2014 Trip - Day 1 - October 3

I thought I had died and gone to Hell this morning, but realized I was just driving (well sitting still and occasionally creeping along) through Atlanta on I-85 in a rain storm. Surely, Hell would be more pleasant than this! This threw us somewhere between and hour and an hour and a half behind schedule.....well, the schedule I had set for myself. We finally arrived in New Orleans shortly before six pm CST and really lucked out when someone left a parking spot directly across from the apartment.

 

After we did some unpacking, we made our way to Mona Lisa on Royal Street for a couple of salads and a garlic pizza with fresh basil and tomatoes...I know this isn't a typical New Orleans meal, but it's one of our favorites and since it's a just a tad off the beaten path, it's usually not too busy on a Friday  night. With a couple of sodas, our bill was 25.00 pre tip. After eating we walked down Royal for several blocks and turned back up walked back up Bourbon and back to the apartment to rest up for tomorrow.

2012n Trip - Day 13 - October 15

We left as early as we could to go to Sam's in Metarie to get my flat fixed. After that we hit a few thrift stores and when lunch time came we went back to Crabby Jack's for another fried green tomato/shrimp remoulade po boy. There was a mix up with my order and they thought I only wanted fried green tomatos & shrimp as a side, so they remade it as a po boy and only charged us the side price, so with two drinks our bill was only $11.00.

Speaking of thrift stores, only in New Orleans will you see a member of the world famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band walking around in one carrying a child's rocking horse.

We at supper at Mona Lisa - as usual, two side salads and a garlic bread pizza - our tab was $21.00. We picked up a couple of pieces of cake for a late snack at The Quartermaster, which sort of made the day come to a circle, since we started the day at Sam's and The Quartermaster buys their cakes from Sam's.

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.

2009 Trip Day 22 - June 3

We started the day at Croissant D'Or. Peggy and I had our usual raspberry croissants and split a coke. Zack had a cheese danish and a coffee. This is a great cheap breakfast, just barely over 8.00 for the 3 of us.

We got to go to lunch at The Green Goddess with John and Karl, our favorite New Orleans dining companions. I had the New Orleans Bangers and Mash. Peggy had the Louisiana Blue Crab Melt. These two dishes are described in another post from a previous Green Goddess visit. Karl had the Cuban Luau Sandwich (Artisanal salame, pulled pork, manchego, pickled banana peppers & roasted pineapple on pressed ciabatta). John had The Crawfish Boil Salad (Warm crawfish, corn & artichokes, with spicy crab-boiled potatoes and roasted garlic aioli over arugula.). Zack had a special of the day Boudin patties topped with crawfish etoufee). The we all split a strawberry creme brulee (which the waitress was nice enough to comp us). What a great meal.

I think the places I will miss the most are Croissant D'or, The Green Goddess, Yo Mama's, Acme, Joey K's, Napoleon House, Mona Lisa......OH HELL....about everywhere we have eaten.

We went to Lafayette Square for the Wednesday music, but no Paul Sanchez and NO snoball....they ran out of ice....and we went early. Zack had a piece of pizza and a couple of beers and I had a cochon du lait poboy and Peggy took a few bites of it.

So after the long walk down and the long walk back, we then walked to DBA to see the Tin Men, but tonight they called themselves the Slim Men....Alex McMurray was missing tonight and they had St. Louis Slim....he was ok....but no Alex McMurray.

After leaving there, we went by El Gato Negro, but they were closed for repairs, so we swung around a couple of blocks and ate at Mona Lisa. We had our regular 2 salads and a white pizza. Zack had spinach artichoke dip with bruschetta....it was on the menu as a special appetizer and it was huge.

2009 Trip Day 19 - May 31

Zack arrived around noon and after he got settled in, we went to The Green Goddess for lunch. I had the Seafood Frittata (Fresh lump crabmeat, Louisiana crawfish, green onions in 3 egg frittata with romesco croutons). It was just ok and I think it could have used a little salt. But since everything else here has been excellent, I'm going to chalk this one up to just not to my taste.

Peggy got the Louisiana Blue Crab Melt (Lump crabmeat, “due latte” robiola bosina cheese, ciabatta) and it was super good.

Zack had the Louisiana Bangers and Mash (Marciante’s duck sausage over mashed Louisiana sweet potatoes, finished with Steen’s cane syrup) which was also super good.

We walked around some and got a couple of strawberry lemonades at the French Market.

We tried to go to El Gato Negro, but they were still busy, so we went back to Mona Lisa, since it is close and we had to leave for The Bingo Show shortly. Zack and Peggy split a Spinach Pizza (spinach, tomato, mozzarella, onion, mushroom, feta cheese) and I had a meatball sub, which was huge.

