New Orleans 2008
We left for New Orleans around 6:30 AM on Saturday, April 12th with great anticipation. Would it be safe? Has the city recovered? Carol and I had considered going there before Katrina as did Kari and Tyna and the hurricane just made me want to go all the more. No other event that I witnessed on television had a greater long term impact on my psyche than the aftermath of Katrina. It forever changed how I look at my country and its place in the world. It was a beautiful day for a drive and we made excellent time, arriving in about 12 hours. Along the way, we ironically witnessed the power of water again, as flooding has been widespread through southern Missouri and Arkansas.
Because the French Quarter festival was underway, the traffic was crazy around the St. Louis Hotel but we made it, turned the car over to valet parking and checked in to our rooms. Kari and Tyna got a Jacuzzi and street view room on the fifth floor. Carol and I were happy with our quiet hideaway on the third floor and we had a boudet. We met a new friend, Dwayne, the front desk clerk. Dwayne was probably not an inch over 5 feet, if that. But he made up for his short stature with personality and presence. He recommended the Red Fish Grill for dinner. And so began our eating odyssey. I will not be able to always remember what everyone ate but I will do my best to reflect and summarize the complete decadence of the experience.
St. Louis Hotel
But even before dinner, we stopped for drinks at the Old Absinthe House, on the corner of Bienville and Bourbon. This was to become another one of the trip staples, a place with a long New Orleans history. Tyna began her week long relationship with Abita Amber but the rest of us just tried our regular standby drinks. During the week however, I became a bit more adventurous.
Dinner for me was the cornbread crusted gulf fish. Carol had pork chops with a puff pastry that was very moist and light. It was covered in a coconut cream Creole sauce. Tyna had her first order of crawfish etoufee and Kari had the Bourbon Street sampler.
As we walked down Bourbon Street, we were bombarded with the sights, sounds, and smells. A brass band was playing in the street and the kids looked to be ages 12-18 at most. They were amazingly good and it gave us our first opportunity to share a few dollars. I think because of Katrina, it felt like a worthy mission. After dinner, we felt re-charged and realized that this was our only Saturday night in town so we should make the most of it. We ended up at the St. Ann St. end of Bourbon and start chatting with a couple from Louisianan. They were in town for the celebration of 10 years of the Vagina Monologues. They were hanging out by Oz, a gay dance bar so we joined them and went inside to dance away our Saturday night. The second floor balcony held a great view inside and on the outside as well. It was 1 AM, when we realized that we had been up since 5 AM and it was time to call it a night. What a start to our trip.
So Sunday morning, we got a bit of a late start and missed breakfast but had an awesome lunch at Pierre Maspero, on Chartres. It was so awesome that we went back for a repeat our last day in town. Lunch involved muffulettas, an amazing shrimp bisque soup that brought us back for that second visit, fried seafood, and boiled alligator. After lunch, we walked down to the French Quarter Festival and the Flea Market down from the French Market. It was a beautiful day and the crowds were big and clearly made up of many locals.
For an early dinner, we stayed close to our hotel and ate at the Hotel Sonesta Restaurant, called the Desire Oyster Bar. Our meal included fried green tomatoes, baked oysters, rice, and shrimp. You can see in our accompanying photos some shots of the menus and even the food that we ate. Eating and drinking are a central part of the New Orleans experience.
After walking around Bourbon Street that evening, we knew it was time to eat again. So we went to a very nice Bourbon Street restaurant and were seated up on the balcony. There were three desserts on the menu and we ordered all of them, pecan pie with ice cream (wow, was that good), chocolate cake, and bread pudding with whiskey sauce.
Monday morning, we were up early and had a quick breakfast at the Starbucks counter in the Royal Sonesta. We had two tours set up for the day. The first one was the Post Katrina tour and our guide was Rose. Rose is a retired school teacher who has lived in the New Orleans area her entire life. She retired from a school in St. Bernard Parish which is just outside of New Orleans proper and an area that was especially devastate by Katrina. We were all amazed to find that in addition to the flooding, the biggest oil spill on land devastated St. Bernard. It seems the media forget to cover so much of the story. Even more striking is in how little progress has been made in terms of rebuilding. It is heartbreaking and something that will stay with me for a long time. I feel uncomfortable with how forgotten the city has been and I know what happened to them could happen to others.
