Day Eight, Part One: Saying Goodbye to NOLA

We had a very pleasant morning – finally no real deadlines to meet – so we slept in and took our time trying to pack all our newly acquired treasures.  I wanted to return a couple items I had bought so I went for a walk around 9:30.  It was such a pleasant morning; the crisp air felt good in the sunlight.  The streets were still wet from the cleaning that had taken place during the night.  The street crews do a phenomenal job – you could never tell that the “party of the year” had just taken place.

I still needed my elusive picture of The Old Absinthe House (see the “Day Six”  post), so I walked the few blocks there and noticed the door was open.  I walked in to see if they were indeed open, which they were, and when I heard Led Zeppelin playing, I figured it was serendipity so I sat for a quick beer and got inside pictures as well.  I made my returns, one of which was at the store named Road Trip that I had praised in an earlier post because of its unusual inventory.  It turned out it was more of an exchange than a refund because I succumbed to temptation and bought a painting I had seen during my first visit – a map of the United States made of state license plates.  Right up my alley! 

While I was at the store, I noticed a postcard of Preservation Hall, one of the most famous, if not the most famous, jazz venues in the city (despite its dilapidated appearance) and realized I had not seen it during my visit.  It turns out it was right around the corner, so I made one last photo stop before heading back to the hotel.

When I returned, it was time to leave, so we loaded up the car and said goodbye to New Orleans.

Day Seven: Mardi Gras Day! (Part Two)

We left the parade route with beads dripping from our neck and piled high in our “bead bag” along with other throw treasures.  As we returned to our hotel, we stopped by a store to pick up King Cake, a Mardi Gras tradition.  The coffee cake comes in a variety of flavors – we got cinnamon – and is covered with purple, green and yellow icing.  Inside the cake is a tiny plastic baby doll.  Tradition dictates that whoever gets the doll must host next year’s Mardi Gras party.  We’ll be having it at Linda’s house!

We enjoyed a brief wine respite on the balcony to recharge our batteries and thoroughly enjoyed looking at the costumed merrymakers parading down our street.  After a hat and mask change for myself, we headed to the far end of Bourbon Street to see a family friend who owns a house there.  We were in seventh heaven!  Not only did we enjoy the entertaining walk, but when we got to our destination we were blown away by how gorgeous the house was.  It was one of the few times I had seen a front yard at a house on Bourbon Street (or anywhere in the French Quarter for that matter).  A huge magnolia (my favorite flower) was growing here.  Our hosts and their friends were all in the Mardi Gras spirit and could not have been more gracious.  Drinks were poured and we sat on the front porch watching people pass – everyone shouting “Happy Mardi Gras” to one another.  It was such a happy atmosphere! 

During our stay, our host made me a sazerac, the traditional drink of New Orleans and some say America’s first cocktail.  It was made famous at The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans and I had planned on stopping there for a nightcap later so I could try one.  I don’t particularly like mixed drinks, but when I travel, I make an effort to try food and drinks that are traditional to the area.  This is one strong drink!  It’s made with rye whiskey and herbsaint (absinthe can also be used).  No wonder people in New Orleans are so happy!

I didn’t want to overstay our welcome, so we left around 5 p.m. to head back to our hotel and change for dinner.  We took Bourbon Street on the walk back and were quickly swept up in the Mardi Gras spirit.  Music flowed from every bar while people drank and danced in the streets, and beads rained from the balconies.  People, including us, were just having a fantastic time, possessed by the party spirit and letting go of inhibitions (which can be safely done when masked!).

By the time we got to our room, that party spirit had taken over so we poured some wine and hit the balcony to toss our own beads, which was just as much fun as catching them!  We were so swept up in that that we nearly missed our 6 p.m. dinner reservation.  A quick change of clothes and a rapid two block walk, and we arrived at The Bombay Club about 15 minutes late, but they were very accommodating as they led us to our table.  The restaurant is beautiful, warm and cozy with tables in the bar area as well as tall-backed booths if you prefer romance and quiet.  Scallops are the specialty of the house, so I went with Pan Seared Maine Diver Scallops with Potato-Corn Hash and Sauce Chimichurri for the entrée, along with Louisiana Crab Cake for an appetizer and praline crème brulee for dessert.