The doors for the Bingo Show opened at 9, show was supposed to start at 10. We got there a little after 9 and found that seating was limited. The show finally got started around 10:45 and of course it was worth the wait. You know if you can keep an old guy on his feet for almost 2 hours, it's has to be good. We got to stand pretty close to the stage and Peggy and I got to dance a little with Ron. The show lasted until about 12:30 am. The Bingo Show cannot really be described, it has to be experienced. Our friend Ron is in the photo below.

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 17 - May 29

We ate a couple of pieces of the Cajun Kringle (which didn't seem to have as much filling as last year) for breakfast and then washed a few clothes at the corner washerette.

I got hungry around 1pm and we wanted to eat a little something light. We decided on either K-Pauls and split a dish or The Green Goddess since they would be "small plates". We decided to go by The Green Goddess first and see if we could get a seat inside, since we're not much for eating at outside tables. They had some tables inside and as we went in, someone was saying "Peggy, Peggy". Since most of the people we knew have moved away, it was a complete and nice surprise to see Marrus. She and Peggy have been emailing back and forth to see if Marrus was going to set up anywhere while we were here and we could get another print (unfortunately, we can't afford the real thing).

Peggy had the Acadian Country Breakfast (2 boudin patties inside sweet potato biscuits with pepper jelly and Steens Cane Syrup and Grits on the side).

I had the Da Meatloaf Sandwich (bison and bacon meatloaf dressed with Creole mustard, arugula, tomatoes, and roasted garlic aioli, and Nueske’s bacon).

To drink we had 1 Abita Root Beer and 1 Lychee Ginger Mint “Julep” made with Lychee puree, ginger syrup, ginger beer & muddled mint. Non-alcoholic since Chris has not received his liquor license yet. However, I had a hard time convincing myself that it wasn't alcoholic, since it left a slight burn in your throat.

So the "small plates" were not so small and we were stuffed when we finished. Chef Paul, who works the lunch shift, did an excellent job on both dishes.

We went to DBA and caught Ingrid Lucia's first set and on the way back to the apartment we watched saw Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham and the movie crew for the Expendables. The best thing we saw was Stallone leaving in a fancy red sports car and driving just like you would think Stallone would drive - all out.

After a brief stop at the apartment, we went to Mona Lisa for the Mona Lisa Special Sandwich, with a couple of sodas, our bill was only 13.00. One of the cheapest meals we have eaten.

After dinner, we went back to Esplanade and hung out and watched the movie people some more. Stallone was walking around with his cigar and giving directions. We finally did get to see a little action, when Jason Statham rode a motorcycle up the street a couple of times.

2009 Trip Day 12 - May 24

Is this Friday the 13th?

First Hank got under Peggy's feet and tripped her up and she ended up on the floor almost on top of Hank. Both of them seem to be ok though. Then we took a hike to The Cakeman to get a slice of cake for our late night snack, only to find that they had no cake, only cupcakes, and a very long line! We chose not to wait just for cupcakes.

We ended up going by Croissant D'Or and confusing the girl there because now she knows what we get for breakfast and had started setting up a tray for us. We had to stop her and tell her we were taking croissants "to go" today. Plus we got a couple of snacks for later.

And on top of all of this we drove out to Belle Chase to the Plaquemines Parish Heritage and Seafood Festival and it was a bust. We went there last year and it was small, but pretty decent. This year it was even smaller and NO Char Broiled Oysters. And it rained while we were there, but at least they had a tent to get under.

The only good spot of the festival was that we had a great roast beef poboy - 6.00 ....of course when you count the 10.00 admission fee and the 1.00 raffle ticket we bought....I guess you could say that the poboy actually cost of 17.00! Peggy did get a free Census 2010 canvas totebag, so that is something, I guess.

Back to the FQ where parking is HELL on the weekends. And this is a long weekend.

After walking Hank and having a brief rest. We both were hungry and since we hadn't eaten any roast beef in a few hours, we decided to go to Acme and try their roast beef poboy plus have some boo fries. Luckily the line was fairly short and since we agreed to sit at the regular bar, we only had to wait a few minutes. They had a great roast beef debris po boy and of course the boo fries were good. with 2 Barq's, our bill was 21.00. Acme had one huge line by time we got out, so we were lucky on our timing.

For dinner we called Mona Lisa and ordered a sandwich called the Mona Lisa Special - Pepperoni, ham, bacon, mozzarella cheese with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mustard and mayo. It also came with black olives and mushrooms, but we asked to leave them off, since we are fans of neither. It was a huge sandwich with a side of pasta salad. Below is a photo of 1/2 of the sandwich. It was super good. It was 9.00 and we actually had 1/4 of it left over.

