We had another parking lot for a home in Louisiana, but with a great location just a short walk from the French Quarter. We loved that we could get to all the places we were excited to explore here in just steps or a super short drive. But the downside of being in the French Quarter... is that you're in the French Quarter. We were quickly warned to never walk home after dark. With a rough neighborhood to one side of our "parking lot home" and a cemetery (which are quite creepy at night) on the other, we made use of the cabs during our stay:) Thankfully, our new home was gated and secured with this around its perimeter...
We approached this city with excitement as well as caution. Loaded with rich culture & tradition, we could hardly wait to experience the food, the music and cajun history. Probably the most fascinating and unique cities we've visited. The downside to the area is the filth (literally and morally), the voo-doo, the vulgar Bourbon Street... but we did our best to stick to the family-friendly parts of town:)
We loved gawking at the decorations as the whole city was making preparations for Mardi Gras, just weeks away.
The French Quarter (also called Vieux Carre, meaning "Old Square" in French) is the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans. The city was originally centered on the French Quarter when founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste. These early French settlers established the grid pattern which is still seen on the streets of the French Quarter today. In 1763 the area was ceded to the Spanish Empire in the Treaty of Paris. The New Orleans fires of 1788 & 1794 destroyed much of the French structures, so most of the surviving 18th century architecture dates from this Spanish Period. In 1801 the area reverted to French control for a short time until Napoleon sold the territory to the U.S. in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Today the mix of cultures can be seen in this eclectic city.
We started by just walking the streets, trying to take it all in. We were immediately drawn to the sound of music in the distance and followed it to this... a most interesting mix of musicians. We couldn't help but notice the bare feet, the puffs of smoke while singing, the beer-drinking... but so lively & surprisingly great performers. We were totally entertained and loved this introduction to the city.
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| Though the official street signs reflect the street names given by the French, tile signs like these tell the names given to the streets during the Spanish era. |
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| The beautiful Mississippi |
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| Bourbon Street, which we did our best to avoid. New Orleans is one of only a few places in the country where possession and consumption of alcohol in open containers is allowed on the street... most of which takes place here on Bourbon Street. Lined with bars, fortune tellers, voo-doo shops & worse, it is certainly the armpit of the city. |
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| Alayna managed to find another jewelry shop... heaven! |
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| We loved the old, gas lights illuminating the streets at night. |
One morning we rode the streetcar (for just $1.25 each) to the Garden District, just a few miles southwest of the French Quarter. The flood of 1816 left a rich deposit of alluvial silt which allowed this area higher ground & beautiful vegetation. The ornate southern mansions here preserve traces of the era of cotton and sugar empires, when grand antebellum plantations covered the landscape.
We walked around like total tourists looking for homes owned by stars like Archie Manning, Sandra Bullock & John Goodman...
We were fascinated with the above ground tombs in the New Orleans cemeteries. St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, which opened in 1789, is the city's oldest cemetery and because of the large multi-burial tombs, still accepts burials to this day. New Orleans' first African-American mayor is interred here, as well as the remains of Voo-doo queen Marie Laveau.
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| Supposedly the tomb of voo-doo queen Marie Laveau, people leave trinkets & mark the tomb with XXX, hoping for good luck to come their way. |
One of our favorite things about the city was the amazing cajun & creole cuisine. In fact, we ate ourselves silly...
