Mark and I recently took our first real VACATION-vacation in quite a while to the historic Gulf Coast city of New Orleans. It was a delight-a-minute! In today’so post, I’d like to share some of our wonderful experiences with you.
We stayed right in the heart of the French Quarter and explored the district for 7 full days and nights. We were there to take in three things primarily:
Amazing Jazz. Delicious Food. And Memorable Beverages. And boy did we ever!
We set out for a great road trip in a rental car from Central Florida. The drive was fairly easy-breezy, at least through all of the Florida backroads we opted to take. We even stopped for a picnic lunch at a favorite lakeside park halfway. However, once we hit Alabama on I-10, traffic slowed way down, and what we had estimated to be about a ten-hour drive became twelve. Bridges and tunnels seemed a challenge for interstate drivers of the region.
Despite gulf state sluggishness, we’ll definitely do a car rental road trip again. It was uncomplicated, and the drive together was really enjoyable. We pulled into NOLA around 4pm CST and checked into our home base, Club LaPension on Decatur near Canal Street. Once settled in, we at last made our initial foray into the Quarter.
Our first stop was RF’s, a cozy spot at the corner of Bienville Avenue and Dauphine Street. The cocktail curators behind the bar served us up two delicious concoctions, and the live music was just what we needed to get the buzz of road out of our ears and ease into the NOLA groove.
Feeling fine, we mozied on down Bourbon Street and discovered Maison Bourbon, at the corner of Bourbon and St. Peter streets. “Dedicated to the Preservation of Jazz,” this was one fantastic little music hall. With no cover (ever) and terrific cocktails, we enjoyed top notch Dixieland for hours. This is where I also discovered my favorite NOLA cocktail, the Sazerac, made with rye whiskey and bitters. Delicous!
Mark had fun chatting it up with the musicians, and discovered that he and some of the band members knew a mutual jazz musician friend from his hometown. What a way to kick off the week!
Over the course of several days, we took in lots of fascinating sites, including Jackson Square marked by the St. Louis Cathedral and wonderful shopping; the Aquarium; and the Audubon Zoo — which was probably our favorite outing. Honestly, we wanted to do a few more tours, but we just couldn’t fit in everything we wanted to do. We’ve got quite a list saved for our next visit!
Each day we walked endlessly around town. Even still, we figured out early-on that there was simply no way to eat three full meals a day. We were constantly stuffed and needing an afternoon nap! For instance, on Tuesday we ordered an irresistable Original Muffuletta at Central Grocery on Decatur — we split a half of one! This had been on our must-do list for years, and was quite literally one of the best sandwiches we’ve ever eaten! (And we brought home several mondo-size jars of their famous muffuletta olive salad spread as proof of our enamour!) No regrets of course, but from then on we decided to put the kibosh on lunch for the rest of the week.
So most days it was breakfast of either classic powdery donut confections from Cafe Beignet (hands down better than Cafe Du Monde), or a delicious plate of assorted breakfast items from Huck Finn’s, the corner joint on Decatur near our home base. Their andouille sausage gravy and buscuits will never be forgotten! And then a well-chosen meal out on the town for dinner. And did we ever have a list of friend-recommended restaurants to choose from. Oye!
In fact, there were a couple places we had intended to try, but circumstances rerouted us in different directions. We went one evening to Acme Oyster House on Iberville Street, but as one would expect, the line was around the corner and, frankly, we weren’t in the mood to hang around waiting. So another recommendation was Felix’s, across the street from Acme. It was bustling too, but we managed to get right in. Talk about a happy mistake. Everything was so amazing there, we had all the classics — shrimp po-boy, gumbo, char-grilled oysters — and we went back the next day!
One evening on the walk home, we finally stopped into this adorable dessert shop. The window full of colorful candied apples had caught our eye. Inside, we decided on some pralines and a decadent fudge brownie to enjoy with a glass of wine on the rooftop back at home base.
Speaking of the rooftop patio, one night Mark and I were up there quietly unwinding with a bottle of wine, and all of a sudden, what comes along down Decatur but a band of neon night-riders on bicycles! It was a spectacular scene of dancing lights coming out of nowhere and right underneath us. Check out this little video I took …
The next weekend, Satchmo Fest was set to overtake the grounds of the Old U.S. Mint on Esplanade Avenue, in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood on the northeast end of the French Quarter. And were we ready to enjoy two solid days of amazing jazz! The only hitch — the rains were setting in!
