First Night In New Orleans

Dining in New Orleans

It’s 7:25 and I have been sitting in the Café Du Monde, a café open 24 hours a day, about a five minute walk, in the rain, from our hotel.  It’s about the only place open at this hour.  I sat down and an elderly Asian woman took my order, coffee and a beignet, then brought it to me on a tray.  My beignet was great, piled high with powdered sugar.  There are thirty people in here, mostly tourists I assume like me, and various workers seem to come in just for the coffee, the only place open as I mentioned.  Unfortunately, it does not have wifi.

Yesterday, we were up by 6:00 in Nashville, so we were able to get off by 7:20.  Our GPS said we had 8 1/2 hours to our hotel and it was quite accurate, alas.  I thought it would take less time.  We were fortunate to miss any of the  heavy rain showers forecast for the area over the past few days. We did get some rain overnight, but we don't care; we are fat and happy in our hotel, the French Market Inn, right in the heart of the French Quarter.

First Time In Alabama, Mississipi And Lousiana

Our ride was non descript for the most part.  Driving on highways is quickest but also mostly a bore as there's really not much to see, especially on this trip.  Through much of Alabama and Mississippi, the road was edged with tall scrub pines, making it difficult to see if there was anything beyond the first couple of rows of trees.  The roads were, however, edged in green, with few if any billboards which was great.  We were rarely able to see the countryside, except when we passed a large travel/gas exit when the highway opened up.  And the landscape was mostly flat, few if any hills, certainly no mountains like we might see on a trip to Florida, through West Virgina and Virginia.  In fact, much of our ride reminded us of South Carolina, the pine forests and the smell.

Bridge Over Lake Pontchartrain

Bridges

When we got within 20 miles of New Orleans, things opened up and the countryside, shopping areas, buildings and businesses suddenly appeared als we drove towards the city.  We crossed Lake Pontchartrain via a ten mile bridge, the city off to the East, silhouetted by the sun.  We worked our way through the back streets of the French Quarter through run down, beaten up buildings until we got to the more posh areas, where we were staying, The French Market Inn, an old reclaimed brick building, right on Decatur, with a courtyard, small swimming room,  brick walled rooms.  It's a great location and the staff were welcoming, as all of the staff have been so far on our trip.  We were really tired from the ride, so we just hung out in our room until 6:30 and went out for dinner.  The one spot I wanted to go to, Johnny's, famous for it's po'boys was closed of course, so we decided to find another good place.

First Stop, Oysters And Beer

We went out around 6:15, the wind blowing hard but no rain despite the threatening sky.  We were not sure where to go so we just walked around ended up at a place our valet recommended called the New Orleans Creole Cookery, just around the block.  It was a pretty neat place, with one problem: no one was there.  In fact, just about every place along the main drag was pretty empty as this is a slow time of the year.  Anyways, we sat at the bar, struck up a conversation with both the bartender and oyster shucker, a huge African American guy with gold teeth, really talkative and fun.  He made a special barbecued oyster for Evie, to get her to try them.  And she loved it alas, so it look like we will be having oysters every night.

Eric, Bartender At Pierre Maspero's

We had a beer and oysters, then decided to walk some more, down towards the French Market and back, and ended up at another spot recommended by the hotel, Pierre Maspero's.  It's virtue was it was packed with people and the hostess made a place for us at the bar, and we immediately struck up conversations on both sides, me with a couple of hockey fans from Kansas City, Evie with a guy from New Orleans, and a friend.  As usual, we had a great time getting to know both.  We ordered a free appetizer, crab cakes, compliments of our hotel.  For entrees, Evie ordered a Caesar salad with shrimp and I had a shrimp po'boy, neither was up to snuff, but we liked the bar, the people and would go back for the ambiance, not the food.

Micro Brews

We then walked some more and stopped at Crescent City Brewhouse, a Jazz Bar, for a micro brew, with a sax, keyboard and base playing. Unfortunately, we were given 22 oz brews and neither one of us could finish them.  We sat at the bar, windows open to the street, it was that warm, wind blowing, as one of the guys shucked the leftover oysters from the day.  Afterwards ,we walked some more but were tired from our day of driving and went back to our hotel around 9:15, as things along the strip were beginning to slow down.

Bar Lights at Crescent City

Note In the Courtyard at The French Market Inn

New Orleans, at first take, is combination of old and new, spic n span and dirt, tourists and workers, rich and poor, the many homeless who seem to scatter along the main streets like Decatur, where we are staying. We have only seen a small portion of the French Quarter but it combines the seedy and junky stores with upscale shops and restaurants, a bizarre combination.  But, then, that must be New Orleans. Lots of African Americans are working in all of the stops, restaurants, and shops which is neat.  They may not own the place but they work in them except for the shops filled with Asian products, with Asian shopkeepers.  So New Orleans is a virtual stew, a gumbo, so to speak of cultures from all over the world.  We like it.