The Big Easy

Wow! Thursday already? It was quite the Labor Day weekend. Friday afternoon, I picked Kitten up from work and we headed to the airport. A quick flight to Chicago and a short walk to the train station and we boarded the train to New Orleans. Traveling by train is so peaceful. You just sit at your seat and watch the scenery go by. You have room to get up and move around, you have an accessible bathroom, and when you are tired, you just flip down your bed and go to sleep. It's sad that there is no service in this part of the country. I would choose to travel by train if I was given the choice. Kitten seemed to enjoy herself.

We arrived in New Orleans at around three in the afternoon on Saturday and checked into our B&B on St. Charles. It was a fantastic place to stay. Quite and right on the street car line. We dropped our bags and bounced onto the streetcar to run down to Mother's for Ferdi sandwiches.Afterwards, we walked around the quarter for a while drinking and taking in the sights. It happened to be the weekend for Southern Decadence, so there was plenty to see, such as a six foot tall man wearing a mesh body suit that prominently displayed his yellow banana hammock. I'd include pictures here, but none were taken, mostly because I was waaayyyy out numbered. I'm just not sure how a pack of drunk gay guys would react to the one hetero on the street taking a picture. We went to Jackson Square and Kitten had her fortune told. I don't put much stock in such things, but if it made her happy, that was fine by me.

The next day, we went back to the Quarter and caught the cemetery tour at St. Louis #1. I thought it was very interesting and informative.There can be up to thirty family members buried in some of those tombs. Apparently, the coffin (provided it's made of wood) and the body almost completely decomposes within a year. When the newly deceased are ready to be interred, they just push the remains of the previous occupant to the back of the tomb where the fall into a hole beneath the tomb. So, if you have a family member you don't like, you had better make arrangements before you die, otherwise, your remains will be mixed for eternity!

After the tour, I had to have a muffaletta. Central Grocery is my usual choice, but they are closed on Sunday. We gave Frank's, a couple of doors down, a try. I was unimpressed to say the least. It was perfectly acceptable, just not as good as Central Grocery's. From there we went to Pat O'Brian's and drank Zombies while sitting in the piano bar. Four Zombies later, we stumbled back to the B&B.

That night, we went to eat and listen to jazz at a place called Snug Harbor. Pretty decent gumbo. After eating we went to the back to listen to the band. I can't remember the name, but I enjoyed them. There was a slight kerfuffle during the show. A couple of guys came in late and sat next to me against the wall. Kitten was on my right and the chair across the table was empty. A third fella came in even later and sat in the empty chair. He obviously knew the two next to me. There was some discussion between them that was loud and obtrusive. I blew it off, but the guy sitting across from the two on my right (confused yet?) was perturbed. He (let's call him Al) was completely beatnik with giant black horn rimmed glasses and a hair style reminiscent of Albert Einstein. He kept looking over at everybody, obviously not happy. Then the musical chairs started. The two guys on my right switched places. Now the guy (let's call him Libby) to my immediate right spent all of his time looking at the guy across from me. It was very distracting. Things had settled for a bit and I was become accustomed to the looks of love happening in front of me when the musical chairs started again. The two guys next to me swapped places again and then the guy that was NOW immediately next to me swapped places with lover boy across from me. Then lover boy and Libby swapped places. If you are keeping score, to my immediate right is Libby, to his right is lover boy, the third guy is across from me and Al is across from Libby and lover boy. Whew! All of this was done mid performance. It isn't like jazz performances have breaks or even have a short song. Now lover boy and Libby were having a loud conversation when they weren't staring into each other's eyes. Al finally had enough, leaned over the table, poked Libby three times on the shoulder emphatically and said "Be quiet!" Libby's head snaps around and he leans over the table and pokes Al in the shoulder three times and responds with "Don't touch me!" I thought I was gonna get to see a slap fight between Liberace and Albert Einstein! The three fellas left shortly after that and we and Al were left to enjoy the rest of the show.

The next morning we got up and did the obligatory cafe au lait and beniegts at Cafe du Monde. We had to rush back to the B&B because I had an office meeting. We had lunch at the Red Fish on Bourbon. Pretty good! That evening we dressed up and went to dinner at Commander's Palace. We decided to have the "Chef's Playground" with the wine and cocktail pairing. (BTW, doesn't Kitten look great?)Dinner included Soft Shell Crab "swizzle", Crispy Oysters Meuniere, Foie Gras "Du Monde", a Crescent City Cooler (guava flavored rum! Who knew?), Pan Roasted Summer Seafood, Tournedo Rossini, and Destin Key Lime Pie & Huckleberries. All and all, I'd say it was one of my top five meals ever.

We did other things. Got caught in the rain, followed a bunch of kids playing zydeco on the boardwalk, drank. We flew back home on Tuesday. NOLA is still a lot of fun post Katrina. It and San Francisco are my top two food cities and food is my thing in case you couldn't tell.