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed the sounds of live jazz and laughter coming from the street as the clock approached midnight and Mardi Gras would officially be over for another year.  I didn’t make it until then – I fell asleep somewhere around 11:15 – but I did wake up about an hour later to the sounds of the sirens clearing the streets.  I’ve been told the policemen on horseback line the streets shortly before midnight to make sure the party stops on time.  Now Lent begins . . .

Day Seven: Mardi Gras Day! (Part One)

It’s Fat Tuesday (aka Mardi Gras Day); today was the big day and it started early.  There are four parades beginning at 8 a.m.  We bought grandstand viewing tickets for today’s parades, which was a wise investment!  This way we wouldn’t have to get up at the break of dawn to find a place to see the parade, would be able to sit down and have access to bathrooms.  The grandstand was conveniently located about 10 blocks from our hotel and an easy walk.  We got there around 8:15 (the first parade was expected to get there around 9:30) and got a front row seat.  It was cold, but the sun eventually peaked around the tall downtown buildings and made a huge difference.

The people watching was spectacular! Today is a holiday in New Orleans and the day when the local residents and tourists alike dress up and have some fun.  The costumes are sometimes lavish or simple, but always interesting!!!!  Many pictures will eventually be posted on Facebook, but most of the pictures taken during this trip have been with my old-fashioned, but trustworthy, 35.  Only ones taken with my cell phone are making their way onto this blog.

The first group that paraded down St. Charles was the Peter Fountain Half-Fast Walking Band (Peter Fountain is a famous New Orleans jazz musician) and the bead throwing began!  The group, dressed in white suits accompanied by jazz music, is one of the best-known marching krewes that parade on Mardi Gras Day.  It was so enjoyable watching comfortably from the front row among a group of people who were having fun, but were not so rowdy that they were obnoxious or knocked you off your feet while trying to catch throws (as we had experienced the prior two parades). 

Around 10 a.m. , the Zulu parade began – a favorite of Mardi Gras Day and very fun!  The king’s float rolled first and he sat atop looking regal in his white and gold plumage.  The krewe was very generous with the throws and I managed to get two of the most coveted throws of ALL of the Mardi Gras parades – the Zulu coconut.  These are handpainted by the krewe throughout the year and are hard to come by.  I was estastic!  Following the king’s float was Spike Lee — yes, the director — who was filming the parade and those of us watching.  Apparently, the footage will be part of a sequel to his documentary, “When the Levees Broke.”

After a brief break, the Krewe of Rex followed Zulu.  While Zulu is a fun parade, Rex is very fancy and a bit highbrow (after all, it’s run by the elite of the city).  Leading the parade were three horsemen elegantly robed in embroidered costumes of purple, gold and green, the official Mardi Gras colors.  It was Rex that first introduced the three colors: purple for justice, gold for power, and green for faith.  Other horsemen rode in trios throughout the parade.  The king’s float was first and reached us at a about 1:45 (yes, the parades are long, but time goes fast when you’re trying to catch throws!).  The identity of King Rex is usually kept secret at the time of the parade, but this year he was unmasked (but not uncostumed or unwigged, if those are even words!) the night before.  King Rex (and perhaps other krewe kings) is tutored on how to properly wave his scepter.  I wish I had gotten a picture of the back of the float to capture the length of his robe that trailed the entire length of the float.  The floats in this parade are very elegant– more along the lines of the Endymion and Bacchus parades – and followed the theme this year of “Fables of Fire and Flame.”  We hailed King Rex, caught some throws specific to the Rex krewe, and left about a half hour into the parade because there was still much to do on the agenda!

Day Six: The Garden District and Katrina

Because this was my first time in New Orleans, I wanted to take a short city tour that would feature highlights of the city; I was particularly interested in the Garden District, the “cities of the dead,” and the 9th Ward, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Dixie Tours offered a comprehensive tour at a resonable price, and we were picked up at our hotel.  It was a wonderful tour and our guide was nice (although he could have had a bit more personality). We traveled through the northern outskirts of the French Quarter called Storyville, the former red light district of the city and where a lot of good jazz originated; the downtown area; and, by the riverside, where the famous French Market and Jackson Square is located (photo op!). I learned about “shotgun” houses, a type of architecture borrowed from the West Indies. Because of the warm climate, these homes, which have no hallways, are built with high narrow doors at the front and back in such a way that, when open, you can see from front to back (or shoot a shotgun through it).

