to miss New Orleans? I certainly do! That must be why I’ve been there about 15 times. My most recent trip began a week ago. It started with a 7:20 p.m. flight from SFO to IAH. Whenever one uses air miles for virtually free tickets (this only cost me $10 in taxes), the airlines tend to fly you all over the place to reach your final destination. They only flew me to Houston, but I landed around midnight and had about 7 hours to kill before my connecting flight to New Orleans. I could have picked a shorter connection, of course, even using my air miles, but I wanted to arrive in New Orleans in the morning rather than in the afternoon. Time is precious! Naturally, nothing seemed to be open in the huge expanse of the Houston airport. I went from one terminal to the other via Translink, along with about 4 Turkish Airlines employees. When I got to my connecting gate, which was deserted (as expected), my biggest decision was whether to attempt to snooze in the bar stool leaning over the nearby bar, in the wheel chair or in the massage chairs in the hallway. The massage chairs were the most comfortable by far, so that’s where I parked myself. It wasn’t long before an older couple walked by and saw me napping there. Since their connecting flight to Nicaragua wasn’t until 8:00 a.m., they joined me! Actually, the woman talked to me for about 2 hours while her husband dozed off. When she realized that I was getting sleepy, she said she’d let me sleep while she read. When I woke up, the 3 of us wished each other safe flights and were off. I went to get something to eat, then returned to my gate.
My flight arrived in New Orleans to some drizzle. I was prepared with some sweaters, boots, a light jacket and an umbrella. My AirBnB studio was on the quieter end of the French Quarter, about half a block above Dauphine, which is a block above Bourbon Street. I waited in the brick-enclosed courtyard for the maid to finish cleaning my room. Once that was done, I freshened up, quickly changed and went to the corner of Dumaine and Dauphine to have lunch at Eat Restaurant. My lone previous experience there had been back in 2009 when I had fried green tomatoes and spaghetti for dinner. My recollection was that they were fine, but not overwhelmingly memorable. Wanting to start out light this time around, I merely ordered the spicy deviled eggs with bacon (5 of them), along with a side order of butter beans with shrimp. The spicy deviled eggs were also offered with salmon rather than bacon, but I’m not a salmon fan. They were good, though not particularly spicy. The butter beans with shrimp came with white rice on the side. I’m not familiar with the proper way to eat this. Do I put the rice in the butter beans? Do I eat them separately? I chose to do the latter, though the rice didn’t seem like the long-grained rice that I prefer. However, the butter beans with shrimp were smokey, rich and had an underlying zing to them! I regretted not ordering the entrée size!
Wandering around the French Quarter, I stopped in at Trashy Diva on Royal Street to peruse the well-made retro dresses. Their dresses are extremely well-fitted, so I’ve been known to (depending on the style) wear everything from a 2 to an 8. You definitely have to try them on.!
At 4:00 p.m. I parked myself at Orleans Grapevine for Bacon Happy Hour. Yup, bacon at Happy Hour. I ordered a glass of pinot gris and they gave me a glass full of bacon slices! No problems with that! The bartender mentioned that she’d invented a CoorsCato – Coors mixed with moscato – but I didn’t want to risk it.
An Irish parade was scheduled in the Quarter around 6:30 p.m. I wandered over to Decatur Street to position myself for viewing. It was a short parade, maybe thirty minutes, but full of the fun and quirkiness of New Orleans. After the parade, I stopped in at The Grill to say “hello” to John and Jack. Unfortunately, Jack no longer works there. John and I agreed to meet for drinks the following evening, when he’d be getting off work at midnight. After that, I had a quick drink at Kingfish (they have free WiFi), then decided to call it a night because it had been a LONG day! Besides, in New Orleans, it’s always best to pace one’s self!
The Courtyard of my French Quarter Studio
Customers at Kingfish