Our mid-tour lunch was at Deanie's Seafood on Iberville and from there, we toured the city, including the Garden District.
"Make It Right" New Orleans is where you can help.
We did see Brad and Angeline's house in New Orleans. In talking to locals, they really to live there, their kids go to school there. Brad is seen around time quite often as the media doesn't quite follow his every move like they do those of Angelina.
Tour Company
http://www.toursbyisabelle.com/
St. Bernard Parish photos
http://parishphotosafterkatrina.blogspot.com/
Monday night we had dinner at Arnaud’s bistro restaurant, the Remoulade on Bourbon Street. While the restaurant next door is expensive, this bistro food comes from the same kitchen but is less expensive. Tyna had red beans and rice, Kari enjoyed steak with mushrooms and new potatoes. Carol and I split oysters made 5 ways and there was remoulade involved in the meal as well. I tried my first sazerac, a classic New Orleans cocktail with a licorice flavor and Kari had a Manhattan. From there, we went to the Jazz Emporium and saw a Motown show, songs from the Temptations, Lionel Richie, etc. It was a nice relaxing way to end a very busy, thought provoking day.
Tuesday, we had breakfast at Café Beignet. We ate outside and it was a little chilly. I had Belgian waffles, Carol had French toast made with French bread. Kari had a vege omelet and Tyna ate a classic southern breakfast. From there, we were picked up by our same tour company but different guide and headed to the swamp.
Our swamp tour was amazing, we went out for several hours on an airboat with our guide Capt. Sammy. We saw lots of alligators, flew through the bayous in our boat, and learned a lot from him. He was involved in rescue efforts after Katrina and had a lot of great stories to share. This seemed to be everyone's favorite outing. We even got to hold a baby alligator.
We had lunch at Petunia’s, a very gay friendly restaurant on St. Louis Ave. Lunch consisted of seafood crepes, catfish 'po boys' and cups of gumbo. The décor was really cute, with sort of a classic New Orleans pastel theme.
http://www.petuniasrestaurant.com/
Unfortunately, Kari started coming down with a bit of a cold so she went back in the afternoon to rest. The three of us walked along the riverfront a bit until Tyna went back to check on Kari. Carol and I ended up walking all the way down to the Farmer’s Market again and then back up to Bourbon Street where we found the oldest gay bar in America, Lafitte’s in Exile.
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/sports/parks/woldenbergpark.html
Oldest Gay Bar in the country
http://www.lafittes.com/
Tuesday night, we had dinner at Felix’s on Iberville, which was just around the corner from the hotel. It was not anything special but we were filled with more New Orleans cuisine. We made it an early night but Carol and I did make a stop into the Old Absinthe House and finally had absinthe. This was a long awaited experience for me, something I had heard about for years and it was not legal anywhere until the fall of 2007 in Louisiana. It was $16 a drink but well worth it.
Wednesday, after a morning walk to Café du Monde, we headed west in Louisiana to visit the Tabasco Sauce factory. From there, we went to see the Jungle Gardens, more alligators and an amazing bird sanctuary . We skipped eating a real lunch and saved it all up for dinner. We had our first courtyard dinner and a fun gay waiter as the Chartres House on Chartres street and the meal included catfish and shrimp platters as well as a creamy corn-crab bisque.
http://www.cafedumonde.com/
http://www.tabasco.com/tabasco_history/visit_avery_island.cfm%23targ
Thursday started off with a jazz brunch in another courtyard at the Court of Two Sisters on Royal Street. What a spread! they had a buffet beyond belief, crawfish, shrimp, roast beef, sweet potatoes, breakfast food, seafood salads, bananas foster, bread pudding, turtle soup with sherry, cornbread, biscuits, mimosas, and chicory coffee.
