New Orleans trip
Hey, I said I'd post about this, didn't I? I got home on Saturday; how did it get to be Thursday Friday the next week already? It's also apparent that Spring has finally kicked in, but I'm sure not complaining about that.
As I said, tarrestrial and I took a trip to New Orleans with some of her family. As we rode in the back of her Dad's SUV across the approximately 922 miles between her house and the Quarter House (the resort where we stayed) it really struck me that we need teleporters, a fact I've mentioned elsewhere in my LJ, I'm sure. That and the fact that I really don't feel welcomed in either Mississippi nor most of Missouri and would just as soon not spend any money or time there as a result.
After 16 hours in the car, not counting rest stops, food, or the overnight in a hotel, we arrived in New Orleans!
I'm not going to try to give a day by day break down of our visit. There was a lot to it. So let's try some of the highlights ...
We weren't about to go to New Orleans without going on a swamp tour. Rejecting the proposed plan of driving down to Houma, LA and seeing what we can find, we did a bit of research and found Munson's "World Famous" swamp tours. There were lots of alligators, several different breeds of heron, black buzzards, beautiful blooming plant life, and packs of raccoons. The raccoons apparently know the tour boat schedule very well and were lining up for their allocation of bread, almost dancing along the shoreline. I have video which I will share later, after I've settled on where I will host them.
Food! Oh my Gods, the food. I could have gone to NOLA for the food alone. I have a great love for good seafood, which I unfortunately can't really indulge here in the Midwest. You can certainly get 'good' seafood here, but the best I've had here doesn't live up to the 'worst' I had on the trip. (Which I should mention was at one of the most expensive restaurants. They over-breaded everything and the oysters were far too small.) I think the meals I enjoyed the most were at the little hole-in-the-wall places like Daisy Dukes or the Saltwater Grill. I could really go for a Shrimp Po-boy sandwich right now! The last night we were there, we went back to Daisy Dukes where they brought me one that was actually too large for me to pick up and eat. I had to use a fork! And the shrimp were perfectly delicious.
I don't drink, so the fact that we were just two blocks over from the infamous Bourbon Street might not have been the draw on me it otherwise could have been, but it was still pretty cool to walk around and see the site, including quite a lot of street performers. In many ways it reminded me a great deal of the renaissance faire, particularly with the numerous living statue performers. (Although some of them were more statue than others.) Now of course we weren't there during Mardi Gras, but since it had ended only a few weeks prior, there were still plenty of evidence of the event -- beads draped over cables, balconies, and fences among other things, such as decorated cabbages stuck on a fence in the Garden District. I do suspect, of course, that Mardi Gras is a year-round draw in some ways even if it is only actually happening a fraction of the time.
There's a rich history to the city that I'd love to explore more. We were close to Jackson Square with Saint Louis Cathedral, The Cabildo and Pirate's Alley! I think you could spend weeks exploring the literary aspects alone, with William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Walt Whitman and more. (Those are just some of the ones I recall spotting from walking around the area browsing plaques, not even really seriously trying to visit these sites.) That said, I think I would like to do a bit more research before the next time I go. I would love to see the construction on the new storm surge barrier, we didn't get to any of the cemeteries we had discussed, and we need better arrangements for lunch with marcgunn.
All in all, a wonderful time indeed!
As I said, tarrestrial and I took a trip to New Orleans with some of her family. As we rode in the back of her Dad's SUV across the approximately 922 miles between her house and the Quarter House (the resort where we stayed) it really struck me that we need teleporters, a fact I've mentioned elsewhere in my LJ, I'm sure. That and the fact that I really don't feel welcomed in either Mississippi nor most of Missouri and would just as soon not spend any money or time there as a result.
After 16 hours in the car, not counting rest stops, food, or the overnight in a hotel, we arrived in New Orleans!
I'm not going to try to give a day by day break down of our visit. There was a lot to it. So let's try some of the highlights ...
We weren't about to go to New Orleans without going on a swamp tour. Rejecting the proposed plan of driving down to Houma, LA and seeing what we can find, we did a bit of research and found Munson's "World Famous" swamp tours. There were lots of alligators, several different breeds of heron, black buzzards, beautiful blooming plant life, and packs of raccoons. The raccoons apparently know the tour boat schedule very well and were lining up for their allocation of bread, almost dancing along the shoreline. I have video which I will share later, after I've settled on where I will host them.
Food! Oh my Gods, the food. I could have gone to NOLA for the food alone. I have a great love for good seafood, which I unfortunately can't really indulge here in the Midwest. You can certainly get 'good' seafood here, but the best I've had here doesn't live up to the 'worst' I had on the trip. (Which I should mention was at one of the most expensive restaurants. They over-breaded everything and the oysters were far too small.) I think the meals I enjoyed the most were at the little hole-in-the-wall places like Daisy Dukes or the Saltwater Grill. I could really go for a Shrimp Po-boy sandwich right now! The last night we were there, we went back to Daisy Dukes where they brought me one that was actually too large for me to pick up and eat. I had to use a fork! And the shrimp were perfectly delicious.
I don't drink, so the fact that we were just two blocks over from the infamous Bourbon Street might not have been the draw on me it otherwise could have been, but it was still pretty cool to walk around and see the site, including quite a lot of street performers. In many ways it reminded me a great deal of the renaissance faire, particularly with the numerous living statue performers. (Although some of them were more statue than others.) Now of course we weren't there during Mardi Gras, but since it had ended only a few weeks prior, there were still plenty of evidence of the event -- beads draped over cables, balconies, and fences among other things, such as decorated cabbages stuck on a fence in the Garden District. I do suspect, of course, that Mardi Gras is a year-round draw in some ways even if it is only actually happening a fraction of the time.
There's a rich history to the city that I'd love to explore more. We were close to Jackson Square with Saint Louis Cathedral, The Cabildo and Pirate's Alley! I think you could spend weeks exploring the literary aspects alone, with William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, Walt Whitman and more. (Those are just some of the ones I recall spotting from walking around the area browsing plaques, not even really seriously trying to visit these sites.) That said, I think I would like to do a bit more research before the next time I go. I would love to see the construction on the new storm surge barrier, we didn't get to any of the cemeteries we had discussed, and we need better arrangements for lunch with marcgunn.
All in all, a wonderful time indeed!