2012 Trip - Day 12 - October 14

I got up early this morning to call roadside assistance to change my tire since Sunday morning would be calmer in the FQ. I had to wait on the corner 1/2 an hour for him to show up while Velvet Underground's "Waiting For The Man" ran through my head. Surprising, at least to me, was "the man" turned out to be Pop A Lock. We went to La Peniche for breakfast. I had Matt's Meat Pie (sausage baked in a cornbread crust and covered with pepper gravy) with grits. It was just ok, nothing special. Peggy had her standard 2 egg breakfast with grits, bacon and toast. We can only guess they get these "two" eggs from the same chickens as The Steak House Cafeteria gets their atomic chicken. With two beverages our bill was $24.00

After a very brief rest, we did a little bit of shopping and decided to go for lunch. Our first choice was The Napoleon House, which we found was closed on Sunday, so we walked on down to Felipe's for two tacos, a mini quesadilla and a couple of drinks. Bargain price (at least for the FQ) $12.00. The heat got oppressive today, so we had an afternoon in and headed back to Lafayette Square in the evening for a little more Blues and BBQ Festival

 

After three days of trying, we finally got a pork bbq from The Joint. It was good smoked meat, but nothing we can't get back home. We caught most of Ms. Lavelle White's performance (photo below) and a good amount of Clarence Carter's performance (no photo, as it was too dark). Clarence Carter was far and away the most polished performer/entertainer that we saw over the three days at the New Orleans Blues & BBQ Festival.

We weren't real hungry after leaving the fest and thought about Mother's for a dessert, but the line was out the door, so we ducked into Popeye's and had two biscuits and a large and regular size tea - total $4.35, our cheapest meal since we've been here!

2012 Trip - Day 5 - October 7

Hint - If you're in New Orleans and it's the weekend, go where the tourists aren't. A tip of my own that I forgot, since it took us several tries to get a breakfast spot. Tried Croissant D'or - all the raspberry croissants were already gone. Tried Camellia Grill - people pressed up to the window inside waiting for a space at the counter, Tried Antoine's Annex - lots of pastries, but also lots of people waiting in line for coffee/hot chocolate. So we went back to La Peniche. I had pepper sausage gravy with two biscuits (what we call cat-head biscuits in SC) and cheese grits. Peggy had a pecan waffle, with a couple of coffees, our tab ran $20.00. As an extra added bonus just before we left the restaurant,  I was treated to an impromptu round of  "Guess My Muff" provided by a female patron seated across the room from me.

One of the main ideas of eating in New Orleans is that there are so many locally owned places, you never have to eat at a chain. After making that statement, I have to confess that we ate at Popeyes with a twofold reasoning. One, we like Popeyes and two, we don't have a Popeyes anywhere near us in upstate SC. We split the small lunch you see above for a very reasonable $8.00.

 We went for an early supper, since we wanted to be back to see the finale of Hell On Wheels. Mona Lisa is pretty much our go to place on Saturday or Sunday, since it's off most tourists' radar. We had a couple of house salads and a garlic cheese pizza. I got a photo of the salads, but forgot to take one of the pizza, although you can see a slice that comes with the salad on the plate below (tab here was 21.00). Mona Lisa is a very quiet restaurant, which some drunks in the back corner were loudly proclaiming "they really liked how quiet it was". I guess alcohol and irony don't really mix.

2012 Trip - Day 4 - October 6

We started the day at one of our favorite breakfast places, La Peniche. Peggy had eggs, grits, toast, and bacon and I had the pancake....Yes, the pancake as in one pancake (see below) and sausage. I tried my best but I just could not quite finish eating all of it. (tab at La Peniche was $29.00)

Lunch had to be pretty small since we were still somewhat stuffed from breakfast, so we went back to Felipe's Taqueria  - char-broiled chicken for Peggy, pork for me, and we split a chorizo taco (although neither one of us cared much for the chorizo). Our tab was slightly higher today ($13.00) because I had a Mexican Coke.

Supper was at Mother's. This place gets a bad rap as a tourist joint, but I've eaten all over town the past 15 years and I personally think their debris roast beef po boy is great. It gets better with each bite you take. We split a debris po boy and a piece of sweet potato pie. Unfortunately the pie was lacking in flavor. Cost of eating at Mothers - $23.00.

