2010 4. Back to New Orleans (12/22-23/2010)

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Back to the St Charles Avenue Streetcar to head to the French Quarter again!

Some of the mansions in the Garden District on St Charles Avenue:

French Quarter:

Bourbon Street:

Not very busy when it's still daylight on this street of nightclubs...
Old Absinthe House (1807):
Famous for expensive drinks and well-known customers from Jean Lafitte and Andrew Jackson, to Babe Ruth and Ernest Hemingway, to Frank Sinatra and Billy Joel ...

Absinthe made from wormwood is illegal in the United States, so they use Herbsaint instead...
"Famous" Lucky Dogs vendors are all over town:

Fais Deaux Deaux:

Fais do-do is a Cajun party, but this chain of hole-in-the-wall bars takes advantage of there being no open container laws.
Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo:

We were looking for the Voodoo Merman, but did not linger as it was very crowded. There was a sort of museum in the back. Someone said it looked like the attic of an old voodoo priestess...
Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop (1722), now a tavern:

Supposedly used by the Lafitte brothers, Jean and Pierre for the New Orleans base of their smuggling operation. Who is Jean Lafitte? A privateer, entrepreneur, sailor, diplomat, spy, and hero of the Battle of New Orleans.
Royal Street:

The wrought-iron balconied setting for books and plays.

Cornstalk Fence, crafted in Philadelphia in 1834.

Madame John's Legacy (1789):

This Creole home is an example of French colonial architecture, having survived the fire of 1794. Exterior shots were used in the movie "Interview With the Vampire."

Faulkner House Bookstore:

Author William Faulkner lived in this building in the 1930s.
Nativity in St Anthony's Garden behind St Louis Cathedral:

Most famous of the lacy iron grillwork is the acorn-and-oak-leaf design:

On the Labranche Building:

Dinner at The Alpine Restaurant, the only restaurant labeled as "Cajun" in the AAA Tour Book.
Jambalaya:

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Started the day with breakfast at Brennan's. A must-do in New Orleans, but don't forget to cash a bond or something. (Sorry, kids, we ate your inheritance!) Kent had a Bloody Mary. Brynne had a Crab Omelette. Despite being made with 6 eggs, it was more like crab with a little egg. Kent had the Prix Fixe with Oyster Soup Brennan (tasted like they just pureed oysters and added nothing else!)and Eggs Bayou Lafourche (pouched eggs on Andouille Cajun sausage and Holland rusks with Hollandaise sauce). Holland rusks are slices of yeast bread baked until crisp. Tamiko started with strawberries with double cream, then Shrimp Sardou (spicy fried shrimp on artichoke bottoms in a bed of creamed spinach with Hollandaise sauce).  Although we observed the preparation of Bananas Foster and Crepes Fitzgerald which required flaming alcohol, we did not order them. We shared Creole Chocolate Suicide Cake (drowning in double cream!) and Louisiana Chocolate Pecan Pie. The waiter brought Brynne a bowl of strawberries with double cream, on the house! (We think she was still passing as 12!) We actually took leftovers home!

Brynne on Royal Street:

Brynne and Kent on Royal Street:

Tamiko & Kent on Royal Street:

Hurricane Katrina Memorial across from the Convention Center includes a sculpture by Sarah Heller who used a dead oak tree, called "Scrap House."

The New Orleans Arena (1999):

The Louisiana Superdome (1975), the largest fixed dome structure in the world:

Today we drove east on I-10 to visit the Pensacola Stumpes for Christmas.