We arrived at the festival at high noon as the doors were just opening. And I’m not kidding, the moment we got inside and under a music tent, the sky opened up and downpoured! Also, we hadn’t eaten much for breakfast because the festival was going to be filled with food tents from local eateries, and we planned to chow down. Starving as we were, we were literally trapped in that tent until the rain died down. Oh darn, good thing there was great music to diffuse our hunger!
So we peaked out and decided to check out the food sitch. We made a lap around to get a lay of the land, and oh my goodness was the lawn quickly water-logged. Ankle deep and quickly muddying. Some of the food tents were not even approachable. But we were on a mission and would not be stopped. We first sampled some terrific red beans and rice, and fried oysters on a vinaigrette salad. Later, crispy chicken wings and a seafood stuffed pepper. We also discovered a new affection for the local brew with Abita’s The Boot, a Kolsch.
Well the rain came and went, off and on throughout the day, and we listened to some great jazz bands. We also toured inside the Mint, where there was an interesting exhibit of local Mint history and operations. On the upper floors was a jazz museum. Mark was fascinated by displays about Louis Armstrong and Pete Fountain, and I especially enjoyed the exhibit of women in jazz history. Check out a virtual tour of the <a href=”http://www.louisianastatemuseum.org/museums/new-orleans-jazz-museum-the-old-us-mint/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Old U.S. Mint and Museum</a>. On the way out, we stopped in the gift shop. I purchased a deck of Louis Armstrong playing cards (to keep in the car for when we’re at a restaurant with an unbearably slow kitchen).
After lots of soggy standing around under tents, we took a break in the afternoon to get out of the rain (and find a seat). We sauntered over to nearby Frenchman Street, the center of the New Orleans live music scene. We landed in one of the clubs we’d heard about, The Spotted Cat, and enjoyed a couple more Boots, as well as a fantastic trio of Delta Blues musicians, the Washboard Chaz Blues Trio. These guys were incredible, so entertaining, we could have listened for hours on end! Well, we sort of did. LOL!
We landed back at the Satchmo Fest just in time to catch the last act of the evening, a high-energy gang of horn players, and we just had the best time!
We intended to spend Saturday back at the festival, but the day was even more stormy. I mean, the streets around our home base were white-water rapids, flooded to the top of the curbs, and the lids of the street drains were bursting up from the pressure. It was crazy, and we were comfy, dry and content staying in.
We did venture out for our final fine dinner of the week, having planned to go to Antoine’s, the oldest French-Creole restaurant in New Orleans. However, when we arrived, they were temporarily closed, mopping out from a flash flood, and would be delayed for at least an hour.
We decided on the Bourbon House, aptly on Bourbon Street. How could we go wrong? The menu looked wonderful, and there were literal walls of Bourbon in the lounge. But it was a busy Saturday night, and we had an hour’s wait. Wishing I’d have had those Satchmo cards on me!
But it was worth the wait. We started of with drinks, a Four Roses Bourbon neat for Mark, and a Sazerac for me. The wait staff was on point and very friendly, and our meals were to die for. Shrimp Carbonara for me, and fried whole red fish for Mark. He was so impressed, and we both thought it was absolutely delicious!
For dessert, we splurged and each ordered the Creole Bourbon Bread Pudding with bourbon cherries and butterscotch. Oh my, so terrific, and we also each received a complimentary demi-tasse of the famous Bourbon House Frozen Bourbon Milk Punch! Mostly because the staff fell in love with Mark and his fish shirt! We were so happy to have landed here and enjoyed the experience so much! We’ll definitely return again.
Before leaving town, we placed two Geocaching travel bugs in a nearby cache, with the hopes that they would set off from this historic city to travel the globe. And you know what, they are already off and running!
And so after a final Big-B at Huck Finn’s, we got back into the rental car and departed NOLA for now, well-dined and brilliantly entertained. This was the most memorable vacation ever for us, and we can’t wait to spend more time in the Big Easy! I hope you enjoyed this little account of our time there.
GoodMorningGal 