2009 Trip Day 23 - June 4

We started the day at Croissant D'Or, since we were having and early lunch with Bill at K-Paul's.

We met up with Bill at noon and walked down to K-Paul's. Bill had Mirliton Crawfish and Beef Casserole (Fried Mirliton Slices Covered with Beef, Crawfish, Onions, Peppers, Garlic and Seasonings, then Baked. Served with a Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Smoked Gouda Cheese Sauce). Zack had the K-Paul's In House Made Hot Sausage Po Boy (Fresh Ground Pork Mixed with Caramelized Veggies, Made Into Two (2) Patties, Fried and Served on 8" Buttered French Bread) and sweet potato fries. I had 1/2 of an Oyster Po Boy with onion rings and Peggy had the other 1/2 of the Po Boy and Onion rings. Below is a photo of my half. Everything was good and everyone seemed satisfied and best of all, it was Bill's treat!

We drove out to Magazine Street and checked out Funky Monkey and Fun Rockin' and then we drove over to Williams Plum Street Snoballs, whose actual address is on Burdette St (they are on the corner of Plum St and you actually enter on Plum). Peggy had a nectar cream and I had a strawberry shortcake cream, both were tasty. We then headed back into the FQ.

We went to DBA to see Paul Sanchez. Tonight he was accompanied by Jason Butler. Very talented and as always a great night of entertainment.

After we left DBA, we went to La Peniche. Zack had eggs, bacon, grits and toast. I had a roast beef sandwich (they have great tasting sliced roast beef) and Peggy was able to get her banana, peanut butter waffle.

2009 Trip Day 20 - June 1

We thought about going to Petunia's, but Zack finally said he really wanted the peanut butter/banana waffle from La Peniche. Since they were going to be closed for the next 2 days (they're open 24/5) and it was good as always. Peggy had the blueberry pancake and I had gravy biscuits and a fried egg.

We went out Airline Highway to Bridge House Thrift and got a few things. Then we found our way over to Vets and went to Dorignac's. Picked up some items to carry home and a few things from the bakery for later tonight.

On the way out for lunch, we saw our friend Ron at Preservation Hall and he invited us to be his guests tonight at The Hall.

We ate at Napoleon House. We split a muff between Peggy and myself and Zack had a veal parmesan poboy. We all drank Amber Bock Beers.

We went down toward Decatur and went to Urban Outfitters. Peggy got a hat that actually fit her. Then we went down a few doors to Peaches Records where everything is overpriced and the staff is rude. Avoid this place - Go to Louisiana Music Factory for a nice staff with a great selection.

After a little rest, we went to Preservation Hall. The guy at the gate called Ron to check if it was ok to let us in. It was a great show and someone requested Clint Maedgen sing "Complicated Life" and I requested " Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" since I had seen Walter Payton sing it at Louisiana Music Factory. Not only are his vocals good, but he does a great presentation of the song. We left after the first set, since we had to get dinner.





We went to Acme and Peggy and I split a dozen charbroiled oysters and Zack had a bowl of seafood gumbo(I got a taste and it was.....tasty). Plus he had an order of hush puppies.

We stopped by Cafe Du Monde and we all had a cafe au lait.

2009 Trip Day 18 - May 30

I forgot this yesterday - At DBA I got a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Beer - this was the WORST beer I have ever had. I've never drunk dirty sock water, but I imagine it would taste something like this barleywine beer.

We started the day at La Peniche. I had a pancake (10 inch plate with a 12 inch pancake). Peggy got scrambled eggs, smoked sausage, grits and toast. She gave me half the smoked sausage and I gave her a piece of pancake. With coffee, orange juice and a coke - 21.00.

Went to Louisiana Music Factory and saw Benny Maygarden - pretty standard blues band stuff, but still good. I would name the band "Old F**kers Still Getting It Done".

We then walked back to the apartment and walked Hank and after a very brief rest, we walked back to Louisiana Music Factory again and caught the last part of Preservation Hall Jazz Band. They put on a great show.

We went down to the river and saw a little bit of Rockin Dopsie, but the crowd was large and we didn't stay for very long.