From there, we went again to the French Market, listened to some amazing street bands on Royal Street, and made a trip to Lafite’s in Exile for an afternoon cocktail. We had too much fun. Our bartender Aletha was great. She made us laugh and shared her Katrina experiences which could have made us cry but for her hilarious way of approaching life.
After a little wine in the courtyard of our hotel, we were off to dinner at K-Pauls, the classic New Orleans Restaurant of Paul Prudhomme. I had duck with rice and veges. Carol had veal and shrimp with potatoes. Kari had fish and Tyna had more classic New Orleans cuisine. We had a very nice wine from the Franciscan Winery in CA. We started our meal with a pecan/pear and greens salad.
Afterwards, Carol and I stopped in at the Old Absinthe House and I had a sazerac to settle my stomach from the day’s adventure. At one point, I had also tried a Ramos Gin Fizz so I felt like I really had some well made classic New Orleans cocktails. We went back to sit in the courtyard and met a couple in town for his brother’s wedding at the St. Louis Hotel. He invited us to join them since they didn’t know anyone else and he clearly didn’t much like his brother.
Friday started with Café Beignet (as Café duMonde was too crowded). Carol had a vege omelet but the rest of us had beignets. For lunch, we decided to go back to Pierre Aspero’s for more muffalettas and their amazing shrimp bisque. We rode the trolley to Canal Street and then on to the St. Charles line. We got off and walked through the Garden District as well as Lafayette Cemetery No. 2. We did some shopping and stopped by Lafitte's to say goodbye. Both Aletha and Matt were there. Aletha ran out as we left to give us a special stash of her best Mardi Gras beads which we convinced Tyna to wear.
We had dinner back at Deanie’s Seafood and took another pass down Bourbon Street. From there we went to Preservation Hall. It was crowded and we had to stand in the back but we saw the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and they were very good. We did go back an crash the wedding reception. But the best moment of all was when Carol joined in the second line wedding walk outside the hotel, waving her napkin in the air. I don’t think I have ever seen anything funnier in my life.
Videos from New Orleans
Because the French Quarter festival was underway, the traffic was crazy around the St. Louis Hotel but we made it, turned the car over to valet parking and checked in to our rooms. Kari and Tyna got a Jacuzzi and street view room on the fifth floor. Carol and I were happy with our quiet hideaway on the third floor and we had a boudet. We met a new friend, Dwayne, the front desk clerk. Dwayne was probably not an inch over 5 feet, if that. But he made up for his short stature with personality and presence. He recommended the Red Fish Grill for dinner. And so began our eating odyssey. I will not be able to always remember what everyone ate but I will do my best to reflect and summarize the complete decadence of the experience.
St. Louis Hotel
But even before dinner, we stopped for drinks at the Old Absinthe House, on the corner of Bienville and Bourbon. This was to become another one of the trip staples, a place with a long New Orleans history. Tyna began her week long relationship with Abita Amber but the rest of us just tried our regular standby drinks. During the week however, I became a bit more adventurous.
Dinner for me was the cornbread crusted gulf fish. Carol had pork chops with a puff pastry that was very moist and light. It was covered in a coconut cream Creole sauce. Tyna had her first order of crawfish etoufee and Kari had the Bourbon Street sampler.
As we walked down Bourbon Street, we were bombarded with the sights, sounds, and smells. A brass band was playing in the street and the kids looked to be ages 12-18 at most. They were amazingly good and it gave us our first opportunity to share a few dollars. I think because of Katrina, it felt like a worthy mission. After dinner, we felt re-charged and realized that this was our only Saturday night in town so we should make the most of it. We ended up at the St. Ann St. end of Bourbon and start chatting with a couple from Louisianan. They were in town for the celebration of 10 years of the Vagina Monologues. They were hanging out by Oz, a gay dance bar so we joined them and went inside to dance away our Saturday night. The second floor balcony held a great view inside and on the outside as well. It was 1 AM, when we realized that we had been up since 5 AM and it was time to call it a night. What a start to our trip.
