We arrived in New Orleans and parked at the Aviation Arbor RV Park. It’s located on the Naval Air Station in Belle Chasse, Louisiana on the west bank of the Mississippi. It's a brand new military RV park that just opened in December, 2011 and it's VERY nice. We spent a week taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes of the area. It was the last week of Mardi Gras season, so a few parades were in the mix once the rain held off.
We spent Tuesday wandering around the French Quarter with me remembering old times from when I lived here. I kept seeing restaurants that I loved, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to check them all out, nor could our waistlines have survived the calorie attack! However, we did have lunch at Maspero’s. It’s located in the building that was used for slave auctions in the 1800’s. Prior to that it was the coffee exchange and was used by Jean Lafitte and his fellow pirates to plan raids. In addition, it is said that Lafitte and General Andrew Jackson met here to plan the defense of New Orleans in the War of 1812. Across the street is the building that was originally the house of Mayor Girod who plotted to free Napoleon from the island of Helena and offer him refuge in New Orleans in 1821. The Quarter is such a great mix of old and modern, very reminiscent of an old European city.
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Roast Beef Po-boy, New Orleans style - Maspero's
St. Louis Cathedral
Peaceful corner of Jackson Square
Street Musician
Cafe au Lait and Beignets - Cafe du Monde
Wednesday saw us lazing around in the morning, then finally getting out and about around 10. We headed up river to see the Destrehan Plantation. Heinz got it in his head to drive the scenic route and headed up the River Road. I’ve put in a couple of photos to show just how “scenic” the lower portion of the route was – ‘nuff said:)
Ah, the scenery...
It’s all about the green vistas… and the smell of petroleum!
We made it up to Destrehan Plantation, the oldest documented plantation along the Mississippi River, dating to 1787. It was known for sugar production, the owner, Jean Noel Destrehan having perfected the granulation of sugar from sugar cane. It remained in the Destrehan family until 1914 when the Mexican Oil Company bought the property. It was donated to the River Road Historical Society in 1972 and restored to its 1824 appearance.
Destrehan Plantation
Heinz was fascinated by the Spanish moss on the live oaks
Live oak and Spanish moss
After leaving Destrehan we headed back into New Orleans. We checked out a Hurricane Katrina exhibit, and then drove down to the lower 9th ward, infamous for being flooded after the levees broke. It’s heartbreaking to see the empty houses and empty lots with foundations still present. We took time to drive through the area of new “green” housing being built by the Make It Right Foundation supported by Brad Pitt. The housing is very modern and interesting, but nothing like traditional New Orleans housing, which has made it a rather controversial project in town.
Devastation
Devastation
Rebirth of a neighborhood
Thursday found us back in the French Quarter for breakfast at Brennan’s. Two hours, many sighs of delight, and many, MANY calories later… we waddled out. Hope you don’t mind, but this is a meal worth describing in detail! Heinz started out with turtle soup, followed up with Eggs Hussarde - poached eggs on Canadian bacon and Holland rusks topped with Marchand de Vin sauce and Hollandaise sauce. He ended with Crepes Fitzgerald (crepes filled with cream cheese and sour cream topped with strawberries soaked in champagne/lemon juice/orange juice and flamed in Maraschino liqueur). I took a different route and started with a brandy milk punch (brandy and half-and-half with sugar and nutmeg) and oyster soup. I followed up with Eggs Shannon – poached eggs on delicately fried trout, served in a bed of creamed spinach and topped with Hollandaise sauce. My dessert was a Brennan’s favorite, Bananas Foster, bananas sautéed in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and banana liqueur, then flamed in rum and served over vanilla ice cream.
Inner courtyard - Brennan's Restaurant
Oh my, decisions, decisions!
Eggs Shannon
We worked off a few of those calories by walking the 10 blocks down to the Aquarium of the Americas at the head of Canal Street. The aquarium is devoted to the sea and river life of lands that border the Gulf Coast.
On Friday we headed over to one of the “cities of the dead”, i.e., one of the local cemeteries. If you know anything about the city, you’ve probably heard about how most graves are above ground level due to the water level in the soil. We strolled around the Metairie Cemetery. The land was originally the site of a horse racetrack owned by the Metairie Jockey Club in the early 1800’s. Charles Howard, a local businessman and politician was denied membership and told the members that he would bury the club. The Jockey Club subsequently went bankrupt after the Civil War and Mr. Howard bought the land for pennies on the dollar and turned it into a cemetery where several of the Jockey Club members are buried, thus fulfilling his promise (or threat). The grounds are beautifully landscaped and the plots are laid out along streets with names just as you’d see in any residential neighborhood.
