2014 New Orleans Day 5

Sharon and I got up about 6:40 am, packed up the room and checked out. Sharon has a conference starting today and will be spending a few more days in New Orleans. I headed to the airport and caught a 10:35 am flight to Phoenix. Although I had a A44 boarding pass, like the trip back from spring training, I got a seat in the emergency exit row. I walked off the plane in Phoenix and the gate for the Sacramento flight was two gates away. I had an uneventful flight back to Sacramento hitting the ground about 15 minutes ahead of the 3:05 pm scheduled arrival.

A couple of observations. First, unlike the New York trip last fall, we had guidebooks for this trip. I felt like we made pretty good use of them. Second, I had hoped to sit one of the nights and listen to some local music. Due to the logistics of the larger group, I just didn't get this done. Third, I had hoped to have dinner with the Larkin group one of the nights. Again, due to the logistics of the two larger groups, we just didn't get this done.

2014 New Orleans Day 4

Up early, Sharon and I went to the 9:00 am Mass at the St. Louis Cathedral. This is the oldest active Cathedral in the United States (since 1718). The Mass was packed. I would guess that there was more than 1,100 people.

After the Mass and a quick stop for Sharon to do some shopping, we met up with Janie and the Gainsleys in the lobby of the hotel. We had two destinations for the day: the Garden District and the National World War II Museum. We caught the St. Charles [green line] trolley to the Garden District. While French Quarter was initially established by Creoles during the French and Spanish colonial periods, the Garden District was created by Americans after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. We took a Fodor's walking tour for about an hour that spotlighted almost two dozen mansions with a variety of interesting styles. We finished the walk with a drink at the Commander's Palace.

We then got back on the trolley. We jumped off near The National World War II Museum. Our schedule got a little blown up at this point. We hadn't eaten. We put our names in for the American Sector Restaurant, but it took a lot longer to get a table than we expected. I had a chance to walk through the museum, but not spend as much time as I probably should have in the galleries of the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion. We watched the 4 pm showing of Beyond All Boundaries. Narrated by Tom Hanks, this film is billed as 4D journey through the war.

We finished the evening with a late dinner at the Bourbon House Restaurant. While we waited for the table, I sat at the oyster bar and finally got a chance to enjoy some oysters. Both Kevin and I had a combination fried seafood platter.

2014 New Orleans Day 3

While Sharon, Janie and Mary went back to Cafe Du Monte for more beignets and coffee, I ran on the treadmill at the hotel with the Gainsleys. I covered 6.03 miles in hour and seven minutes.

The plan for the day is a planation tour. I researched tours a couple of months ago when we first decided we were going and settled on a tour that included the Laura Planation and the Oak Alley Plantation. Sharon had seen the Oak Alley Plantation on a television show and really wanted to go there.

Catching the van about 12:30 pm, we headed out of New Orleans and up the River Road along the Mississippi River. The first stop was the Laura Plantation. This stop included about a 70 minute tour of the house and grounds. The tour guide did a very nice job talking about the history of the plantation, its owners, slavery and sugar cane farming. Note to self, I really need to find a book on the Creole culture.

The next stop was the Oak Alley Plantation. The tour at this plantation focused on more on the house rather than the plantation culture. I was surprised that they were selling mint juleps as we entered the house. The highlight of this stop is definitely the 28 three hundred year old oaks that line the entry to the house.

By the the time we got back to the hotel, it was after 7 pm, Sharon made reservations for a late dinner for Arnaud's Restaurant. This was definitely the best meal of the trip. I had Oysters Arnaud, a sampler of one each of their baked oysters and Pompano Duarte. The menu is billed as Creole cuisine. Sharon brought the restaurant's cookbook. I suspect that the fall dinner party this year may feature Creole cuisine. As a general observation, we found the prices for meals very reasonable compared to other places that we have been.

The group, Sharon, Janie, Mary, the Gainsleys and I, finished the night at the bar in the SoBou Restaurant in the W Hotel in the French Quarter.

2014 New Orleans Day 2

We spent the day exploring the French Quarter. Sharon and I met Janie and the Gainsleys and headed to Cafe Du Monte for beignets and coffee.

Afterwards, we walked along the Mississippi River towards the French Market. We wandered back down Decatur Street into Jackson Square. Sharon and I toured the St. Louis Cathedral. Scoping out the Mass times, we are planning to come back on Sunday morning.

We actually ended up connecting with the Larkins. The whole group visited the Presbytere Museum. The Presbytere houses an elaborate collection of Mardi Gras artifacts and memorabilia. It also included a special exhibit about Katrina. The first person videos of hurricane Kartina were awe inspiring. I particularly enjoyed the exhibit that allowed you the viewpoint of riding on a float in the Mardi Gras parade.

After walking through the museum, I struck out on my own and explored Jackson Square, Pirate Alley and Royal Street. Eventually, we connected back up and headed to lunch. Janie lead us to Ralph and Kacoos Seafood Restaurant. The food was fair, but the service was bad. It was probably not a place that I would have chosen…

From there, we did a walking tour of the French Quarter. We wandered up Royal Street. We kept losing Janie and Sharon as they shopped. We made a stop to regroup at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. Built between 1722 and 1732 by Nicolas Touze, it is reputed to be the oldest structure used as a bar in the United States.

Heading back down Bourbon Street, we found our way to Pat O'Briens. Kevin and I were able to jump on a table in the courtyard. It was about this point that we realized that it was spring break for lots of the college kids! This became even more apparent on Friday and Saturday night along Bourbon Street. It was an interesting people watching experience.

We continued on the walking tour to Napoleon House. We had a light early dinner. I had jambalaya.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to met up with Mary. She flew in on Friday evening. At some point, the Gainsleys texted us and we headed back to the Bourbon Bar [same procedure as last night!]. We got the same table and watched the people go by.

Sharon and I plus the Gainsleys finished the night at a different spot along Bourbon Street watching the people go by. It was about 11:30 pm by the time we got back to the room. Sharon and I spent about 30 minutes talking to Jack on the phone, including hearing about the Jesuit versus Davis JV baseball game at Raley Field. More on the game next week…

2014 New Orleans Day 1

A very early flight. I got up about 3:40 am. Sharon and I left the house at 4:25 am. To my surprise, the Southwest counter and the security line were packed with people. By the time we checked our luggage and got through security, they had already boarded the A, B and C groups of our 6 am flight. Luckily, Janie saved some us some seats!

We changed planes in Las Vegas. The flight from Las Vegas to New Orleans was delayed about 45 minutes due to a missing crew. Although we were scheduled to land in New Orleans at 2 pm, it was almost 3 pm by the time we got there. The Gainsleys landed shortly after us and we ran into them in the baggage area.

We took a taxi to the hotel. It was a zoo. We are staying at a large Marriot on Canal Street.

After getting checked in and settled in the room, we wandered into the French Quarter. We had appetizers at Tujague, the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans. We met up with the Larkin group, including Joe, Cindy, Cindy's sister and her husband and Barbie.

We had an early dinner with the core group at NOLA. This is Emeril Lagasse's restaurant in New Orleans. The food and the service was very good. I had a pork chop, while Sharon had a fish called a drum.

After dinner, we headed to Pat O'Briens, but the line was huge. We wandered down Bourbon Street and eventually found a nice table for people watching at the Bourbon Bar. We met back up with the Larkin group here.

Eventually, we wandered back up Bourbon Street. We ended the night with a nightcap at the Roosevelt Hotel before crashing.