastronomic evenings.
We took a cab to Delmonico. We took a lot of cabs to & from the Quarter - between four of us, it was well worth it. We were seated upstairs - beautiful space, excellent service & food. I started with panko-crusted oysters with a vegetable & crab slaw (what's a panko, you may ask? a Japanese breadcrumb, I found out...I didn't know breadcrumbs had nationalities...). Then on to rabbit (which was finished at the table) with a red wine & mushroom sauce - excellent. For dessert, we shared the coconut creme pie & creme brulee, which were also very good. Cabbed back to the Quarter after dinner & ended up at Pat O'Brien's. Now this is a fun place. We only had to step over one drunken (& sick) college student. We parked ourselves in the piano bar for a couple hours & sang along with everyone else. We walked back to the hotel, which is in a quieter stretch of the Quarter, but we felt pretty safe. A few more blocks over, however, & this probably wouldn't have been such a good idea...
Friday morning after breakfast at the hotel, we headed out to the aquarium. Beautiful day - sunny and 80ish. Now I'm not big on aquariums, but it was nice. We went to the food court at Riverwalk to grab a quick bite to eat before our 2:00 boat left for the zoo. Shared a crawfish po-boy with one of my friends - it was ok; I mean a food court is a food court no matter where you go. After lunch, got a hurricane to go. We took the river cruise to the zoo, which was nice - not a whole lot to see, but it was a great day to be cruising along the River. There must have been 5 different field trips that day as our boat was filled with high-schoolers, who all followed us to the zoo! The zoo was great - beautiful grounds. We chose not to buy the round-trip ticket & instead took the St. Charles streetcar back to Canal. Wow! I took a lot of pictures of complete strangers' homes, but they were incredible! Living in New York City in a single room apartment makes you really appreciate space, and these homes were certainly very spacious. We walked around the quarter some more, and ended up at the French Market - just browsing today...
Dinner tonight was at Arnaud's. We were seated in the main dining room. The service was excellent. I started with mushrooms Veronique (stuffed with boursin cheese & grapes - yum) & had the crawfish O'Connor (crawfish in creole sauce) for my main dish. This was excellent. The 4 of us shared 3 desserts: bread pudding, pecan pie and chocolate cake; I think the bread pudding in whiskey sauce was my favorite! Afterwards, we walked by Preservation Hall to see if we could get in - no lines, no problem. We bought tickets for the last set, which I believe started at 11:30. We were able to get a seat on the bench & just enjoy the music. It was great! It felt very New Orleans. Five or six pieces & all of the instruments looked like they had served their respective musicians well for many good years...
Saturday morning, we were off to the museum (NOMA). Great permanent collection & the John Singer Sargent exhibit is worth seeing. Afterwards we walked over to cemetery #3, where we poked around for awhile. There were no cabs to be found, so we waited for the bus on Esplanade, which showed up about 10 or 15 minutes later. The bus turns on Rampart so we took it down to St. Peter & walked back down to the Quarter. More wandering around, heard more great music, and got some drinks to walk around with. Today's drink of choice was something called a Banana Banshee - don't ask - but it sure was good. We had a late lunch at the Jackson Square Cafe - fried oyster po-boys, which we all enjoyed (I could actually taste the oysters & not just breading) and then decided to take a carriage ride. Our driver was quite a character. In addition to the four of us, he had already had 4 women on his carriage - he seemed quite pleased with himself for this feat. We had another nice weather day. Not nearly as warm as yesterday (needed a jacket or sweater) but sunny & a bit windy. After the ride, we decided to get our palms read. Now, I'm not quite sure if I'm a believer, but I did walk back to my friends staring at my hands, saying "Wait. How did she know that??". Very interesting. Back to the flea market, where I picked up some potholders for a friend of mine who cooks a lot, and an egg pin for my Mom to wear on Easter. Back to the hotel for a nap before dinner.
Dinner tonight was at Bayona. We had a 9:00 reservation, and went down to the hotel lobby at 8:45 to have them call a cab. We waited until 9:15, but no cab, so we started walking, thinking we could flag one down somewhere. Nothing. In fact, it was very quiet. So we walked all the way there, which would normally not be a big deal, except for those high-heeled strappy sandals...ouch. I had called to let them know we would be late & they were very gracious & friendly anyway - and we were over a half-hour late. This is a beautiful restaurant - nice courtyard although it was too cold to sit outside that night, good lighting, nicely decorated. Once again we had excellent (& enthusiastic) service. I started with a salad of apples, walnuts and blue cheese in a walnut vinaigrette (yum) and had the duck with pepper jelly, which was also a wonderful dish. Shared 3 desserts again (who can pick one?): gingerbread cake, a dense, rich chocolate cake, and a nutty chocolate tart with caramel sauce - again, yum. By the time we finished with dinner, it was about 12:15, and I was ready to go out!! But alas, I was overruled so we called it a night.
Sunday morning, I shopped around a bit on Decatur, picked up some gifts (pralines for the folks at my office, an ornament for my sister), and then off to the jazz brunch at Cafe Sbisa. We sat on the balcony for a little while, but it got a bit too breezy so we headed indoors. I had the crabcakes & eggs, which were very good. Again, really good service, which seems to be a common theme in this report. Our last few hours in New Orleans were spent wandering around the French Quarter, shopping, listening to music. We saw the -Jackson Square All-stars once again, and this time, I bought their CD. I was determined to buy something for myself that was made in Louisiana (all those voo-doo dolls are made in China!) so we walked into a shop on Royal (Louisiana Crafters? or something like that) where I picked up a box made out of sassafras by a gentleman in Slidell...
Off to the airport & good-bye to New Orleans. There were a few things on my "must-see" and "must-eat" list that I didn't get to, but I know there will be a next time...