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Published: March 18th 2009
Have a seat!
I just liked this old chair...New Orleans was one of the cities on Dave's list. Nevermind that it was too early for Mardi Gras.
I was a bit apprehensive of New Orleans. I knew lots of people who had been there before the hurricane in 2005, but no one could tell us what it was like since then. Except Chuck and Charles, our Florida Keys buddies, who spent the weekend drinking on Bourbon Street. All the stories I had heard were mixed: it was a fantastically friendly party city, it was a sketchy city full of racism, it had a lovely old quarter, it was run down. With not a clue of what to expect, we had to check it out.
Leaving Florida, we stopped for the night at Gulf Islands National Seashore, at the Davis Bayou in Mississippi. We had a nice campsite with a roaring fire near the bayou, complete with an alligator snoozing on the shore. With the rain the next morning, we decided to take advantage of the cheap 10-minute oil changes advertised in the town. With Oleg ready to do another 5,000km, we continued on towards the state of bayous, pelicans, gumbo and jazz.
We reached New Orleans
Fancy Ironwork
We loved the big balconies and ironwork in le Vieux Carré mid-morning and promptly got lost with the construction on the roads. We managed to find the visitors centre, where we watched an entertaining video on the history of the city. Our tummies rumbling, we set off to locate our hotel in the Vieux Carré, the Lamothe House. We were too early to check in, but they let us park in their lot and off we went to find Mena's (or was it Meena's?). Recommended by the lady at the visitor centre as a local favourite, we had their po-boys and wondered at some of the menu items. What the heck is chicken fried steak? Or, a po-boy for that matter? (The latter is a simple sandwich on a baguette, usually with fried oysters or shrimp, lettuce, tomato and mayo). The skies weren't very friendly, so we had coffee at The Royal Blend, a cafe hidden down a courtyard off Royal Street. We met a guy who was a traveling artist; he was working on a very detailed and beautiful pencil sketch of one of the famous hotels on Royal St. He was hoping to stay in the city until Mardi Gras, but was fairly dependent on selling his art and
Bourbon Street
I saw this shot on postcards, so here's my version being invited out for food. His art was amazing...and if only I could remember his name. I remember it having two L's, like Luke L., or something.
Finally the sun came out and we explored more of the city in friendlier light. It certainly gave me a better impression, and I took plenty of
photos. We were there on a quiet Monday, and there were plenty of buildings that were boarded up or looked run down (locals we talked to said it was the recession not because of storms), and the rainy skies didn't help. But once the sun came out, I started noticing the intricate ironwork on the balconies, the cute courtyards between buildings, the fun shops and cafés. We wandered up and down the streets in the Vieux Carré, in and out of art shops and eventually remembered that we needed to check into the hotel. So we went back to the Lamothe House and checked in. We had a nice room on the cobblestone courtyard, and couldn't help but think how lovely the pool and the shady courtyard would be on a hot summer's day.
That evening, we wandered around the old part of town
Old Street Names
These signs were everywhere. a bit more, stopping for dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, followed by a yummy beer sampler at the Crescent City Brewhouse. Dave liked the black forest and red stallion, but I was a fan of the wiess, which had a mellow banana flavour to it. Yum! There was also a smokey beer that neither of us liked...but it was fun to try a variety. Soon enough, 9pm came and things started closing. We wandered down Pirates Alley and down to Bourbon Street, but it was a quiet and cold Monday night. We warmed up in a cigar shop, until that closed as well. There were a few places pumping out music and advertising their margaritas in those big colourful plastic glasses (which you can apparently drink in the street), but it wasn't our type of music and neither of us wanted to consume that much alcohol. So we went back to our Victorian room for the night.
After breakfast at the hotel, we headed back into the old quarter. We passed by the French Markets, where watched vendors setting up for the day, and I listened to a Czeck complain about America heading towards a socialist state and
Getting festive
Even though Mardi Gras was several weeks away, everyone had their decorations up! proudly boast of the value of working hard for your money. We politely declined to purchase anything and wandered on. We headed down Decatur Street where we had seen some wonderful art the night before. We purchased a couple fun jazzy prints and headed for the famous beignets and café au lait at the Café du Monde. We snagged a sunny spot outside at the busy café and were promptly served a plate of three warm beignets topped with white powdery sugar, and two of the famous chicory coffees. I felt like I was back in Europe, and I could've stayed there all day, watching people go by and sipping the yummy coffee. I should have bought some!
We did a little more sight-seeing, enjoying the warm sun and the lovely old buildings, then set off on a search for gumbo (a type of stew) for lunch. I had heard it was possible to get a gumbo without sausage, and wanted to try it. We finally found a place that specialised in gumbo, and we took our soups back to a park to listen to the jazz on the grass. The gumbo was a bit spicy, but very yummy.
Our tummies full, we decided that New Orleans was a cool city after all. A bit shabby and run down, but overall a nice city that would be fun to stay in for a while. As we drove out, we discovered another neighbourhood just beyond the Vieux Carré, that had a very "cool", student-type vibe to it, with colourful houses and fun shops.
Yup, New Orleans is a cool city. Or at least, the Vieux Carré was a great place to spend 2 days! One day we'll have to go for Mardi Gras...and explore the other neighbourhoods!
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