So Sunday morning, we got a bit of a late start and missed breakfast but had an awesome lunch at Pierre Maspero, on Chartres. It was so awesome that we went back for a repeat our last day in town. Lunch involved muffulettas, an amazing shrimp bisque soup that brought us back for that second visit, fried seafood, and boiled alligator. After lunch, we walked down to the French Quarter Festival and the Flea Market down from the French Market. It was a beautiful day and the crowds were big and clearly made up of many locals.
For an early dinner, we stayed close to our hotel and ate at the Hotel Sonesta Restaurant, called the Desire Oyster Bar. Our meal included fried green tomatoes, baked oysters, rice, and shrimp. You can see in our accompanying photos some shots of the menus and even the food that we ate. Eating and drinking are a central part of the New Orleans experience.
After walking around Bourbon Street that evening, we knew it was time to eat again. So we went to a very nice Bourbon Street restaurant and were seated up on the balcony. There were three desserts on the menu and we ordered all of them, pecan pie with ice cream (wow, was that good), chocolate cake, and bread pudding with whiskey sauce.
Monday morning, we were up early and had a quick breakfast at the Starbucks counter in the Royal Sonesta. We had two tours set up for the day. The first one was the Post Katrina tour and our guide was Rose. Rose is a retired school teacher who has lived in the New Orleans area her entire life. She retired from a school in St. Bernard Parish which is just outside of New Orleans proper and an area that was especially devastate by Katrina. We were all amazed to find that in addition to the flooding, the biggest oil spill on land devastated St. Bernard. It seems the media forget to cover so much of the story. Even more striking is in how little progress has been made in terms of rebuilding. It is heartbreaking and something that will stay with me for a long time. I feel uncomfortable with how forgotten the city has been and I know what happened to them could happen to others.
Our mid-tour lunch was at Deanie's Seafood on Iberville and from there, we toured the city, including the Garden District.
"Make It Right" New Orleans is where you can help.
We did see Brad and Angeline's house in New Orleans. In talking to locals, they really to live there, their kids go to school there. Brad is seen around time quite often as the media doesn't quite follow his every move like they do those of Angelina.
Tour Company
http://www.toursbyisabelle.com/
St. Bernard Parish photos
http://parishphotosafterkatrina.blogspot.com/
Monday night we had dinner at Arnaud’s bistro restaurant, the Remoulade on Bourbon Street. While the restaurant next door is expensive, this bistro food comes from the same kitchen but is less expensive. Tyna had red beans and rice, Kari enjoyed steak with mushrooms and new potatoes. Carol and I split oysters made 5 ways and there was remoulade involved in the meal as well. I tried my first sazerac, a classic New Orleans cocktail with a licorice flavor and Kari had a Manhattan. From there, we went to the Jazz Emporium and saw a Motown show, songs from the Temptations, Lionel Richie, etc. It was a nice relaxing way to end a very busy, thought provoking day.
Tuesday, we had breakfast at Café Beignet. We ate outside and it was a little chilly. I had Belgian waffles, Carol had French toast made with French bread. Kari had a vege omelet and Tyna ate a classic southern breakfast. From there, we were picked up by our same tour company but different guide and headed to the swamp.
Our swamp tour was amazing, we went out for several hours on an airboat with our guide Capt. Sammy. We saw lots of alligators, flew through the bayous in our boat, and learned a lot from him. He was involved in rescue efforts after Katrina and had a lot of great stories to share. This seemed to be everyone's favorite outing. We even got to hold a baby alligator.
We had lunch at Petunia’s, a very gay friendly restaurant on St. Louis Ave. Lunch consisted of seafood crepes, catfish 'po boys' and cups of gumbo. The décor was really cute, with sort of a classic New Orleans pastel theme.
http://www.petuniasrestaurant.com/
Unfortunately, Kari started coming down with a bit of a cold so she went back in the afternoon to rest. The three of us walked along the riverfront a bit until Tyna went back to check on Kari. Carol and I ended up walking all the way down to the Farmer’s Market again and then back up to Bourbon Street where we found the oldest gay bar in America, Lafitte’s in Exile.
