Cross-country to Key West: New Orleans, again
We drove along the Gulf from Pensacola to New Orleans. There’s still much evidence of the last year’s, and more, hurricanes along the way. Many commercial areas along the coastal beaches are still not completely repaired and open businesses are among many closed ones. At least 25 -33% of the small shops and restaurants are still not reopened. In places like Pass Christian, MS and Biloxi, which a big casino town, grand houses along the Gulf highway are for sale. They’ve obviously been repaired because the vegetation is still badly beaten and not replaced. Kind of like the palm trees in Sicily which are being ravaged by imported pests from African palms. The home owners apparently are not questioning climate change and are getting out before it’s officially recognized by our “governmental agencies” and politicians. They’re voting with their feet.
Well, we checked into the Prytania Inn and unloaded the Rav. We looked forward to some good eating for the next couple days, despite the heat and humidity. The Prytania is a great place to stay but you’ve got to get up earlier for the breakfast than you may want to in order to get a shot at a fully stocked buffet. It’s only a couple blocks walk to catch the St. Charles streetcar and a ten minute trip to Canal Street and the west end of the French Quarter.
There are some good little, relatively inexpensive places to eat near the Prytania. Sam’s Blind Pelican has a happy hour special that’s hard to beat. From 4-8 PM, with every “adult” beverage you purchase you can get a dozen oysters on the half-shell for $3.00, and $10 if you want them grilled. A salad and a couple drinks, with the oysters, is a great meal. The St. Charles Tavern, on MLK Jr Blvd and St. Charles, is a good local place for breakfast if you get up late. If you’re into expensive and great food, Emeril’s Delmonico is only a block away. For our buck, we look for, maybe, less touristy places. We did hit Cafe Du Monde for the obligatory beignets and chicory coffee. To our surprise, though not comfort, NOLA is really not busy in August, too F’ing hot for comfort. This gives you a chance to meet locals in the Quarter that you might not during cooler weather.
We hit the Pirate Alley bar, next to the Faulkner House Books, for a cooler and met a wonderful woman who hailed from Seattle originally and now lives in NOLA. We spent almost an hour, enjoying the cool and company. We had lunch at the Gumbo House on my brother’s suggestion and I passed on crawfish etouffee, which is one of my favorites in NOLA. The change was definitely worthwhile. We had thought of going to the Old Coffee Pot, next door to Preservation Hall, which is really old school and has a great etouffee, but passed this time.
There were two places we wanted to have dinner at, Marcello’s and Toups South. Issac Toups won the Top Chef a few years ago and we ate lunch at Toups Meatery on our last trip. We found out that he opened a new restaurant in the Southern Cooking Museum and Museum of the American Cocktail only a few blocks from the Prytania. An easy walk, even with the heat, and well worth it.
Marcello’s is a fine dining Italian/Sicilian place at St. Charles and Girod St, two blocks off Canal St. We were put on to this place by the owner’s cousin who owns the Vieux Carre wine store in the Quarter. He’s from Licara Fredi in Sicily and we stop by and speak with him when we’re in town. Get reservations so you can sit in the back. The front of the restaurant is in the lounge area, but the back is the place to eat. The tables are set between the wine racks, which serve as dividers for the space, as well as storage. You get to peruse the racks for what you want to drink. The staff will direct you to the areas with the general type of varietals you desire and, if they can’t find what you want, you get to pick. Great food and service. Being there in August meant we were one of maybe 6 tables that were occupied that night. Our server, Jennifer was great. She and the bartender both had to look for our wine preferences and ended up taking me back to the corner of the big Sicilian reds to choose a bottle. It’s not cheap, but it’s worth the price, not much more than Seattle.
We didn’t just eat and drink our way through NOLA. We did do some touring. For the first time the St. Louis Cathedral was open when we were there so, naturally, we had to go in. It’s ornate, but not as much as we’ve seen in Italy and Sicily. We also did a bit of driving around. We went to Audubon Park, where the zoo is located. The park is large and runs along the riverside. In it is the “Fly”, actually the Butterfly Riverview Park. It has a small covered space where butterflies are supposed to be plentiful. Well, we didn’t see many, but that may simply have been the wrong season for them. You do get some neat views of the working river. It’s strange to see ocean vessels on a river, but this is the place for it. On the East side of the park is the Tree of Life, an oak planted about 1740, and now covered with the local Spanish moss.
Before heading out towards our next destination, Taos, NM, we decided to take a drive south, as far as we could go. We had stopped for a night in St. Cloud, MN, which is about 150 miles by road from the origin of the Mississippi. We headed south on LA23 to Venice, LA and the end of the road along the Mississippi. We had eventually gone from the “start” to the end of the river. Driving down we passed through the true delta, flat and more wet than dry. On the way we hit a strong rain storm off the gulf. It rained so hard we had to pull off the road when we had a chance, and wait for it to pass. It was interesting to see how the local area has had to adapt to the problem of high water. Mississippi floods and hurricane floods. It reminded us of the construction that’s being done along the Washington coast to protect folks from tsunamis. We stopped and caught a picture of the Plaquemines Parish High School, built on “stilts”, like many of the houses down there. Lots of shrimp boats, barges and oil terminals along the river’s side. Eventually we made it as far as you can go, without getting wet or going onto a terminal’s private property. On the way back we stopped at a little roadside local cafe, Dad’s Bar and Grill in Empire, LA, and split the lunch special, chicken, mashed potatoes and green peas (right out of the #10 can). Cheap and, believe it or not, tasty.
Well, that’s a lot to cover for today. We’ve got an event tomorrow so it’ll be a couple days till I get back to the blog. Then, our trip continues to Taos through Shreveport, LA, the heart of Cajun country, Denton, TX, and Amarillo.
Ciao for now