I am very excited to report that New Orleans is ALIVE AND WELL! In addition, it is very happy for any visitors that might want to come down and enjoy their still-wonderful hospitality. Give it a visit. You’ll be glad you did.
We returned from there yesterday. Here’s my observations:
OUR BIG EASY AND CAJUN COUNTRY TRIP – 2008
After much planning and anticipation, our trip to the Big Easy and to Cajun Country started on a rainy Saturday morning. We munched Egg McMuffins and drank some of that good McDonald’s coffee as we headed down I-71 toward Columbus and exotic points south. The rain played tag with us until somewhere north of Cincinnati where it grew tired and allowed the sun to light things up a bit from time to time. Lunch was at a typical Shoney’s in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. I pointed out the “Batman” building to the wife in Nashville, Tennessee as we passed through (it looks like Batman’s mask) and took some pictures at the first rest stop in Alabama where they have a Saturn 1B rocket on display. It’s a baby compared to the Saturn-5’s that lifted us toward the moon, but it’s still an impressive piece of equipment. We arrived at our stop for the night in Birmingham, Alabama after many miles on the road and slept for the night after a fine barbecue supper.
We resumed our southbound journey the next morning with a Cracker Barrel breakfast in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Some hours later in Hattiesburg, Mississippi we ate a quick lunch at a Sonic drivethrough and enjoyed one of their famous cherry limeades. Mmmmm! We noticed an area off the side of the interstate about 100 miles north of New Orleans where there were hundreds (if not a thousand or more) plain white trailers sitting forlornly on some hillsides. Apparently FEMA trailers that never made it where they were supposed to go. Not a pretty sight and a reminder of some colossal failures after Katrina. We did appreciate the rain shower we passed through, however, crossing the bridge across Lake Pontchartrain just north of New Orleans as it was getting hot. We arrived soon after at our hotel in the French Quarter called Le Richelieu. It’s a wonderful old building that has had many incarnations in the past including, believe it or not, a macaroni factory. We stayed there on our vacation three years ago and the place is still just as nice. The folks at the front desk are even nicer than I remember. And they’re the same ones as then! I don’t think they have any turnover. The hotel had some major roof damage during the Katrina hurricane and had to have some extensive remodeling done. After checking into our second-story room (overlooking the pool!) we walked a block south and started checking out the festival that was still going on at the grounds of the old U.S. Mint. That weekend New Orleans was celebrating three festivals – Louisiana Seafood Festival, Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival and the Great French Market Tomato Festival. We stood and watched a Cajun Zydeco band perform, drank a couple cold beers and were totally blown away by the great music! The crowds were full of interesting characters and many Southern ladies in their sun dresses and shorts. Wow! I fell in love at least 99 times! The wife struck up a conversation with (or maybe was chatted up by) an Oriental gentleman who proudly informed her he was a millionaire and just came to town once in a while to “live it up”. Odd fellow. Fit right in! After we became sufficiently deaf from the highly amplified Zydeco music, we left and wandered down Decatur street to Jackson Square where we had supper at a nice restaurant called The River’s Edge.
Monday’s breakfast was at the Café Du Monde, of course. We had the tasty beignets and café au lait. No trip to the Big Easy would be complete without that luxury. Then we took a three-hour bus tour of the Katrina-damaged areas around the city. Lots of still badly damaged and empty areas around Gentilly, Bywater, Lakeview, Treme and the hard-struck Lower Ninth Ward. Our driver was a native New Orleaner who’d been evacuated himself and had lots of storm stories. A very informative trip and a reminder of the horrors that afflicted that area three years ago. After leaving the bus, the wife and I did some window-shopping at Canal Place and The Riverwalk to stretch our legs after the long bus ride before riding the streetcar back across the Quarter to our hotel. We had supper that night at Remoulade Restaurant. The wife had BBQ shrimp and I had Seafood Gumbo, Red Beans ‘n Rice and Stuffed Crab. Delicious! Walked along the notorious Bourbon Street and enjoyed the loud, competing music coming from the bars and clubs – Jazz, Rock, Zydeco, Karaoke. We stopped for drinks at a bar near St. Peter Street and, after we left, bought some souvenirs at Doctor Zombies Voodoo Shop on St. Pete. While walking back to our hotel on Decatur we saw where they were making a movie. They had decorated up one block of the street as if it were Mardi Gras and had blocked it off. And they needed extras to be part of the crowd for the coming scene. So we volunteered! We were there an hour or so, yelling like crazy when the director told us to and catching beads that were thrown from floats and balconies. It was fun! And we may even end up being in the movie! The rumor has it that the movie is being made by the people who made Scary Movie and is to be a spoof on Mardi Gras. Maybe starring Carmen Electra? Have to wait and see. We also noticed the apartment that is owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on Governor Nicholls Street and is where they stay when in town. It’s just around the block from our hotel on Barracks Street! Cool!