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/sports/parks/woldenbergpark.html
Oldest Gay Bar in the country
http://www.lafittes.com/
Tuesday night, we had dinner at Felix’s on Iberville, which was just around the corner from the hotel. It was not anything special but we were filled with more New Orleans cuisine. We made it an early night but Carol and I did make a stop into the Old Absinthe House and finally had absinthe. This was a long awaited experience for me, something I had heard about for years and it was not legal anywhere until the fall of 2007 in Louisiana. It was $16 a drink but well worth it.
Wednesday, after a morning walk to Café du Monde, we headed west in Louisiana to visit the Tabasco Sauce factory. From there, we went to see the Jungle Gardens, more alligators and an amazing bird sanctuary . We skipped eating a real lunch and saved it all up for dinner. We had our first courtyard dinner and a fun gay waiter as the Chartres House on Chartres street and the meal included catfish and shrimp platters as well as a creamy corn-crab bisque.
http://www.cafedumonde.com/
http://www.tabasco.com/tabasco_history/visit_avery_island.cfm%23targ
Thursday started off with a jazz brunch in another courtyard at the Court of Two Sisters on Royal Street. What a spread! they had a buffet beyond belief, crawfish, shrimp, roast beef, sweet potatoes, breakfast food, seafood salads, bananas foster, bread pudding, turtle soup with sherry, cornbread, biscuits, mimosas, and chicory coffee.
From there, we went again to the French Market, listened to some amazing street bands on Royal Street, and made a trip to Lafite’s in Exile for an afternoon cocktail. We had too much fun. Our bartender Aletha was great. She made us laugh and shared her Katrina experiences which could have made us cry but for her hilarious way of approaching life.
After a little wine in the courtyard of our hotel, we were off to dinner at K-Pauls, the classic New Orleans Restaurant of Paul Prudhomme. I had duck with rice and veges. Carol had veal and shrimp with potatoes. Kari had fish and Tyna had more classic New Orleans cuisine. We had a very nice wine from the Franciscan Winery in CA. We started our meal with a pecan/pear and greens salad.
Afterwards, Carol and I stopped in at the Old Absinthe House and I had a sazerac to settle my stomach from the day’s adventure. At one point, I had also tried a Ramos Gin Fizz so I felt like I really had some well made classic New Orleans cocktails. We went back to sit in the courtyard and met a couple in town for his brother’s wedding at the St. Louis Hotel. He invited us to join them since they didn’t know anyone else and he clearly didn’t much like his brother.
Friday started with Café Beignet (as Café duMonde was too crowded). Carol had a vege omelet but the rest of us had beignets. For lunch, we decided to go back to Pierre Aspero’s for more muffalettas and their amazing shrimp bisque. We rode the trolley to Canal Street and then on to the St. Charles line. We got off and walked through the Garden District as well as Lafayette Cemetery No. 2. We did some shopping and stopped by Lafitte's to say goodbye. Both Aletha and Matt were there. Aletha ran out as we left to give us a special stash of her best Mardi Gras beads which we convinced Tyna to wear.
We had dinner back at Deanie’s Seafood and took another pass down Bourbon Street. From there we went to Preservation Hall. It was crowded and we had to stand in the back but we saw the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and they were very good. We did go back an crash the wedding reception. But the best moment of all was when Carol joined in the second line wedding walk outside the hotel, waving her napkin in the air. I don’t think I have ever seen anything funnier in my life.
