Checking out the Crescent City

Linda and I got back Wednesday from several days in New Orleans. It was a very enjoyable trip although the weather was a bit chilly, with highs mainly in the middle to upper 50s, somewhat below average for there. Our French Quarter hotel, the Prince Conti, turned out to be in an excellent location and quite pleasant.

We did a fair a bit of strolling around and checking around the historic architecture in the French Quarter and the Garden District, and took a guided tour of the St. Louis #1 cemetery, which dates back to the 1780s. Took a cruise on the Mississippi aboard the Natchez, an actual sternwheeler steamboat. On the Thursday after we arrived, we had our culinary tour, which took us to seven restaurants and food shops. The samples were good, the guide's commentary was excellent, and we got to see some restaurant kitchens and private rooms that we most likely otherwise wouldn't have.

We wound up having just about all the classic dishes, including seafood gumbo, jambalaya, turtle soup, red beans and rice, shrimp remoulade and oysters Rockefeller, plus various po' boy sandwiches including fried oyster and fried soft shell crab. Top restaurants we had supper at were Galatoire's (in business since 1905, I believe), Cochon and Commander's Palace, where I had what I felt was the best meal: an appetizer of shrimp with pickled okra, followed by grilled sheepshead (the fish that is). Linda particularly enjoyed the souffle bread pudding with whiskey sauce there. She was also a big fan of the sugar-coated beignets, a sort of deep-fried holes doughnut, served with cafe au lait at the Cafe du Monde.

It will come as no surprise that there are a lot of bars in New Orleans. I had a drink or two in 10 of them (Linda rather fewer), mostly in the French Quarter. They ranged from the elegant Arnaud's French 75 Bar (where we indeed ordered French 75 cocktails -- a fine drink indeed) to hole-in-the-wall Johnny White's. The Erin Rose across from our hotel proved quite welcoming. We tried the famous Sazerac cocktail at a number of places; I felt the best rendition was at the Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone and the worst at Galatoire's. Mostly though I drank Abita Amber, a tasty beer produced by a microbrewery in nearby Abita Springs.

The Mardi Gras season had begun, and many businesses and shops were decorated with purple, green and gold, the carnival colours. Though the biggest events don't take place until the last few days before Fat Tuesday itself, we saw the parades of the Krewe of Cork and Krewe of Pontchartrain, and accumulated a fair number of the bead necklaces thrown to the crowds by the paraders. The Superbowl win by the New Orleans Saints while we were there was a bonus. Bourbon Street was wall-to-wall revellers following the victory, and the whole city was in great spirits. "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints!"

Definitely plan a repeat visit, and what I'd really like to do is take the train -- either from Chicago or New York City.