We spent the MLK holiday weekend in New Orleans; our first trip back to the city since we (kind of sort of maybe) got engaged there in 2009. This trip was definitely chillier than the last, but certainly no less festive! Cold weather can't put a damper on the fabulous food, music and overall New Orleans quirkiness that we love so much. Some highlights from the weekend:
- Waiting more than an hour for one 12-inch $20+ grilled shrimp and fried green tomato po boy sandwich at Mahoney's Po Boy Shop. And I don't mean waiting in line to order the sandwich ... I mean waiting for the staff to just make the sandwich after we ordered it! Thankfully, it came out fresh as can be and teeming with great flavor ... Pranav clearly found it to be well worth the wait:
- More great eats! Delicious and creative cuisine (and an odd waitress) at hidden gem Green Goddess, cafe au lait and beignets at Cafe du Monde (always standard; always excellent), a fancy dinner at Stella, and the requisite gumbo, shrimp creole, Pimm's Cups, etc. Yum!
- Taking a lovely guided walking tour of the Garden District and happening upon New Orleans legend Archie Manning (former quarterback of the Saints and father of current NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning) pulling into his driveway and walking into his house. Perhaps not the most unexpected place to see Archie, but we were really excited about it.
- Random note: our Garden District tour guide was a wonderfully quirky character, Bob, who is currently researching the legendary New Orleans Cornstalk Fence, part of which sits resplendent outside a Garden District mansion, part of which has been painted and set up outside the Cornstalk Inn in the French Quarter (see picture below -- note the tacky yellow/gold paint on this segment), and part of which somehow found its way to Southern California.
- Amazing music: toe-tapping to recorded tunes in the stores while we shopped, catching a set of traditional New Orleans jazz at Preservation Hall, watching a couple of lively acts at the jazz club in our hotel lobby (so convenient), and stumbling upon the many talented street musicians in the Quarter. The city literally pulses with phenomenal local music.
- On our final day in the city, we came across this adorable little family band: a mother, father and daughter (see picture above). A quick Wikipedia search later, we learned that the mother, Doreen Ketchens, is a celebrated clarinetist, and the father was acquitted of attempted murder a year or so ago after shooting a member of the Rebirth Brass Band, who allegedly was beating Doreen with an umbrella (!) during a spat following a jazz funeral. Ridiculous?? Certainly. But from everything we've been told about this city and its people, it's just another typical New Orleans saga ...
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