Beignets, Music, Oysters, The Locals, And Visitors: Why We Love New Orleans

Beignets

Oysters With Smitty

Delfeayo Marsalis And The Uptown Jazz Orchestra

Late Night Impromptu Street Band On Frenchmen's

 It's 7:15 and we are both up, having coffee in our room.  We will get a beignet later, when we get out but for now, it sounds good to relax in our room and, we had coffee and a beignet last night around 10:00 at the Cafe De Monde, to finish off our evening with lots of other folks.

We decided to stay in the area of our hotel today, perhaps venture in other areas of New Orleans tomorrow.  And there's lots to see in the narrow streets.  We walked along Decatur, down to the French Market, to the end, to Frenchmen's Street, the area where the best music bars reside.  It's a bit seamy but what areas aren't.  We found a place, Snug Harbor, recommended by one of my breakfast buddies, and it looks like just the kind of place we want.  Shows are at 8:00 and 10:00 and the band plays Dixieland and other tunes from the 1930's to the 1960's.

Happy Happy

Psychics

Innovative Musicians

We then went back, walking past the head shops, street musicians and performers, the clothing shops, the psychic stores to the Cafe Du Monde where Evie enjoyed, loved her first beignet.  We then decided to walk Royal Street, filled with art galleries of all sorts, and fairly upscale restaurants, all which looked good.

Art on a Wooden Door

Doorway On Frenchmen's Street

We then headed back for lunch, along the famous Bourbon Street, now overrun with cheap bars, strip joints, places like that with little in the way of Jazz Bars.  We had heard that Bourbon Street had become seedy and our walk confirmed it.  We ended up eating at the Cafe Pontalba that overlooked Jackson Square, with doors and windows open, letting in the sounds of street musicians.  I had the Creole special, a cup of gumbo, quite good, and red beans and rice with sausage, also good. I had never had either before so it was good to get them off my bucket list if I had one.  By the time we got back to the hotel, it was 2:30 and we had walked over five miles. The only thing we bought was a tee shirt for me, some beignet mix to make with our grandchildren, and that was it.  Nothing really grabs us much as we shopped.

We called the Snug Harbor, to see about the music and they only had 10 tickets left for the 8:00 show featuring Delfeayo Marsalis and The Uptown Jazz Orchestra. So we decided to buy tickets over the phone, 25 a piece, to make sure we had a seat.  We then thought we would go back to the same place we had oyssters yesterday, then maybe walk down towards the Snug Harbor on Frenchmen's Street and pick up something else to eat before the show.

At The Oyster Bar

We really like the ambiance of the New Orleans Creole Cookery, especially the oyster bar and the guy who shucks the oysters, Smitty from the city.  Evie now loves oysters so we ordered a dozen along with some cajun eggplant, both amazing.  Smttty went out and got a fresh bag of oyyters for us, and shucked probably 15 for us, a good guy.  We talked to a guy from Alexandria, Lousiana, the same guy we sat next to the night before at Pierre Mesaro's.  He was fun to talk to, loves New Orleans, comes down once a month just for the food.  We left about 10:00 and walked the mile down to where the music rocks, stopping only to listen to a drunk tell us his complaint about tourists: they never smile.  Evie sympathized, listened to his story and gave him a fiver.  I just wanted to move on. There are panhandlers all over the streets, some legitimate, some not so but it's hard to tell.  We stopped in Snug's, to get our tickets and found that many of the seats were already taken at 7:25, so we decided to forego eating and get good seats, up in the balcony, looking down at the band, about 20 feet away.

Snug Harbor From The Balcony

The venue seated perhaps 50 people downstairs, another 50 upstairs, around tables.  We had to wait till 8:20 for the band to begin, of course, mostly because Delfeayo Marselis arrived late.  It was worth the wait.  The band, 13 horns, piano, base, and drums, marched into the venue, blasting away on the instruments, starting next to us in the balcony, a great beginning.  The music was mostly 1940's, Duke Ellington tunes, and upbeat stuff.  They band literally blew us out of the room when all 13 were playing.  I have never been so close to a great band, so it was a real experience to watch them play, know when to come in, pause, let someone solo.  Before the show, we stuck up a conversation with a couple, both high school friends from Aruba, who went their own way, the guy to New Orleans, the woman to Toronto, but they both met again at a high school reuinion in Aruba, were both single, and are now a couple.  They were really cute.  The show lasted a little over an hour and Delfeayo Marsalis was quite a showmen, making it really fun, even involving the audience with some dancing.

Dat Dog Diner

We were out in the busy streets about 9:45 and decided to get a hot dog at the Dog House.  It was crowded as well, and we struck up another conversation with a young couple from Stamford, CT, again, they new all about CT, so we had lots to talk about, especially the grocery stores we loved, Fairway and Stew Leonard's.  After they left, we got our dogs, mine a Sea Dog, a piece of cod with the works, and Evie got a Chicago dog.  As we were finishing up, a couple came in, stood next to us and the woman looked familiar to me.  I could not place her, but was sure she must look like someone on a TV show.  I told her I recognize her from somewhere and she asked if I watch the TV show Longmire, which I usually watch every afternoon.  I said yes, and she said she was Walt Longmire's daughter on the show.  She was nice, let Evie take a picture and I cannot wait to send it to my buddy Trout, who loves the show.

With Actress Cassidy Freeman, Plays Walt Longmire's Daughter Cady On Longmire TV Show

We walked out in the street, to another amazing sound, around 10 African American youths were belting out tunes on the their trombones, trumpets, and saxes on a street corner, gathering a huge crowd of appreciative onlookers.  It became a real happening, with a guy carting around a cooler, selling beers, a couple of guys dancing in the street, one with a stuffed life stize tiger on his back.  Only in New Orleans.  We watched for about 15 minutes, enjoying the show, giving them some bucks, then walked home, past numerous homeless either settled down in a corner to sleep, or gathered in a small group, often with their dogs.  We couldn't pass the Cafe DuMonde without getting a beignet.  It was crowded even at 10:00 and most of us were sitting outside, enjoying the cool night air.  We got home at 11:00, a fabulous night of music.