New Orleans

Monday, 6:24 pm

By Cyn

Apr

12

2010

I have just a few minutes but wanted to say hello and thanks to those of you who have been commenting on my weak contributions to Kate’s blog!!

I thought I would offer just a few observations about our trip to New Orleans..........

1.  I wish I had gone 20 or 30 years ago when it was absolutely normal to sleep til noon, drink all day (and night) and party til dawn.  I really do.  While I tried to keep up, I have to admit that by 1AM I was dragging.....except for a couple times when the machine I was playing in the casino was being nice to me, then I never wanted to leave. 

2.  Hurricanes from Pat O’Briens are mmm, mmm, good!!  And not so bad a few other places as well.

3.  Limoncello Mojitos - see number two above!!

4.  I have always loved traveling in the south because overall the people are so friendly and outgoing; I did not find that to be the case in NO though.  Some were, don’t get me wrong, but a majority were worse than most Bostonians which surprised me.  Many people we encountered were just plain rude.  Not all.........  Maybe they were just pissy cause the Republicans were coming to town and as one vendor told us, “they are the stingiest people we ever have to deal with.”

5.  The Trolley systems were terrific.  We took all three of them our first day there so got a really good overview of the city and then were better able to plan out our days and nights.  Bought a 3-day pass and they got us where we wanted to go every time.........not as quickly as one might hope, but eventually.  Frustrating system though for those who use them to commute.  They can be pokey and the operators have NO patience with the people who do not have the exact change to get on.  We saw lots of tourists, alone, couples and families turned away without a smile or a suggestion.

6.  Cafe du Monde - only the original one, not the one INSIDE the Riverwalk is awesome.  A must do......and perhaps a must do every afternoon around 5!!  I think we went there at least 4 times.  Amazing how good that late afternoon coffee tasted, particularly when accompanied by a biegnet or two or three.....

7.  We stayed at the Hilton Riverside, I highly recommend it even though they will let just ANYONE stay there (see #4 above).  Our room was on the river and I loved watching the ships and tugboats and barges coming in and out.  It truly is the mighty Mississippi--there it was easy to see how Katrina could disrupt the entire country because of the river.

8.  Food was great.  Tried crawfish, boiled crawfish...they cannot hold a candle to lobster.  A lot more work for a lot less results!!  Had them for lunch one day--I asked how many in an order and the waiter said 1 1/2 lbs.  I was like, for real?  He said yes.  Well, I really wanted to try them so I said OK.  My husband was in awe that I would eat that much........until they came and he saw the teeney pieces in each one.  MAYBE there was a quarter pound of fish once I was done.......maybe.  Had char-broiled oysters.  Different, but good.  Generally I do not like oysters at all, but these, well, I would eat them again.  I like jambalaya better than gumbo, but I knew that going.  Can’t remember what else.

9.  Smoking, we are so spoiled here on the east coast - it is a shock to go somewhere where practically everyone is smoking, practically everywhere.  The casino was thick with it.  By Thursday when THOSE PEOPLE were there, it burned your throat and your eyes.  Maybe because many of THOSE MEN were smoking HUGE cigars.  I usually am not bothered by it, but I had to leave even tho my machine was paying off.  I could not stand it anymore.  Apparently casino workers are now protesting and asking that the casino be non-smoking.  I guess they are just a little behind the rest of the world.

10.  I would not go back to Brennan’s for breakfast again!! 

11.  Preservation Jazz Club is this tiny little hole in the wall and the night we went, there probably were over a hundred people in line to get in. 

12.  From what I understand it is virtually impossible to get tickets to the Jazz Fest the end of this month and even if you do, everything is ultra expensive.  This past weekend was the French Quarter Jazz Festival and it was great.  All the events were free and it was a 3-day festival.

13. I will finish on this note........we got there Easter Sunday afternoon, had missed all the Easter parades except one.  We were in the right place at the right time to see the Gay Easter Parade which was a hoot.  Loved it, cannot imagine any of the others were as much fun.  Ended up with pounds of beads around my neck.  It was great.

Ciao’