We joined our dear friends and former neighbours from McKinney, Texas in New Orleans for the long Martin Luther King Day weekend, staying at Hotel Mazarin on Bienville Street in the French Quarter (the former Hotel St. Louis).
It has been a long time since we were there (Steph's graduation from med school in 2011) and we hadn't realized just how much we missed the place until we arrived. The jazz playing in the airport, the crowds of party-goers in the Quarter, the great food, the buskers, the artists in front of The Cathedral, the St. Charles Avenue tram, the sunny weather...we know what it means to miss New Orleans! Here are some scenes:
The view from our hotel room overlooking (a sometimes very loud at 4 a.m.) Bienville Street and the state flag below:
Interior courtyard at Hotel Mazarin: there were two weddings held here during our visit!
St. Louis Cathedral
Sacks of oysters bound for Acme Oyster Bar on Iberville Street:
We ate across the road at Felix's Oyster Bar, just as good but less of a line-up: Pat, Joan, Kathie and Bob
Tourists on Bourbon Street:
The Canal Street streetcar:
Sign on the St. Charles Avenue streetcar:
We spent Saturday afternoon in the much-extended D-Day Museum and especially enjoyed the film, "Beyond all Boundaries". The comments below were written on a wall leading to the museum:
Skyline of New Orleans from the Museum grounds:
U.S. Freedom Pavilion: The Boeing Center
We left at 6 p.m. at closing time, what an incredible view of the building!
Sunday Brunch at Commander's Palace:
Smoked salmon appetizer:
Kathie's favourite, turtle soup with a hit of aged sherry!
My dish was a Fig and Duck Pancake: fig braised duckling on a sweet potato mascarpone pancake with poached eggs and sage hollandaise sprinkled with pumpkin seeds...fabulous! I can't believe I ate the whole thing!
Pat and Joan both had a poached egg with lamb sausage dish:
Bob ordered the Cochon de Lait Eggs Benedict, which would have been enough to feed all of us!
Ah dessert: first of the season Pontchatoula strawberries with a buttermilk biscuit...sadly I couldn't finish it all! This was the only meal we had all weekend where we left the table feeling uncomfortably full!
Bob's Praline Parfait, ice cream wrapped in a crisp cookie with candied pecans...you know you are in the South when...
Some things never change, it is still very blue!
Afterwards we wandered around the Layfayette Cemetery across the street until the taxi came to take Bob and Joan to the airport and back to Dallas.
Pat and I spent part of the afternoon walking off lunch through the Garden District and along Magazine Street, many houses were already decorated for the upcoming Mardi Gras season:
Live oak trees shelter Washngton Street:
This sign "crawfish crossing" in the window of a fish shop on Magazine Street-the smell inside of freshly-cooked spicy crawfish brought back good memories!
For sale at the hardware store: a ladder perch (complete with safety belt and wheels for easy transport) for kids to watch parades! Only in NOLA!
How many strings of beads can you spot on the fence?
A row of attractive shotgun houses:
Yes, the sky really was THAT blue".
Find the Christmas decorations hangng from the tree!
Beautiful home and grounds on St. Charles Avenue:
That's all, folks, if you've never been to New Orleans, may I suggest you treat yourself to a visit there some day, you won't regret it! We can't wait to return!
A la prochaine...