Then onto other sections of the city, including a tour of the 9th Ward, which was the hardest hit area during Hurricane Katrina. Seeing the damage certainly put the tragedy in perspective – cement steps that lead nowhere, empty grass lots where a home used to stand, gutted homes still standing that are marked with an X for pending demolition, homes that still bear the watermark 15 feet up the house. Recovery is taking place, but is moving slow. Brad Pitt and others set up a foundation called “Make it Right,” which is rebuilding homes for residents of the area who have decided to return to their land (our tour guide said only about 20 percent of the homeowners in that area have opted to come back). These are state-of-the-art – not only can they withstand hurricane strength winds, but the homes, which are already set high above the ground, can actually float, if necessary. New Orleans natives Harry Connick Jr. and Bradford Marsalis have also contributed to the recovery with the creation of Musicians’ Village. With the assistance of Habitat for Humanity, Musicians’ Village is providing a home for “both the artists who have defined the city’s culture and the sounds that have shaped the musical vernacular of the world,” according to the project’s Web site.

Leaving the 9th Ward, we drove to the New Orleans Museum of Art in the beautiful City Park, where we had a brief stop that gave us time to walk over a small bridge crossing the bayou to view an old oak, dripping with Spanish moss, that is hundreds of years old. For the second part of the tour, we stopped at Mentarie Cemetary, a “city of the dead” that was a former horse race track; you can still see the oval shape winding among the above-ground tombs. Our last stop was the stunning Garden District, filled with Greek Revival, Victorian and Italianate homes shaded by huge trees lining each side of the streets. Stopping at the former home of author Anne Rice was especially thrilling for me; as a fan, I would picture her characters coming to life in the neighborhood and nearby Lafayette Cemetary. We also saw the homes of Sandra Bullock, John Goodman and Archie Manning. A tradition I learned about that I really liked is that homes of the kings and queens of Mardi Gras (aka Rex) are marked by a special flag. On our way back to our starting point, we drove down St. Charles Street and saw the beautiful old green trolley cars that run the route; Loyola and Tulane universities, which , to my surprise, are side by side; and the warehouse district.

We asked our tour operator to drop us off on Royal Street in the French Quarter instead of our hotel because we were hoping to have lunch at Mr. B’s Bistro. We had called during our break in the tour and were told the restaurant was booked all day. But Linda had the wise suggestion to just drop in. We had a 45 minute wait, but were able to get a table and, during that time, had a delightful talk with a couple from Texas at the bar. The service at the bar was poor, but lunch was wonderful! My choice from the menu was Seafood Gumbo, one of the things I wanted to make sure I had in New Orleans; beans and rice with a pork chop; and, champagne for dessert.

When we left, we walked back to the hotel via Royal Street for a change. This is a very quaint street lined with shops offering everything from antiques to souvenirs. I shopped for the first time since arriving; two wonderful shops I highly recommend are Razzle Dazzle for its unique assortment of gifts, and Road Trip, because of its quirky inventory and accommodating staff. One of my favorite finds of the trip was at the latter where I found a T-shirt touting “Road Trip 2010 – New Orleans or Bust.” How much more appropriate can you get?! 

On our way back to the hotel, we walked by the Royal Sonesta Hotel, which was referred to by the Grateful Dead in their song “Truckin’ (“Busted down on Bourbon Street . . .).  One last stop I had wanted to make this afternoon was The Old Absinthe House, also on Bourbon Street. The cover photos on “In Through the Out Door” are modeled after this bar where Jimmy Page supposedly met his ex-wife. However, the bar was so packed, you couldn’t even open the door. For that matter, Bourbon Street was starting to get crazier than I had seen it since I arrived. Because of this, plus the fact that it was literally freezing outside, Linda and I reluctantly decided to forego the evening’s Orpheus parade featuring Harry Conninck Jr. among others and opted for a “rest up” evening at the hotel.  A shout out to Rocco at our hotel, the Hotel St. Marie, for getting my Internet connection to work so I could use the down time to write.