The Big [sl]Eazy: Part Deux
So you've read about our hotel and the nightlife, now it's time to talk about our crazy, one day only, touristy adventure through the city.
THE FRENCH MARKET
So after another late night, we managed to peel ourselves out of bed for some beignets at the world famous Cafe Du Monde. When we arrived there was a line wrapped around the entire place with people waiting to get in. I happened to notice a few empty tables on the inside, so I took the liberty to waltz right in and sit down. Idiots.
I was a little disappointed at the selection. Beignets (really just glorified funnel cakes), coffee, and juice. I was so ready to chow down on an omelette to nurse the dehydration from the night before. Although once the beignets were in front of us they didn't last long. Yeah...they were really good.
The rest of the morning was spent strolling through the French Market going to overpriced boutiques. Oh my, there was some hot stuff! We behaved, though, for the most part. I was dying to get a fedora from Meyer the Hatter (thanks to CC for giving me such a good preview of your collection), so we hiked all the way up to Canal Street and then on to the old man's hat store. I didn't find anything as cool as I'd seen in the past, so it was a no go. Bummer.
THE DRAMA
We ended up having to book it back to our hotel (with a quick detour through the Hustler Hollywood store and a 5-minute lunch at a hot dog stand) to make it for our two o'clock City & Cemetary tour. We arrived in the nick of time only to find out that they had us scheduled for Sunday, not Saturday, and that we were out of luck. I sucked down a clove as I paced back and forth down the street while Julie said a few unkind words to the tour lady on the phone. Since we were already being slackers and scheduled a late tour, all the other tours were already onway. Time to take matters into our own hands.
THE STREETCAR MASSACRE
All I really cared about was seeing the cemetaries and some of the antebellum homes in the garden district, so we headed to the St. Charles streetcar off of Canal. The first things I noticed once we hopped on the streetcar was A) that the driver was a complete ass and B) he was a very bad driver. How can you be a bad driver when you're on tracks?! There were so many people packed into the car that each stop and go sent people flying with nothing to grab a hold of. Speaking of, at one stop the driver took off before everyone was out and sent this poor old lady flying about ten feet through the air landing on her back. He then proceeded to drive on only breaking to people's screams. I thought, why not add witnessing a death to our itinerary? As the crowds started swarming, she sat up, though there was blood seeping through her clothes. After about an hour the paramedics finally came. Yes, an hour. The entire streetcar line was backed up, our driver got fired on the spot, and we had to hop a different car to continue our journey to nowhere.
THE GARDEN DISTRICT
It must've been quite the site once we were safely off the streetcar. Not a soul around, no cars, no streetcars, night was going to fall soon and there we were, standing there looking around with that "what the hell are we supposed to do now?" look on our faces, on one of the most dangerous streets in town. We ended up finding a local and got some scoop on the area. I think we made it through about ten or twelve blocks of homes, the Lawrence Cemetary, a quick stop at the loo, and back to the streetcar in about an hour. Saw one of Ann Rice's homes, The Real World: New Orleans house, and did a psuedo cemetary photo shoot since the damn thing closed at 3p due to crime. Short and sweet but enough to get the gist. Made it back safely, finally.
THE FOOD
One thing I would like to experience more of is the food there. Kinda got ripped off this time around. The first night we ate at a crappy steak house, Embers, who claimed to be "out of" salad ingredients or any green veggie sides. I was just trying to be healthy. Julie's steak tasted like shoe leather and my french onion soup couldn't have been saltier. Delightful. I mentioned the hot dog stand earlier...such a shame but we were in a crunch. At least it was a good hot dog. The second night we ate at River's Edge, New Orleans style cuisine in The French Market. A bit touristy, but quite yummy I will say. I had to navigate around the seafood part and did just fine. Looooove that creole stuff. And the bread was to die for. I think we downed about three loaves. And that was after our spinach and artichoke dip appetizer. Had Cafe Beignet for breakfast on our last morning there...blew Cafe Du Monde out of the water.
So there you have it...the short story version of our trip. Be glad it wasn't a novel. Good times were had by all and after another detour through Memphis (are you sensing a trend here?) we skidded back in to Nashville Monday night ready to take on yet another work week.