City of the Dead - Metairie Cemetery
Crypts with stained glass are everywhere
Stained glass through the wrought iron gates
Amazing and beautiful statuary abounds
Saturday we headed out to the Mardi Gras Mask Market where we got a chance to see some spectacular masks created by local artists, watch people, and snap a few photos.
We also headed over to the Civil War Museum, more commonly known in these parts as the Confederate Museum. The museum is housed in the Confederate Memorial Hall, built in 1891. The Hall is the oldest operating museum in Louisiana and houses Civil War memorabilia donated by Louisiana residents. It also has the largest collection of Jefferson Davis (President of the Confederate States of America) memorabilia in the US, donated by Varina Davis, his wife. While thousands visit the museum annually in the present day, the largest single-day attendance was on May 27, 1893 when 60,000 paid their respects to Jefferson Davis whose remains were laying in state at Memorial Hall.
Confederate Memorial Hall on Lee Circle - downtown New Orleans
Sunday was a down day for our feet and backs to recover from all that walking, so we spent the day relaxing at home listening to the rain on the roof, napping, and watching a little television.
Monday we headed back across the river yet again to take in the three evening parades. The first one started at 3:00 and the last one ended around 9:30. We staked out a spot in the residential section of St. Charles Ave. and had a blast. This section is filled with families, barbequing on the street, kicking back and enjoying themselves. We saw the parades of the Krewe of Tucks, Krewe of Proteus, and Krewe of Orpheus. For those unfamiliar with Mardi Gras Gulf Coast style, a krewe is a social organization that parties all year and sponsors parades for Mardi Gras. Many of the Krewes such as Tucks are made up of everyday working Joes who save their pennies all year to buy throws (beads, toys, etc.) and build their own floats in a local warehouse. Other Krewes, such as Proteus, are comprised of the city elite and have floats made by professional float building companies such as Blaine Kern Studios (creating Mardi Gras floats since 1947).
Staking out a space along the parade route
Killing time until the parade reaches our part of St. Charles Ave.
The trees along St. Charles Ave. catch as many beads as the people!
Krewe of Tucks float
Float rider - Krewe of Tucks
Post-Tucks bling
Killing time between parades – the plastic bags held beads and were thrown overboard (or blown by the breeze) by float riders. They will ALL be picked up by morning by clean-up crews.
Krewe of Proteus float
Krewe of Proteus float
Throw me something Mister
Flambeau carriers
Until the invention of streetlights, this was the source of light for night parades. Now New Orleans is one of the few places in the world that still uses flambeau carriers. Please check out a wonderful description of these carriers at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/03/us/carrying-a-torch-and-dancing-for-dimes-at-carnival.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
Cindy Lauper rode in Orpheus as a guest of Harry Connick, Jr., the Krewe founder.
Krewe of Orpheus float
Tuesday was of course Mardi Gras Day. We were out bright and early and off to Canal Street and the French Quarter for the day. The first of four parades of the day was due to roll at 8:00 am in uptown New Orleans – we showed up in time. Almost three hours later it finally made it to Canal Street – where we were standing. The first parade of the day was the Krewe of Zulu, the first all black krewe, founded in 1912 and famous for dressing in minstrel blackface and throwing painted or carved coconuts, a prize above all if you manage to snag one. Alas, we didn’t manage to do so.
Queen of Zulu
Zulu float riders
Throw me something Mister!!
It's MY coconut - at least until I see a pretty girl to give it to!
We watched the parade, grabbed a few throws and then headed into the French Quarter for the rest of the day. The Quarter was crazy as always, with Bourbon Street being a shoulder-to-shoulder madhouse. There were lots of costumes, lots of beer, and lots of laughing and camaraderie.
Imagination is essential.
Now that's an ambitious costume!
One small section of Bourbon Street
Oh well, it'll be midnight soon, Mardi Gras will be over,
Lent will start and all these fools will go home.
There are just so many wonderful things to see and do in New Orleans. We got to just a few of them and took SO many great photographs that it was really, really hard to choose just a “few” for the blog. If you want to stroll through one of our favorite places in the country, there are lots more shots of the city and Mardi Gras posted at this link to Photobucket. (I will admit that there are quite a few of the cemetery, we weren’t trying to be ghoulish, we were just fascinated by the architecture and artwork.) In addition there is a second album you might want to check out that I call Faces of Mardi Gras with some really fun shots of the people we saw.
Brandy Milk Punch – Brennan’s
This is a wonderful, surprisingly light tasting drink for breakfast or brunch.
2 oz. brandy
3 oz. half and half
1 tsp superfine sugar
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Garnish: ¼ tsp nutmeg
Shake brandy, half and half, and sugar with ice. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass filled with ice. Sprinkle nutmeg on top and serve immediately.
Great photos. Be sure to turn around when you two get far enough south to run out of land. Was really nice seeing you when you were in TX.
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