New Orleans, Uneventful But Rewarding . . .

Our annual trek to New Orleans is over with - again.  We departed Texas on Sunday and drove to New Roads to remain over night at the camp.  We had Mark and Richard over from Baton Rouge to eat dinner.  Ate at "Not Your Mama's" in Livonia since nothing was open in New Roads.  Well I guess Satterfield's was open but since out experiences with such terrible and unreliable service we shun the place.  All the other restaurants were closed for late meals like dinner.  Not Your Mama's was quite good, we enjoyed it and the prices were reasonable.

Monday we took off for a tour of LSU, Baton Rouge, etc. before heading south to New Orleans.  Check in time we had learned was 3:00 PM so no use getting there early.  We ate lunch at Jay's Bar-B-Que, an old Baton Rouge eatery from our days at LSU in the late 50's.  It was still at its same location on Government Street though we learned there are now four such establishments for their food scattered about the city.  It was as expected though changed a bit from the 1950's just as one would expect.

We drove over to LSU and located the new bookstore, it is directly across the street from the Student Union building where it had resided for years. So it is not far and they included a two story public parking facility in the remodel of the old University Presidents abode.  Really kept on the facade of the old building and added the parking facility in the back.  They did a nice job, large Starbucks, lots of clothes and gizmo's on the first level.  An escalator led up to the second tier where the book store resides.  So it is still convenient and has better parking now days.

We went down College Drive back to intersect with the Interstate to New Orleans.  We could have driven out Highland Road and done the same but it would have many more traffic lights to negotiate.  So we back tracked so to speak and headed south to New Orleans.

We got to town with no fan fair, located the  Moneteleone Hotel and pulled into the garage as is out custom.  Bell hop came out, load up our luggage and we left the car in the hands of the garage attendants.  The hotel put us up on the 15th floor, top floor with a view of the river.  Also bright early morning sun but that comes with the territory.  We have learned not to stay on the weekends as there are usually a half dozen wedding parties going on.  So we avoid the Saints football traffic, the weddings and I guess there was only one convention going in the building.

We changed our clothes, I donned a jacket to eat at Galatoire's.  We walked out of the hotel, around the block to Bourbon Street and the restaurant only to find it was closed on Mondays.  Drat.  So we walked another block and went to  Arnaud's to dine.  We were a tad early so sat in the French 75 Cigar bar and had a drink.  They called us in 10 or so minutes and into the main dining room we went.  We could have gone into the Jazz dining room but chose the lesser noise of the main dining facility. 

Judie had the Drum fish and I had the Pompano fish.  I thoroughly enjoyed my fish.  We had oysters Rockerfellow for an appetizer.  They were superb.  So it was great choice and only a block further down the street so to speak.

We ate at Galatoire's Tuesday night.  Used our same waiter, Amber.  It was a nice experience there too.  We had snails for appetizer and Judie had the stuffed eggplant (stuffed with shrimp) and I had the bouillabaisse with shrimp, oysters and fish.  It is a fun place to eat, the waiters and servers kitbiz with you and take care of your every whim.  Plus the food is outstanding to boot.

We of course had beignets at Café du Mode in the mornings and the Tuesday we walked down to French Market.  We have a stall we eat at for lunch.  We have blackened catfish po-boy.  Judie does not like catfish but in this case loves it.  We bought a bottle of his dressing that he uses and got his recipe.

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped in Aunt Salley's and Judie got things for different folks.  She got pralines for Chris, and Mufalatta olive mix for Judith and so on. 

We had fun and still have to go Antoine's to dine.  I guess we just have to stay a day longer next time and plan to arrive Tuesday vice Monday.  I think we also do a little snooping around on Magazine Street (sort of parallel to St Charles Avenue.  Commanders Palace is out there and another grouping of great places to eat.  Of course, New Orleans being what it is, there is a great place to eat on every corner.  Just that there are some that are truly world class to eat at. 

May we live long enough to hit all the great restaurants!