Sackcloth and Ashes

We took a nap before the festivities and slept surprisingly well to the Bourbon Street lullaby outside our window. The first stop on the tour was Finnegan’s. When we walked into the courtyard, we were greeted with “Ohhh…klahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains!” sung spontaneously be some of our friends. Hugs and kisses all around. Gosh, I love these folks.

Here’s Jade, the birthday girl and her boyfriend, Parker:

Here’s a group shot taken in the courtyard of Finnegan’s. I’m in the very back, middle, with a lavender scarf. I’m balanced precariously on a rather rickety bench. You can just see the top of David’s head to my right (left, in the picture). Obviously he was *not* standing on a bench. 

It was such a perfect day that we chose to eat out on the patio at Cooter Brown’s. We hadn’t eaten there before but the food was good and of course, the company was exceptional.

After a leisurely lunch, we all took the streetcar back to the Quarter. David and I got settled in our condo and rested a bit before meeting Ken and Cubby again. This time at Lafayette Square where they were holding the Seafood Festival. We watched Chef John Besh do a demonstration, enjoyed the music of Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and sampled some food. David was pretty taken with this:

Yes, that’s a fire truck with television screens mounted for football game viewing. Pretty cool, huh?

While hanging out at Lafayette Square we ran into our friend, Claudia who introduced us to her friend, Liz. We had a nice visit with them. One of the things I love about New Orleans is that we almost always run into someone we know. In many ways, it feels like a small town. A very cool, small town, though. 😉 

Before heading into the Quarter for the evening, we all stopped by our condo so I could grab a sweater. It gets COLD in some of the bars and I had nearly frozen the night before. The guys all seemed happy to sit and rest a bit before continuing the fun. 

We walked to the Tropical Isle where our friends, Bryan and Debi, have been performing for 19 years. 

After awhile, Jade and her family showed up and joined us for what I started to say was a memorable night. But in all honesty, there are some blank spots. When we went back the following night, Bryan called out from the stage, “Returning to the scene of the crime?” and then said they would talk to us during their next break and find out “what happened after midnight”. Um, I think we were all a little fuzzy on that. However, it was one heck of a fun night. 

We spent much of Saturday sleeping it off, er, *resting* then ventured out around 8 for dinner and back to “the scene of the crime” where we enjoyed a much quieter night of music and iced water. I think that’s the night we got beignets and café au lait at Café Du Monde after the band finished playing. 

We spent Sunday in a leisurely fashion starting with lunch at The Ruby Slipper which is just across the street from our condo. We then strolled the French Quarter for awhile. I left David to watch a street performer while I did a bit of shopping. Just outside the shop next door to my destination I met up with Liz, the woman we had met at the Seafood Festival. See what I mean about always seeing someone you know? We had a nice little visit and we are now Facebook friends.

One of my favorite shops in the Quarter is The Kitchen Witch. It’s a quirky little place crammed full of cookbooks, both new and used. In the back they also sell some vinyl albums. Jazz music fills the air and a couple of sweet dogs snooze on the floor. It’s the sort of place that makes you want to stay awhile. I bought a book and noticed that the man who waited on me looked familiar. I asked if he might be the one who told me about a legend several years ago. He was. Shortly after Katrina I was in The Kitchen Witch and got to chatting with this man (turns out he’s the owner). I told him how much we loved New Orleans and he told me about an old legend which says that if you walk barefoot in the city, you will one day return to live there. Ever since, I make a point of removing my shoes for a short walk each time we visit. He and I had a very nice conversation about New Orleans. Turns out that he’s lived all over the country but like me believes that nowhere else compares. 

I’m trying to remember what we did next. See? That’s why one shouldn’t wait so long to write about one’s trip. I *think* we took a little nap. And then we went to the Hi Ho Lounge to see the Mardi Gras Indians practice. Claudia had invited us and Liz was there, too. Wow. That was one of the coolest things we did on this trip. I cannot begin to explain it all but you can (and should) read about the Indians here and here.  I took several photos and a short video but it was so dark that they really didn’t turn out well enough to be worth sharing. The photo below was sort of funny. I was just taking a random shot of the bar but these guys asked me to take their picture again. They didn’t think the first one would have shown them to advantage since they weren’t posing. 

After the Indian’s left, we took a cab back to the Quarter and ate dinner at Pere Antoine’s. David had the red beans and rice which we had been told were “the best in the Quarter”. He said they were good enough but not the best he’d had. I had blackened chicken served with Creole rice and some lightly cooked fresh vegetables, something a little hard to come by in the typical New Orleans restaurant. At home we eat mostly vegetarian but don’t try to do that on vacation. However, after a couple of days, we usually start missing salads and fresh vegetables. 

After dinner we walked to the Tropical Isle and enjoyed the music of Debi and the Deacons one more time. It’s always hard to tell our friends goodbye but at least this time we know it won’t be long until we return. David and I have scheduled a trip the first week of December and I get to go with a friend NEXT WEEK! Yeah, I’m just a little bit excited. 

We had to check out of the condo at 10 a.m. Monday morning but since our cab wasn’t scheduled to take us to the airport until 12:30 we had a nice brunch at The Ruby Slipper and some time by the river. There was very little traffic on the river for some reason but I did get some shots of the Algiers ferry:

This bird sat up there the whole time we were there, just looking around and apparently enjoying the pretty day just like we were:

As always, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Big Easy and our time with friends. See y’all soon!