Holiday in New Orleans - Part 1

My sister Joyce invited us to join her family in New Orleans when they got off their cruise ship there, the weekend after Christmas - so we did!  We took a lot of pictures so I'm splitting them in two parts.

Our first activity was Sunday afternoon when we wandered around the French Quarter.  Among our photos I chose two that Norris took showing the seasonal decorations on the balconies in and around Bourbon Street.

This next photo shows some of Joyce's family leaving a souvenir shop. There's a little of Nathan on the left in the stripes, Don, Joyce, Nicole's blond hair, and Tanya in the dark sweatshirt and sun glasses.  Norris is looking on from the next door.

I included this next one because it's the only photo we got that shows Nate - (just to the left behind Don) and we want to remember he was there! Nathan has the big grin behind Don's other ear, and Bobby has white framed sunglasses on his head.

We were heading to our Culinary History tour, which we thought was great fun besides being a way to get into more famous restaurants than we could have during our short stay, if we'd even been able to get reservations at any of them.  I took some of these pictures that day, and some on Tuesday when Norris and I were out and about on our own.

Our first stop was the famous Antoine's, oldest restaurant in New Orleans, where we had a nice bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo. Pictured are Bobby, Don, and Norris in one of many elegant private dining rooms. Antoine's claims to be the oldest continuously family-owned restaurant in the country. This room is decorated with portraits of all the owners over the 175 years since it was established in 1840.

Just around the corner from them are Nicole, Joyce, and Nathan.  Norris, Tanya, and Nate were on the same side of the room as I was. 

This was a fortuitous stop because Norris, who always figured he would not like gumbo because of the okra, was surprised to find he really did!  Meanwhile, here's the impressive wine cellar inside the sprawling restaurant.  The photo does not really convey the impressive 165 feet of corridor - there is no mirror mid-way back, it just keeps on going,

 We stopped for a sampling of Pralines at Leah's, across the street from Antoine's, then headed to Arnaud's - not quite as old as Antoine's, but also full of history. We got to taste a nice little cup of shrimp in remoulade sauce at the bar there, and briefly left the food theme to tour the Mardi Gras museum on an upper floor of the restaurant. This photo was was taken of the entry foyer to show some of the Christmas decor.

Next stop was for gelato, muffaletta, and canoli, enjoyed at the outdoor seating area of  La Divina Gelato.

Then we took a short walk to New Orleans second oldest restaurant, Tu Jagues, for their famous brisket in horseradish sauce, also sampled at the bar. It was the only place we did not get to tour the actual restaurant dining area.

Our last stop was at the Cookin' Cajun Cooking School where we got a demonstration of how to make roux, and a nice helping of red beans and rice, which Norris also decided he really likes. We stocked up on several of the specialty ingredients and treats we had sampled during the tour.  Cajun Cookin' is right on Jackson square - their sign is the red and white one in the middle of my photo.  

Some of the cruise-goers needed a nap so we all trouped back to our hotel on the river front, after which we headed out to the Ernst Cafe, not far from our hotel, where Norris decided to have a regular serving of chicken and sausage gumbo.  I took this picture on Monday when we passed it again.  The cafe dates to 1902 but the building goes back to the 1850's.

 

On Monday, we had a forgettable breakfast which wound up being rather later than expected (but enjoyed our beignets) then walked to the National WWII Museum.  This picture of Norris and Don as they waited in the line probably more than half an hour to buy our tickets serves as advice to anyone else intending to visit: you can buy your entry ahead of time on-line and you probably should. It's a great museum, but even the staff was surprised by the number of visitors and they didn't have an adequate number of ticket counters to handle the crowd.

 All of our group have parents or ancestors who served during the war.  Norris took this picture of a half-track that might have been like one his father would have used when he served as a radio operator with the 11th Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge.

 I have one more photo of our New Orleans visit to include in this post - it was taken from near the French Market and shows the cluster of buildings where our hotel was on the Mississippi river.

We have no photos from our Dinner Monday night, which was at the Grand Isle restaurant around the corner from our hotel - chosen for the Oyster Bar.  The food was great and our waitress was a pro.  Norris had another helping of chicken and sausage gumbo.

Monday was the last night of vacation together for Joyce's family, so we headed to the French Quarter to see if we could find some jazz. Since one of our group was under 18, we could not be seated in any of the bars, but we did stop to listen to this group on a corner -

There was plenty of live music booming from the Bourbon Street establishments, but it was pretty much all old Rock and Roll. Too late, we learned we could have walked a little farther to Frenchmen Street for jazz.