All good things, when they end, seem to do so prematurely. No matter how many memories and experiences are packed into an allotted space of time there is always a wish for more. There is always one more thing to do or see or in the case of New Orleans, eat. And, no matter how many good times have "rolled" there is always a wish to eek out another "good time". New Orleans can be that way and given the added attraction of my lovely daughter, the wish to return home to the chilly northeast was weak. I miss her, but I am happy that she has found a love and a life and as a father I am pleased. But, as a visitor to this delectable city, I am hungry for more!
We knew we would not be satisfied with getting on the first plane outta here so, we opted for a late afternoon flight in planning this excursion. We arose early, packed our bags and left them on the bed. We then headed out into the brilliant sunshine for a few hours. The hotel is on Bourbon street. All the raunchy establishments are right there which is an odd juxtaposition of cultures, (or lack of cultures some may say). Inside the Ramada it is serene and ornate. A wall of windows shows the antics outside, at least during the night, but nothing is heard. It is strange to be so close; it's like you're in a zoo. Bourbon Street at 9:00 am is nothing like the teetering menagerie from the night. Outside the strip joint there's no one holding a sign proclaiming: "T*ts and whiskey"'; no one is on the balconies above holding out strands of beads to gawkers below, some baring body parts and shrieking "throw me some beads mistah"; no scowling horse mounted policemen or firemen sitting on the bumper of their rig posing for pictures and selling t-shirts. No, there's cars driving down Bourbon and liquor and maintenance trucks making stops. There's quite a difference between night and day and if not for the photographs of half naked women on some of the placards one may consider this French Quarter a little sleepy.
We've spent a goodly amount of time away from Bourbon this trip, save for a perfunctory stroll. The other night we wanted to have a "quiet" drink and thought to get one at the hotel bar, but that was closed. The security guard at the hotel rolled his eyes and said there's no quiet places on Bourbon, but we walked down to Royal and found a little place that served watered down martinis, which was enough to slake our thirst. The bar at this nameless place was dotted with other older folks like us, just looking for a nightcap and not a torrent of activity. We were surprised we had found a place like this and just a block away from Camp Runamuck on Bourbon.
This morning was more of the same. We headed for coffee at Royal Blend on Rue Royal. It is a favored place of your intrepid VFH travelers and we like to linger in the quiet courtyard and listen to trilling birds as we read the local papers. It is worth the visit and I recommend it highly, especially if you are not interested in the roiling commotion of Cafe Du Monde. http://www.royalblendcoffee.com/
Now, people will swear to Cafe Du Monde. It is a tourist destination that first opened in the 1800's. It only closes on Christmas and (according to their website) when a hurricane strays too close to NOLA. The coffee here is strong, infused with chicory, a root, that was originally used by the French to stretch out coffee rations. They also serve beignets which is fried dough covered with powdered sugar. It is impossible to eat them without getting covered with the sugar. But, where Royal Blend is quiet, almost pastoral, the scene at Cafe Du Monde is frenetic, crowded with tourists with white noses. Musicans entertain the folks and it too is certainly worth the visit. They are open 24 hours a day...except for Christmas of course. I once drove through New Orleans just to get coffee and beignets in the middle of the night. I was driving home from Texas where I had researched my second novel...which... is now available through Amazon.com....
THE MUSIC MADE ME CRY.... I know I know it's shameless ploy to get you readers to spend some money! (Only .99 cents.)
Well, that early morning I was pleased to find Cafe Du Monde open, so I got a sack of beignets and a barrel of coffee at 3:00 am which kept me going for a long time.
http://www.cafedumonde.com/ It is impossible to miss Cafe Du Monde. It's at the far end of the French Market and when you sit in the open air pavilion bedecked by green and white striped awnings, you have a grand view of Jackson Square and further along St. Louis Cathedral. With the music and the panhandlers, the carriages and the Lucky Dog hot dog vendors and tourists snapping pictures, it can be a nice place to alit for a bit.
