2014 Trip - Day 2 - October 4

We started the day at Wink's Bakery, I had a terrific honey bun and Peggy had buttermilk drops, which she said were like eating a cloud of goodness. 

Thought they would be busy, but The Napoleon House wasn't too full and we were able to get a good table in the bar area. We split a 1/2 of a muffaletta and a couple of beers. One minor disappointment, they switched from Michelob dark draft to Abita Amber, which isn't as good. I drank mine and finished Peggy's and she ordered a Blue Moon instead, but the sandwich was good as usual, 23.00 pre tip.

On the way to Louisiana Music Factory we stopped by Envie Expresso Bar and Cafe for a couple of white chocolate lattes, which were mighty tasty. At the record store, we saw Jimmy Carpenter and then went back later and saw Susan Cowsill. She wasn't scheduled to perform, but had come by to support an artist friend of hers who was doing a pop up art show and decided to do a short set (4 songs). Peggy preferred Jimmy Carpenter best,  but I liked Susan Cowsill better and wished she had done a longer set.

We were in the mood for charbroiled oysters for dinner, but Acme was swamped and Dragos was a 30 minute wait, so we swung by Popeye's and got a couple of chicken finger combos. Later we had part of a dark chocolate mocha mini cake we had picked up from Wink's earlier.

2012 Trip - Day 14 - October 16

We started our day with breakfast at Camellia Grill. As usual, I had the pancakes and Peggy had a pecan waffle and bacon, with two coffees our bill was $17.00. After breakfast we went to Dorignac's to pick up a few more things before we leave in a couple of days and get a few bakery goodies.

We got back to the apartment around one o'clock and got our washing done and then went to The Napoleon House and split a 1/2 muffuleta. I had two drafts and Peggy had a couple of Blue Moons. Our bill was $24.00. The last time we were at The Napoleon House, one of the waiters (not ours) was passing our table and saw Peggy hit me on the shoulder during what we call The Red Saturn Game (whoever spots a red Saturn first gets to hit the other person). So quickly he also hit me on the opposite shoulder! We all had a laugh and explained the game to him. When we arrived today, he came up to me and pointed out the door and then hit me on the shoulder. That's him, Jordan, above with Peggy. After leaving The Napoleon House we toured the Hustler store and bought a Marilyn Monroe magnet to send to David at Christmas./>

Just around the corner was The Palace and we got in just as they opened. We sat in the bar cafe and ordered two pieces of white chocolate bread pudding. The pieces were about 1/2 the size they use to be, but still cost $7.00 each, with a couple of sodas our bills was $20.00. A little while later, we weren't very hungry and decided to go to Acme for some Boo Fries, the line was LONG, so we walked a few more blocks and ate at Popeyes. On the way back to the apartment I glanced at Acme and there was NO line....Oh Well!

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.