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IMG_2738IMG_2743IMG_2745IMG_2747IMG_2760I just got back from another trip to my favorite city in the U.S. – New Orleans.  I decided to stay for 5 nights this time rather than 3, as I wanted to get lots of things done & also because I don’t intend to go next year.  Wouldn’t you know it?  There was a tropical storm/Hurricane Barry watch going on, which kind of killed 2 of my days.  That made me have to squish all of my plans into a shorter time period; most of them got changed around, anyway.

Trying new restaurants and bars in New Orleans always excites me.  Although I managed to try 10 new (to me) places, my appetite was on the smaller side (i.e. I didn’t usually finish any of my meals).

My arrival on Thursday took me to a lovely shotgun house in the Bywater, just oozing with NoLa charm.  The owner was there to greet me.  He was a very nice man with fascinating history of the house, which belonged to his family, as well as New Orleans in general.  My original plans were to drop my luggage off, freshen up a bit, then take off to find something to eat and explore the neighborhood.  That didn’t happen for at least an hour!

The neighborhood was Adorable with a capital A.  Many of the homes had yards, lush vegetation, porches with swinging chairs, wrought iron fences, window shutters and Haint blue porch ceilings.  Apparently, the Gullah people believe that Haint blue wards off evil spirits, which they call “haints.”

A mere 3 blocks from my shotgun house was The Country Club.  They’re famous for their Drag Brunch.  I’d called in March to attempt to make a July reservation; they regretted to inform me that they were booked through October!  I walked into the beautifully appointed mansion and sat at the bar.  Luckily for me, Happy Hour was still going on.  I had a few Cuba Libres and chowed down on arancini and burrata tartines.  The food was good, the drink was fine and the bartender was exceptionally kind and friendly.  I was mostly impressed with the décor, though, and ran around taking pictures before heading back to the Airbnb for a long nap.  Due to working out the night before my flight, as well as having a 5:40 a.m. flight, I desperately needed some rest.

When I woke up, I took an Uber over to Vaughan’s Lounge around 11:30 p.m.  Kermit Ruffins used to play there on Thursday nights, but now plays at the Mother-In-Law Lounge, which used to be Ernie K. Doe’s Mother-In-Law Lounge until Ernie K. Doe passed away (at least, that’s the way I heard it).  Vaughan’s had a $10 cover, live music AND a DJ, $4 beers, $7 cocktails and was cash only.  Not a bad deal.  The crowd appeared to be all locals and the bartenders were friendly.  About an hour and a half to two hours into it, sleep mode began kicking in for me, so I took an Uber back to the AirBnB.

Friday morning breakfast was at Bywater Bakery.  I’d been very excited to go there, but they didn’t seem to have as many pastries available that morning as I’d hoped.  I decided on a boudin pistolette, a Chantilly cupcake and OJ.  The boudin pistolette was good, but I probably only ate 1/3 of it; maybe it was too heavy for that time of the morning.  The Chantilly cupcake was ok; not that special.  The OJ was simply OJ.  I’d go back to try one of their breakfasts in a go cup.  Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to in the future.

While walking back to the AirBnB, I passed Frady’s One Stop Shop and decided to go in and have a look around.  It’s a fairly small space with prepared foods, freshly prepared foods and a few groceries.  In case I wouldn’t be able to go out later due to the hurricane watch, I thought it best to get a small container of jambalaya, a catfish fillet and a slice of watermelon, all for the bargain price of $7.  They even fried the catfish fresh for me!  Everyone in there was chatty and smiley.  Loved it.  When I got around to trying it later, the jambalaya was fine; could have used more salt and heat for me.  Never ended up finishing it.  The catfish was great, though.

After another afternoon nap, I went to Pizza Delicious for a “snack.”  I merely ordered a slice of pepperoni pizza, a cauliflower roll and water.  The pepperoni pizza was better than average; I liked the sauce.  I love cauliflower, but the cauliflower roll wasn’t really my thing; only ate half of it.

Beings many places closed early on Friday night and there was an 8:00 p.m. curfew due to the hurricane watch, I didn’t venture out again.