Well, we decided to amble past Cafe Du Monde and the allure of one last clutch of beignets was too strong to ignore. There was a line for tables, as well as a line for take out, but that moved quickly. With another coffee and powdered sugar dusting our t-shirts we made another pass through the French Market, but none of the ticky tacky stuff held much interest. The other day when we walked through the same market there was a cooking demonstration about how to boil crawfish, which were then handed out to those willing to wait in line. Today there were nothing like this, so we headed back down Decateur and stopped to listen to musicans play in the little plaza in front of St. Louis Cathedral. It is amazing the talent of the musicans here. New Orleans is food, but it is music and we lingered a long while among the tourists and the palm readers and the artisans and the camoflaged homeless man with a broom who talked to himself as we soaked up one last time this lovely wonderful world that is New Orleans.
We then dragged our feet back to the hotel, to prepare for the trip home. But, only after one last meal! Zagat's is a wonderful guide for restaurants and when searching for a place they are a good resource. Through Zagat we found a place for breakfast. Satsuma Cafe is on Dauphine in Bywater, in the Ninth Ward. My daughter at first balked about the place, because of its location. The Ninth Ward was decimated by the flooding caused by the levee breaking after Hurricane Katrina and it can be a rough area. But Bywater is near the Mississippi, and a couple of feet (3) above sea leavel and was spared much of the damage, comparatively, and Satsuma received favorable reviews. It was far from high cuisine; it is more of a coffeehouse with art on the walls and missmatched chairs in the little courtyard; in other words a kid place. Well, my daughter and her boyfriend were pleasantly surprised and considered returning to Satsuma at another time. The place even had a Facebook page which probably swayed my daughter's acquiesence.
http://www.satsumacafe.com/
Afterwards we picked up their dog, a lovely boxer yearling, and walked through a park near their home in Meterie. It was very nice to see my daughter arm in arm, dog in tow. The tables had turned. I was like the child sneaking downstairs to spy on their parent's party. It made me happy and it made this recent trip to New Orleans the best ever.
Thanks for reading this portion of VFH's antics in New Orleans. Don't worry after this we'll get cheap again....
love,
greg
We knew we would not be satisfied with getting on the first plane outta here so, we opted for a late afternoon flight in planning this excursion. We arose early, packed our bags and left them on the bed. We then headed out into the brilliant sunshine for a few hours. The hotel is on Bourbon street. All the raunchy establishments are right there which is an odd juxtaposition of cultures, (or lack of cultures some may say). Inside the Ramada it is serene and ornate. A wall of windows shows the antics outside, at least during the night, but nothing is heard. It is strange to be so close; it's like you're in a zoo. Bourbon Street at 9:00 am is nothing like the teetering menagerie from the night. Outside the strip joint there's no one holding a sign proclaiming: "T*ts and whiskey"'; no one is on the balconies above holding out strands of beads to gawkers below, some baring body parts and shrieking "throw me some beads mistah"; no scowling horse mounted policemen or firemen sitting on the bumper of their rig posing for pictures and selling t-shirts. No, there's cars driving down Bourbon and liquor and maintenance trucks making stops. There's quite a difference between night and day and if not for the photographs of half naked women on some of the placards one may consider this French Quarter a little sleepy.
We've spent a goodly amount of time away from Bourbon this trip, save for a perfunctory stroll. The other night we wanted to have a "quiet" drink and thought to get one at the hotel bar, but that was closed. The security guard at the hotel rolled his eyes and said there's no quiet places on Bourbon, but we walked down to Royal and found a little place that served watered down martinis, which was enough to slake our thirst. The bar at this nameless place was dotted with other older folks like us, just looking for a nightcap and not a torrent of activity. We were surprised we had found a place like this and just a block away from Camp Runamuck on Bourbon.