Work hard, play hard. It's the only way.
THE FRENCH MARKET
So after another late night, we managed to peel ourselves out of bed for some beignets at the world famous Cafe Du Monde. When we arrived there was a line wrapped around the entire place with people waiting to get in. I happened to notice a few empty tables on the inside, so I took the liberty to waltz right in and sit down. Idiots.
I was a little disappointed at the selection. Beignets (really just glorified funnel cakes), coffee, and juice. I was so ready to chow down on an omelette to nurse the dehydration from the night before. Although once the beignets were in front of us they didn't last long. Yeah...they were really good.
The rest of the morning was spent strolling through the French Market going to overpriced boutiques. Oh my, there was some hot stuff! We behaved, though, for the most part. I was dying to get a fedora from Meyer the Hatter (thanks to CC for giving me such a good preview of your collection), so we hiked all the way up to Canal Street and then on to the old man's hat store. I didn't find anything as cool as I'd seen in the past, so it was a no go. Bummer.
THE DRAMA
We ended up having to book it back to our hotel (with a quick detour through the Hustler Hollywood store and a 5-minute lunch at a hot dog stand) to make it for our two o'clock City & Cemetary tour. We arrived in the nick of time only to find out that they had us scheduled for Sunday, not Saturday, and that we were out of luck. I sucked down a clove as I paced back and forth down the street while Julie said a few unkind words to the tour lady on the phone. Since we were already being slackers and scheduled a late tour, all the other tours were already onway. Time to take matters into our own hands.
THE STREETCAR MASSACRE
All I really cared about was seeing the cemetaries and some of the antebellum homes in the garden district, so we headed to the St. Charles streetcar off of Canal. The first things I noticed once we hopped on the streetcar was A) that the driver was a complete ass and B) he was a very bad driver. How can you be a bad driver when you're on tracks?! There were so many people packed into the car that each stop and go sent people flying with nothing to grab a hold of. Speaking of, at one stop the driver took off before everyone was out and sent this poor old lady flying about ten feet through the air landing on her back. He then proceeded to drive on only breaking to people's screams. I thought, why not add witnessing a death to our itinerary? As the crowds started swarming, she sat up, though there was blood seeping through her clothes. After about an hour the paramedics finally came. Yes, an hour. The entire streetcar line was backed up, our driver got fired on the spot, and we had to hop a different car to continue our journey to nowhere.
THE GARDEN DISTRICT
It must've been quite the site once we were safely off the streetcar. Not a soul around, no cars, no streetcars, night was going to fall soon and there we were, standing there looking around with that "what the hell are we supposed to do now?" look on our faces, on one of the most dangerous streets in town. We ended up finding a local and got some scoop on the area. I think we made it through about ten or twelve blocks of homes, the Lawrence Cemetary, a quick stop at the loo, and back to the streetcar in about an hour. Saw one of Ann Rice's homes, The Real World: New Orleans house, and did a psuedo cemetary photo shoot since the damn thing closed at 3p due to crime. Short and sweet but enough to get the gist. Made it back safely, finally.
THE FOOD
One thing I would like to experience more of is the food there. Kinda got ripped off this time around. The first night we ate at a crappy steak house, Embers, who claimed to be "out of" salad ingredients or any green veggie sides. I was just trying to be healthy. Julie's steak tasted like shoe leather and my french onion soup couldn't have been saltier. Delightful. I mentioned the hot dog stand earlier...such a shame but we were in a crunch. At least it was a good hot dog. The second night we ate at River's Edge, New Orleans style cuisine in The French Market. A bit touristy, but quite yummy I will say. I had to navigate around the seafood part and did just fine. Looooove that creole stuff. And the bread was to die for. I think we downed about three loaves. And that was after our spinach and artichoke dip appetizer. Had Cafe Beignet for breakfast on our last morning there...blew Cafe Du Monde out of the water.
*****
So there you have it...the short story version of our trip. Be glad it wasn't a novel. Good times were had by all and after another detour through Memphis (are you sensing a trend here?) we skidded back in to Nashville Monday night ready to take on yet another work week.
Work hard, play hard. It's the only way.
Posted by Stella @ 3:14 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home