Videos from New Orleans
http://www.preservationhall.com/home.php
In New Orleans, even the air is a presence, it feels steamy, sultry, laced with iron.
http://www.neworleansonline.com/
http://www.louisianatravel.com/
http://www.foreverneworleans.com/
http://www.nola.com/
Restaurants and chefs
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/cuisine/chefs/index.html http://www.neworleanstoprestaurants.com/
http://www.neworleansrestaurants.com/pascalsmanale/
http://www.cafereconcile.com/
This is just a virtual place for now
http://www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org/
Music in Louisiana and New Orleans
http://louisianatravel.com/play/music.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_New_Orleans
New Orleans inspires writers
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/glbt/literary.html
Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire and New Orleans cemetaries
http://www.neworleanscemeteries.net/
The seediest side of New Orleans
http://www.planetneworleans.com/party/strip_clubs/
Neighborhoods: French Quarter
http://www.frenchquarter.com/
French Market
http://www.frenchmarket.org/
Jackson Square
http://www.jackson-square.com/
St. Louis Cathedral
http://www.stlouiscathedral.org/index.htm
New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum
http://www.voodoomuseum.com/
Preservation Hall
http://www.preservationhall.com/home.php
Swirl is a wine shop with regular tastings, especially on Fridays. There is somewhat of a lesbian scene.
http://neworleanspodcasting.com/BethRibblett.shtml
Storyville
http://www.storyville-district.com/
Garden District Uptown Bayou St. John and Mid City
Degas House
http://www.degashouse.com/index.html
More Louisiana Links
http://www.nsula.edu/folklife/Default.htm
http://www.laarchaeology.org/
http://www.louisianahistory.org/timelines/index.html http://www.crt.state.la.us/archaeology/laprehis/malapre.htm http://ccet.louisiana.edu/tourism/cultural/The_People/nativeamericansjstyle.html http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/creole_art_native_overview.html http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/shopping/antiqueshops.html http://www.neworleansmuseums.com/
One of the places we donated after Katrina, the Houma Indians were devastated by the hurricane.
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/nativeamericans/houma.htm
In New Orleans, even the air is a presence, it feels steamy, sultry, laced with iron.
http://www.neworleansonline.com/
http://www.louisianatravel.com/
http://www.foreverneworleans.com/
http://www.nola.com/
Restaurants and chefs
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/cuisine/chefs/index.html http://www.neworleanstoprestaurants.com/
http://www.neworleansrestaurants.com/pascalsmanale/
http://www.cafereconcile.com/
This is just a virtual place for now
http://www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org/
Music in Louisiana and New Orleans
http://louisianatravel.com/play/music.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_New_Orleans
New Orleans inspires writers
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/glbt/literary.html
Anne Rice, Interview with the Vampire and New Orleans cemetaries
http://www.neworleanscemeteries.net/
The seediest side of New Orleans
http://www.planetneworleans.com/party/strip_clubs/
Neighborhoods: French Quarter
http://www.frenchquarter.com/
French Market
http://www.frenchmarket.org/
Jackson Square
http://www.jackson-square.com/
St. Louis Cathedral
http://www.stlouiscathedral.org/index.htm
New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum
http://www.voodoomuseum.com/
Preservation Hall
http://www.preservationhall.com/home.php
Swirl is a wine shop with regular tastings, especially on Fridays. There is somewhat of a lesbian scene.
http://neworleanspodcasting.com/BethRibblett.shtml
Storyville
http://www.storyville-district.com/
Garden District Uptown Bayou St. John and Mid City
Degas House
http://www.degashouse.com/index.html
More Louisiana Links
http://www.nsula.edu/folklife/Default.htm
http://www.laarchaeology.org/
http://www.louisianahistory.org/timelines/index.html http://www.crt.state.la.us/archaeology/laprehis/malapre.htm http://ccet.louisiana.edu/tourism/cultural/The_People/nativeamericansjstyle.html http://www.louisianafolklife.org/LT/Articles_Essays/creole_art_native_overview.html http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/shopping/antiqueshops.html http://www.neworleansmuseums.com/
One of the places we donated after Katrina, the Houma Indians were devastated by the hurricane.
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/shades/nativeamericans/houma.htm
Comments