This morning was more of the same. We headed for coffee at Royal Blend on Rue Royal. It is a favored place of your intrepid VFH travelers and we like to linger in the quiet courtyard and listen to trilling birds as we read the local papers. It is worth the visit and I recommend it highly, especially if you are not interested in the roiling commotion of Cafe Du Monde. http://www.royalblendcoffee.com/
Now, people will swear to Cafe Du Monde. It is a tourist destination that first opened in the 1800's. It only closes on Christmas and (according to their website) when a hurricane strays too close to NOLA. The coffee here is strong, infused with chicory, a root, that was originally used by the French to stretch out coffee rations. They also serve beignets which is fried dough covered with powdered sugar. It is impossible to eat them without getting covered with the sugar. But, where Royal Blend is quiet, almost pastoral, the scene at Cafe Du Monde is frenetic, crowded with tourists with white noses. Musicans entertain the folks and it too is certainly worth the visit. They are open 24 hours a day...except for Christmas of course. I once drove through New Orleans just to get coffee and beignets in the middle of the night. I was driving home from Texas where I had researched my second novel...which... is now available through Amazon.com....
THE MUSIC MADE ME CRY.... I know I know it's shameless ploy to get you readers to spend some money! (Only .99 cents.)
Well, that early morning I was pleased to find Cafe Du Monde open, so I got a sack of beignets and a barrel of coffee at 3:00 am which kept me going for a long time.
http://www.cafedumonde.com/ It is impossible to miss Cafe Du Monde. It's at the far end of the French Market and when you sit in the open air pavilion bedecked by green and white striped awnings, you have a grand view of Jackson Square and further along St. Louis Cathedral. With the music and the panhandlers, the carriages and the Lucky Dog hot dog vendors and tourists snapping pictures, it can be a nice place to alit for a bit.
Well, we decided to amble past Cafe Du Monde and the allure of one last clutch of beignets was too strong to ignore. There was a line for tables, as well as a line for take out, but that moved quickly. With another coffee and powdered sugar dusting our t-shirts we made another pass through the French Market, but none of the ticky tacky stuff held much interest. The other day when we walked through the same market there was a cooking demonstration about how to boil crawfish, which were then handed out to those willing to wait in line. Today there were nothing like this, so we headed back down Decateur and stopped to listen to musicans play in the little plaza in front of St. Louis Cathedral. It is amazing the talent of the musicans here. New Orleans is food, but it is music and we lingered a long while among the tourists and the palm readers and the artisans and the camoflaged homeless man with a broom who talked to himself as we soaked up one last time this lovely wonderful world that is New Orleans.
We then dragged our feet back to the hotel, to prepare for the trip home. But, only after one last meal! Zagat's is a wonderful guide for restaurants and when searching for a place they are a good resource. Through Zagat we found a place for breakfast. Satsuma Cafe is on Dauphine in Bywater, in the Ninth Ward. My daughter at first balked about the place, because of its location. The Ninth Ward was decimated by the flooding caused by the levee breaking after Hurricane Katrina and it can be a rough area. But Bywater is near the Mississippi, and a couple of feet (3) above sea leavel and was spared much of the damage, comparatively, and Satsuma received favorable reviews. It was far from high cuisine; it is more of a coffeehouse with art on the walls and missmatched chairs in the little courtyard; in other words a kid place. Well, my daughter and her boyfriend were pleasantly surprised and considered returning to Satsuma at another time. The place even had a Facebook page which probably swayed my daughter's acquiesence.
http://www.satsumacafe.com/
Afterwards we picked up their dog, a lovely boxer yearling, and walked through a park near their home in Meterie. It was very nice to see my daughter arm in arm, dog in tow. The tables had turned. I was like the child sneaking downstairs to spy on their parent's party. It made me happy and it made this recent trip to New Orleans the best ever.
Thanks for reading this portion of VFH's antics in New Orleans. Don't worry after this we'll get cheap again....
love,
greg
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