Back from New Orleans

[zantedeschia]

Was meant to be a Valentine's trip but found out upon getting there it was the first weekend of Mardi Gras, so we ended up doing that too. My bf is originally from NO, to him, NO food means po boys specifically roast beef po boys. And seafood gumbo. To me it's red beans & rice, etoufee, jambalaya, crawfish, oysters. I did run into one person that equated seafood as being fixed in the cajun style, if seafood wasn't presented that way, then it wasn't good seafood.

 

But I tell you, I love chicory in coffee. And beignets. One of the big points of visiting was to go to Brennan's. We adore the Brennan's in Houston and wanted very badly to try the original. Boy, were we disappointed. The two have very little in common. While the restaurant was very pretty, the waiters kept messing up our orders, and the food wasn't as good (tho my entree was decent). Not the four star make sure you have all the right forks service at all. Definitely not worth the amount they charge. I was also really displeased with their "prix fixe" four course dinner which wasn't fixed price at all, there wasn't a single appetizer one could order without a $7 to 10 charge tacked on. Also most of the desserts were $5 extra. My bf got this and portions were small. I don't know how they are at breakfast but I retract everything I said before, they aren't worth it for dinner.

 

We caught a couple parades, missed "Barkus", the ones with the dogs. Walked up and down Bourbon Street a *lot*. Saw numerous dogs (see above sentence about Barkus). The day before we were in Slidell so we weren't entirely confined to the French Quarter. Stayed at Le Richelieu, a very lovely, quiet hotel with free parking!

 

Went down to the river front, looked upstream and saw a cruise ship so I insisted we walk down there see which ones. Turned out to be the Norwegian Sun and Carnival Fantasy which was there because of the accident she had had the day before that I hadn't found out about till I got back home. It's not far if you're in shape but still a pretty good walk, maybe three-quarters of a mile. Probably would be a pain to do with a lot of luggage. On the way back I noticed a Whaling Wall! That was a pleasant surprise on the side of the Hilton.

 

The people were friendly, the city looked good. Cops everywhere, we didn't have any problem walking around at night. One funny incident where a man warned us he was behind us cause he didn't want us freaking out.

 

All in all, a great trip. We plan to go back soon.