On Tuesday we ate breakfast in a little hole-in-the-wall place around the corner. I had a Cajun Omelet. It was Mmmmm… good! We then drove to Vacherie, Louisiana, about an hour outside of New Orleans, and toured two antebellum mansions, “Laura” and “Oak Alley”. They’re both on the Mississippi River Road and were Sugar Cane plantations. (We saw sugar cane growing all over the area in Louisiana) Laura was owned by the Creoles and Oak Alley by the Americans. Some films made at Oak Alley include “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte”, “Interview with the Vampire” and “Primary Colors”. Both were gorgeous examples of their particular type of plantation, Laura with its typical multi-colored exterior and Oak Alley with its all white exterior with the big columns and wrap-around balcony. The lady guides at both places were highly informative, with the added attraction at Oak Alley of the lady guides wearing period hoop skirts! More southern belles! After returning to the Big Easy we had dinner at one of the premier restaurants there, Muriel’s of Jackson Square. We had pecan-crusted puppy drum fish with oven-roasted pecan and Louisiana crawfish relish, laced with lemon-butter sauce. Then Pain Perdu bread pudding for dessert. It was expensive but we like to hit at least one fancy place on our vacations. This was the one. We topped off the night at Pat O’Brian’s and had drinks in their famous courtyard next to the flaming fountain. Very French-Quarterish. We didn’t have Hurricanes this time, as I wanted to be able to walk back to the hotel!
We started out Wednesday by buying some souvenirs and sweet goodies to take home with us. We then walked up Dumaine Street to see the Voodoo Museum. On entry to the decrepit-looking building we were met by the sight of the owner sitting at his desk with an eight-foot white python draped around his neck! He proceeded to tell us about the museum and to take our entry fees. (His “pet” was actually a gorgeous animal. The wife didn’t think so, however) The museum consisted of a couple of rooms jammed with strange masks, fetishes, pictures, altars, dolls and other weird voodoo stuff. The wife was creeped out and, of course, I loved it! Lunch was at “Angeli on Decatur”, a small restaurant where, purportedly, Brad and Angelina liked to eat when in New Orleans. Low-end kinda place but very friendly. We had sandwiches and salads. We decided on Mexican for supper and had enchiladas with rice and beans at “El Gato Negro”. After that we watched them making the movie some more, then back to the hotel where I took a dip in their pool. Its shallow end was 5 feet deep so the wife took a pass, as she’s only a little taller than 5 feet and doesn’t swim. We then noticed that our hotel had now become the home of the contestants in a teen beauty pageant. Don’t you just LOVE New Orleans?
We left The Big Easy the next morning and drove to New Iberia in southwestern Louisiana - Cajun Country. We stayed at a beautiful bed & breakfast on the main street in town and discovered that the owners are originally from Canton, Ohio! It’s a very small world. After checking in we drove to Avery Island where they make Tabasco Pepper Sauce. We took the tour and watched the bottling of the fiery sauce, then walked over to the company store and bought some souvenirs. We then drove through the Jungle Gardens on the Island where we saw lots of birds and alligators, plus some gorgeous scenery with the live oaks and the hanging Spanish moss. Upon recommendation from our hosts we drove to Breaux Bridge and ate at a place called Café des Amis. I had wonderful fried catfish with shrimp etouffee sauce. The wife had shrimp fettuccine Alfredo. A lovely meal. Then we were off to nearby Mulate’s (a well-known Cajun restaurant/bar) to listen to Cajun music and watch the dancers. Then back to the B & B.
Friday, after a marvelous Cajun breakfast prepared by our hosts, we went on a two-hour swamp tour out at Lake Martin near Breaux Bridge. We had a very colorful Cajun guide, Bryan Champagne, who knew the swamp like we know the back of our hands and shared a lot of his information with us. We saw lots of wildlife and the indigenous plant life of the area. Only saw about 3 alligators as it was beastly hot and they, being cold-blooded, like to lie up in the cooler, hidden areas during those times of day. Thoroughly enjoyable. Late that afternoon we sat down and gabbed with the owners of the bed & breakfast for a couple hours. A wonderful couple with lots of interesting stories. We took in a movie after sharing a big shrimp po’ boy at a quickie food place around the corner from the B & B.
We were off on our drive home at 6:30 a.m. after being walked to our car by our hosts and wished fond farewells. And hugged! They were like family after only a day and a half! Super nice people. A very long 14 hours later we collapsed in our hotel in southern Kentucky. Here’s a funny thing that happened when we got there: the wife and I arrived at our Saturday night destination, Bowling Green, Kentucky, about 10 o'clock Saturday night. It was dark, unfamiliar, and my directions to the Red Roof Inn from MapQuest were a little confusing. Plus the wife and I were a bit "punchy" after our long cross-country odyssey. After a couple wrong turns hunting for our hotel, I stopped at another hotel and slipped in the door to ask for directions. A young Indian (Pakistani?) came to the counter and I asked him the directions to the Red Roof Inn. He had a confused look to his face. "No Red Roof", he said in his delightful (?!?!) telephone help-desk accent . I explained that yes, there was one hereabouts, doggone it - I had a map! He again looked confused and said a little louder, "No Red Roof here!" I asked if he ever heard of the Red Roof. He reiterated that there was no such thing as a Red Roof! I was stunned that a major hotel chain had this "gentleman" manning the desk. He was SO obviously just off the boat. When I told the wife about it we got to giggling and almost wrecked the car laughing at this befuddled fellow. By the way, the mysterious Red Roof was on the other side of the interstate. And its night manager assured me, after I told her the story, that her hotel had occupied the same place for many years and almost everyone thereabouts knew it. She laughed at the story also. It was a good capper to the week.
After a second day’s uneventful drive, we arrived home around 4 o’clock on Sunday afternoon.
We were home at last and the dogs were glad to see us.