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| Delicious crab fingers in a garlic sauce at Royal House Oyster Bar |
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| Muffuletas (sandwiches made on a round Sicilian bread originated in New Orleans, topped with meats like salami, pepperoni & ham, and the most delicious marinated olive spread) is the signature sandwich of New Orleans. We later found that the best is served at Central Grocery. |
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| We had to try the world famous Cafe du Monde, serving cafe au lait (a blend of chicory coffee & hot milk) and beignets (fried doughnuts drenched in powdered sugar) since 1862. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and seemingly with a constant long line out the door. |
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| Beneath every bench or table within walking distance of Cafe du Monde was a coating of powdered sugar:) |
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| Unfortunately we weren't as impressed with the beignets at Cafe du Monde as those who flocked to this coffee stand. We found our Oyster Festival beignets in Mississippi much yummier! |
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| While in the Garden District, we found a Diner's, Drive-In's & Dives joint to try. Mahony's Po-Boy Shop had delish sandwich combinations including the roasted turkey with gravy, root beer glazed ham & cheese, and cochon (shredded pork) with creole-slaw. |
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| Sucre was another Garden District find. The desserts here were like artwork... nearly too beautiful to eat. But we managed. Our favorite was the warm, gooey s'mores skillet with banana pudding gelato on the side. |
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| Arnaud's Restaurant has been serving classic creole food & live jazz music in the French Quarter since its founding in 1918. For $4 extra per person, we sat in the beautiful dining room with the live jazz band and enjoyed a few specialties including the Louisiana crabmeat and mushrooms baked in crab-shaped puff pasty, served with white wine sauce. We especially loved our personal serenade of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" :) |
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The funky & highly recommended Jacques-imo's in Uptown gave us another taste of New Orleans cooking. After entering through the frenzied kitchen, we found the dining room's walls & ceiling to be covered in local art & Louisiana oddities. The place was full of energy and the food was fabulous. We chose a most-amazing shrimp & alligator cheesecake appitizer, blackened red fish & the Carpet-bagger Steak (filet stuffed with oysters & topped with onion, blue cheese, and Hollandaise).
In front of the restaurant (as shown above), diners are served in the Jacques-imo's pick-up truck:) |
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| The Carpet-bagger |
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| Our kind Jacques-imo's waiter brought us dessert on-the-house, so we could hardly resist:) Bread pudding with coconut, creme brulee, strawberry cupcake, and cheesecake... so good. |
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| Founded in 1906 by a Sicilian immigrant, Central Grocery is still run by the same family & is a French Quarter staple. Known for the muffulettas (which originated here), folks form a line before their doors open each day. Just one sandwich was large enough to feed our family of four! |
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| Having been founded in Louisiana was Jim's exuse to get us to eat at his favorite fast-food chain, Popeyes:) |
One of our favorite activities (and some of the best food) was at the New Orleans School of Cooking right in the French Quarter. We took a 2-ish hour class taught by Chef "Big Kevin" who taught us that true Louisiana cooking means never following a recipe, but instead altering basic dishes (gumbo, jambalaya...) with whatever is in your fridge or garden & with whatever you're in the mood for! We watched & scribbled notes as he prepared gumbo, jambalaya, bread pudding & pralines and ended the session feasting on his delicious creations.
Midway through blogging this post, I had unfortunate computer issues and lost a few states-worth of photos. (Sigh!) There is a chance we can recover them, but sadly not in time to add them to Arkansas, Oklahoma and the rest of this blog...
We did, though experience more fun in New Orleans. One afternoon we took a National Park ranger-led tour along the Mississippi, learning about Louisiana history.
We also took a 2 hour boat ride through the rivers & swamps of Slidell, LA. We spotted a dozen or so small gators, lots of turtles, grotesquely large spiders, and a few HUGE snakes coiled on branches. One small snake managed to slither onto our boat... the girls had fun holding it!
Mardi Gras World was another fun tour that gave us insight into the preparations of Mardi Gras. We were led through a huge warehouse where we saw numerous floats, props galore, and watched artists in action as they made the final touches for the parades, just weeks away. After the tour, we watched a video on Mardi-Gras history and tasted traditional King Cake.
A true highlight was an evening spent at Preservation Hall. Tucked between shops and restaurants in the French Quarter, this building was tiny (cramming maybe 50 people inside) and over 260 years old. Molding walls with much of the dry wall broken off surrounded us. The rafters were held together by clamps, electric wiring was exposed, and the old, wood floors creaked as we walked in. No bar, not even a bathroom- just an old space for great musicians to play. And people flocked here nightly for just that- great music. Since 1961, this space has been a place where New Orleans musicians could play traditional New Orleans jazz, which some were afraid would otherwise be lost to modern jazz & rock n roll. We chose seats (actually flat cushions on the floor) on the front row. We were so close to the band, in fact, that the trombone nearly hit Alayna in the face as it played! We were enthralled with the Survivors Brass Band and listened for a couple of hours as they played songs like "This Little Light of Mine", "Yes Sir, That's My Baby", and "When You're Smiling The Whole World Smiles With You". At just $15 a seat (just $10 for kids), it was the best "concert" we'd attended in some time!
After 5 days in New Orleans, we were ready to leave. So thankful to have had a taste of the culture, but not so sure we'd ever care to return.
30 states down, 20 to go!!!
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