After a nap.....HEY, I was tired from walking.....we sat out for dinner. We first went to El Gato Negro, but they had several large groups and we decided to try somewhere else. Since it was Saturday, I like to go to Mona Lisa and get the white pizza and a couple of salads. I didn't go there at first, since I had just been there last night and didn't want to go to the same restaurant two nights in row. But it was just what I wanted. With two sodas - 21.00.

My usual Saturday night stroll down Bourbon...which wasn't real crowded....back up Royal and back to the apartment and walked Hank. Now my feet are tired again :-)

Tomorrow, we await the arrival of The Man, The Myth, The Legend.....The Lightning Bug.

2009 Trip Day 13 - May 25

How To Have Fun in New Orleans and Be Back in Your Room by 7:30

It was steady raining this morning when I walked Hank. After getting him back and dried off, we had to determine what to have for breakfast. We decided to walk to La Peniche, each with our own giant golf umbrella. I had the pecan waffle, Peggy had the blueberry pancake, we split a side of smoked sausage and had 1 coke and 2 coffees - 27.00. Needless to say they make a good breakfast.

Then off to the laundromat for Monday wash day. We barely got through with the wash and back to the apartment in time to leave for the annual Mascara Drag Race. As usual, this was a real hoot! If you want to learn what goes on at the drag race check this link

After another very brief rest we sat out to eat....what to eat....what to eat...I finally decided to go to The Napoleon House. I had a meat ball poboy, Peggy had a 1/4 muffuletta and a small Caesar salad and we had 4 amber bocks - 27.00. And it was a good thing we went when we did, because they close at 6 on Monday.

After we ate, we went by The Green Goddess to get a photo of the sign designed by Marrus and this put us into a picture taking frenzy of different sights and restaurants with a stop by Cafe du Monde for cafe au lait and beignets.

After all of this we were back in the apartment at 7:30!

2009 Trip Day 5 - May 17

We started the day with breakfast at La Peniche. Peggy had 2 scrambled eggs (looked more like four) with bacon, toast and grits. I had the pancake. That's correct - The Pancake - it is finally back on the menu - One pancake, bigger than the plate it comes on, plus I added some smoked sausage which was very tasty. With 2 beverages - 24.00.

We stopped by Washington Square where they were having art and entertainment to go along with the tour of Marigny Homes. We stopped and watched a band for a little bit. I have no idea who they were. They started out good and even did a great Mozambique, but then did a terrible version of Angel From Montgomery. It looked like a storm was coming just as they started an original and were back on track to be pretty good.

We got caught in the rain and gradually made our way back to the apartment without getting too soaked. We got some free entertainment on the way back. A drunk who wanted a job at the coffee shop Cafe Envie was mad because they wouldn't give him one. Lots of cursing and arm waving, plus pulling his shirt up and showing his bare chest....this might be some kind of middle eastern thing, since he appeared to be Arabic looking. Anyway, they called the cops, who arrived with a paddy wagon, but alas, he was gone by then, so we didn't get to see an arrest. We did get to hang out with a guy who looked like a young Robert Blake and acted like him too.

Between the rain showers, we were able to go to Boutique du Vampyre where Andrew Fox (author of Fat White Vampire Blues and Bride of the Fat White Vampire) was signing his new book The Good Humor Man...no vampires this time around. He was a super nice guy and we got to chat a little bit with him. As soon as we left, rain was coming again and we got just slightly wet on the way back to the apartment.

It continued to rain most of the day. Around five o'clock, we set out for dinner with many choices on our minds. Acme Oyster House was our choice. We split a oyster poboy with Tabasco infused mayonnaise and an order of Boo Fries (cheese fries with roast beef gravy). The oyster poboy was great as usual and the Boo Fries were Oh My God Good!

After leaving Acme we stopped by Southern Candymakers and got a praline to eat then, one for Peggy for later and a white chocolate peanut butter Ritz for me for later. While there, we got a sample of a sweet potato praline...tasted like candied sweet potatoes or a sweet potato souffle.

As I was having a smoke outside on the porch, the black woman that visits Jamie next door offered to give me her cell number in case I got "lonely". When I told her that I had a wife inside, she said that was even better!