We finished out the night with a chocolate mousse dome and a raspberry croissant that we had gotten earlier from Croissant D'or.

2009 Trip Day 11 - May 23

There had been a threat of a lot of rain coming this way, but it veered toward Mississippi. We were grateful since today was Bayou Boogaloo. We arrived just a little after 11am, which was opening time, so not too many people there at first. They didn't have as many arts and crafts booths as last year, but they did have more food booths.

After getting a fresh squeezed lemonade, we had crab cakes. I always get crab cakes if a festival has them. We were going to get crawfish and green onion sausage next, since we had the same last year, but it wasn't quite ready, so the guy asked me if I wanted some boudin, since they had it ready. Here's a photo, as you can see, he just looked like a man you would want to buy boudin from!

Next Peggy had a strawberry daiquiri and we walked around deciding if we should eat dessert next, or maybe something else before dessert. We decided to go back to where we got the crab cakes, since they had bread pudding. But on the way, we passed by the boudin stand again and had to stop for one more link, it was just that good.

We finished off with some bread pudding with whiskey sauce. Everything we ate was good and I think our total was around 21.00.

For dinner we went to Mona Lisa to avoid the weekend crowds...I hate tourists :-)

We had our normal meal there - 2 salads, white garlic pizza, couple of sodas - 20.00.

After dinner, I told Peggy let's take a stroll, so we walked down Royal until we heard the church bells ringing at St. Louis Cathedral. We thought they must have had a wedding and went to check out the wedding procession (aka parade in NOLA) but it had already started. We went around the block the opposite way and caught back up with them on Royal and then we continued on down Royal with a swing down Canal (got to see the new huge CVS). Then Peggy figured out she had gotten conned into walking back to the apartment via Bourbon....Hey, it's Saturday night and I can do lots of people watching!

For a late night snack we had small lemon and cherry pies we picked up from Loretta's at the French Market.

A final miscellaneous: the other night when I was buying cigarettes at Walgreens, the clerk said " Can I see your ID", then he glanced up at me and just said "Oh"....I think I got the message :-)

2009 Trip Day 4 - May 16

Since we had promised Bill to go to lunch with him to try a reuben sandwich, we had a light breakfast at Croissant D'Or again - 2 raspberry croissants and split a coke - 4.65

At noon we went to Sean Kelly's on Royal Street to try their reuben. First of all, the place was an unorganized mess. You order at the counter, but they only have 2 menus to pass around, no matter how many people are there. Then they are a little bit on the surly side about taking your order. And finally, the kitchen is slow getting food out. We commented to ourselves that this had better be a darn good sandwich. Well, it was ok, maybe a C+. The corned beef was shredded and not all that tender, plus the bread was not grilled properly. It did have a pretty good taste, better than LBTT. With 2 sandwiches, 2 soft drinks, and 1 beer - 21.00.

Around 4 we went to the Louisiana Music Factory for their in store performer - Les Kerr. He was ok, but as Peggy stated, sort of a formula songwriter.



Then we went a few doors down to Beckham's Bookshop to browse a bit. After we left there, we got our first praline and for later, a couple of white chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz crackers.

We had dinner at Mona Lisa. 2 salads, a white pizza (yes, that is the 3rd pizza we've had in 4 days) and a couple of soft drinks - 21.00. We also had a ditzy waitress. We've had worse, she just had trouble organizing things.

My Saturday night walk down Bourbon found that it wasn't all that crowded or wild yet (it was around 9:30). But as we walked back up Royal on the way back, we saw evidence of what happens when it's too hot for pants (see below).

2009 Trip Day 1 - May 13

This should have actually been day 2, but since we were sick on 11th, had to wait an extra day before we left.

In bed with lights out before midnight. Gonna sleep until 5am. Yeah right...woke up and looked at clock at 3:45 and never did get back to sleep good.

We pulled out the drive way around 6:30am est and made it to New Orleans around 4:30pm cst. I think this works out to 11 hours traveling time. A little slower, but still a surprise, since it took forever to get through Atlanta and we really didn't start to pick up any time until we got on the other side of Montgomery.

Apartment looked good at first, but actually had LOTS of hidden dirt. Peggy has probably already put several hours into trying to get it up to snuff.

We picked up a white pizza(10.00) from Mona Lisa in order to watch Lost. Great pizza, but very unusual to get a pizza cut into 7 slices! We also munched on a couple of Hubigs.