Saturday morning arrived, but I slept really late since they kept saying the possible hurricane should land around 2:00 a.m., then it was 8:00 a.m. and finally around 12:45 p.m.  Basically, nothing really happened other than rain off and on, along with slight wind – nothing to be concerned about.  Even so, Frady’s seemed to be the only place open in the neighborhood.  I stopped in again and the friendly owner remembered me from the previous day.  This time I got a roast been sandwich on sliced bread, potato salad and a strawberry sundae ice cream bar (which I haven’t seen since childhood).  I returned to the AirBnB to find the owner cleaning up a bit.  My plans to eat quickly were foiled again, as he launched into an even longer convo than the previous day.  He had some truly amazing stories to tell, though.  When I finally was able to eat, the roast beef sandwich was barely warm, but oh so good!  Actually, it was more than good; it was amazing.  The potato salad was very good, too.  I never got a chance to eat the ice cream, as it had already melted by the time the owner quit talking.

My dinner plans came to naught on Saturday night as the restaurant decided to remain closed.  Neither Uber or Lyft were running, so I couldn’t escape to the Quarter, where more things would have been open.  I had pretty much resigned myself to another evening sleeping early in the AirBnB.  Luckily, a friend ended up coming over with some rum, as I’d already drank the bottle of wine that had been in the house.  We drank a few rum and Cokes, then decided to walk down a few blocks to see if Markey’s Bar was open, just in case.  I figured that if anything were to be open, a dive bar would be our best chance.  Sadly, they were closed.  As we were walking back to the AirBnB, we noticed another place that seemed to be open, Suis Generis.  We happily walked in and planted ourselves at the bar.  They had an eclectic menu, which they told us changed every week.  We were only having drinks, though.  One of the bartenders concocted something special for us – something with chili and peach.  We loved it, though!

I transferred over to a hotel in the French Quarter on Sunday morning.  My lunch reservation was at Justine, a somewhat new French restaurant.  I chose it for my Bastille Day lunch, as well as for their pretty décor.  I had the Sunday special, the French dip.  It just happened to be prime rib and came with fries.  Halfway in, I gave up!  The rest went back to the hotel with me.

I had a few drinks that afternoon, went back to the hotel and fell asleep again.  I woke up at 10:50 p.m. craving gumbo like crazy.  My first thought was Remoulade, but they closed at 11:00 p.m.  My second thought was a restaurant on Royal Street.  I ran down there, but they didn’t appear to have been open at all that day.  I ended up at Oceana Grill for a bowl of chicken and andouille gumbo, plus a Caesar salad.  Neither blew me away, but satisfied my hunger.  The service was very good.

On Monday I had a lunch reservation at The Grill Room at Windsor Court.  They have a special lunch deal which includes a main plus 3 sides for just under $20.  As to be expected, the restaurant is lovely with very attentive, yet understated service.  An amuse bouche of crab salad started me off.  It was so fresh and delicious; too bad there was only a mouthful.  My lunch choices were the crab cake with Caprese salad, macaroni and cheese, and gumbo.  Though all were good, I was expecting a little more flavor-wise.  Dessert was three scoops of sorbet – coconut, mixed berry and lemon.  I then stopped in the Polo Lounge for a rather expensive cocktail.

My plans were to have the 3-course prix fixe menu at Broussard’s that night for $19.20.  Broussard’s was the restaurant that had remained closed on Saturday, causing me to not have dinner that night.  As it was, I’d been persuaded to indulge in a cheese plate at Brennan’s a few hours earlier.  I showed up at Broussard’s with little to no appetite, merely having a mini shrimp remoulade.

My flight out was on Tuesday evening.  I was determined to hit up several spots in and around the Quarter and the Bywater first.  I had a couple of drinks at the Carousel Bar, a muffuletta salad and a Pimm’s Cup at Napoleon House, bought a muffuletta at Central Grocery, had a cocktail at The Country Club, ate a slice of cheese pizza and a pepperoni roll at Pizza Delicious and ended with another cocktail at Brennan’s.

While I managed to make it to several places, I didn’t eat enough Creole or Cajun food, besides not finishing nearly any of the food that I did order!  Of all the places during this trip, that roast beef sandwich from Frady’s One Stop Shop is still on my mind!