New Orleans

10/10/11

We woke at about 9 am after a well deserved rest. Immediately we went to Cafe du Monde for our cafe au lait and beignet fix. Although the place was unbearably packed we managed to get seated and served pretty quickly. Despite I told Paul one serving was enough I knew he secretly desired 3 whole beignets for himself so I ended up ordering 2 servings which meant I also inevitably ate 3 huge beignets. We were very pleased.

Since it was Paul's first time at New Orleans and Monica's third, we decided to just walk around with no definite plans. We enjoyed the architecture and multi-culturality  of the place. New Orleans, Luisiana most commonly known as NOLA is definitely a place with many influences from the beginning of its history.

As the story goes New Orleans natives were the Chitimaca tribe, but of course Europeans, in this case French, always come with their diseases and wiped out some of their population. New Orleans then was established as a French Colony  in the 1700's, then it was ceded to Spain who had it for more than 30 years. It returned back to French control in the 1800 and it was finally sold by Napoleon early that century to United States. England tried to invade once right after the Louisiana Purchase but was unsuccessful.  After hearing all of the people that mingled there at the turn of the century I started to understand the influences you see today in NOLA but it does not end there. Another important immigration happened that brought thousands of african descent-Haitians to the area. These group was looking to establish the second colony of free blacks in the continent. This gives us perspective of why Luisiana played such crucial part during the civil rights movement. The biggest concentration of free african descents was contained in New Orleans. Ironically, as many as free, many more slaves were trade in the same port.  

All of these influences made Luisiana a multicultural place and shaped the food they are so famous for, now a days. We went for another coffee at Royal blend Cafe in Royal street and right before getting there, street musicians were enlightening the streets with their awesome recreation of The 20' jazz song  "I 'm going away just to wear you off my mind". 

After strolling around we were ready for some seafood. I read Deanie's Seafood would have the freshest catch.  We were not disappointed. We sampled their complimentary whole potatoes boiled in crab water and seasoned salt. Next got the charbroiled oysters , they were the best of this place. Subsequently we order blackened redfish, fried crawfish and crawfish étouffée.  The etoufee was our second favorite.

After an extremely full belly we walked to the river and got the Algiers Ferry which takes people to the Algiers area across the Mississippi river. From it we got a nice view of the New Orleans skyline. 

After the ferry we saw the Fountain Spain gifted NOLA and we sampled the famous pralines candy.  For some reason cigars are big in New Orleans, therefore, we entered in a cigar factory and saw the workers rolling some cigars, this is called -hilar tabaco- in Spanish. This was interesting to me because my paternal grandmother  used to work doing this in her youth. My imagination went off thinking of her. 

After all this activities we took a nap. We woke up just in time for another beer-in-hand-stroll and dinner.

This time we made it to Tujegue's. The dinner was a pre-set dinner of 5 courses. First we ordered New Orleans traditional drinks. Paul got a sazerac cocktail and I got a pimp's cup. Immediately they served the appetizer which was shrimps in remoulade sauce. Next they brought the gumbo which is a soup with rice, chicken, andouilee sausage and seafood. Their gumbo was just delish and my favorite of the night. Next they brought a piece of boiled beef with a horseradish sauce. It was perfectly cooked. You could choose between 4 main dishes. Two of them were seafood and since we had gotten seafood earlier we decided to pass on those. We both ordered the veal in blue cheese sauce. It was really good. To finish they brought a bread pudding in caramel sauce. These bread pudding was unlike the American versions, it resembled much more the type of bread pudding we make in PR. 

At the end of the huge meal we were really tired so we went off to bed.

Arrival to New Orleans

10/9/11

We woke up at the random motel in Wichita Falls and immediately started our 660 mile journey to get to New Orleans. We drove through Dallas. For lunch, we stopped for BBQ again just before we exited Texas. This part of the road was really boring and no mountains or landmarks were around it. We finally made it to New Orleans. After Monica spent a lot of time figuring out which hotel to stay we decided to drop by one of them. That was great because we found a jewel. The hotel was French Market Inn, as the name suggests the hotel retains the charm and architecture of the once French colony. In addition, the location is almost impossible to beat. Most importantly it was not expensive, the price was moderate, we ended up paying about 75$ a night. Try getting a place close to that in PR for that price, impossible. 
http://www.frenchmarketinn.com/

We settle in our room, refreshed and went out to enjoy the brimming city. Because we arrived so late (9pm) Monica's plan to eat at the famous Tujague's was not possible. We looked around and went to another restaurant nearby. Paul said he had to try the Po' boy, the New Orleans retaliation of a sandwich in a bread similar to French. I got the Jambalaya, a traditional Cajun rice dish with sausage, and seafood.  We both had a local Blonde Ale, we forgot the name but it was a well balanced one. 

Finishing our dinner we asked the waiter where to go for good music. He suggested Spotted cat (http://www.spottedcatmusicclub.com/) Before heading there we decided to get some beers from our cooler, after all is the only place in USA where you can walk in the streets with a beer in hand. So Paul's wish came true, stroll free in the streets of his country beer in hand. You would think this simple freedom should not be regulated in the "land of freedom".

We entered into an area borderline between the French Quarter and the Marigny area. Apparently the place were the locals hang. The waiter was right on, spotted cat was the epitome of NOLA's jazz culture. A bunch of misfits, people of different ages and abouts. We got to see the band Pat Casey and the New Sound ( http://www.patcaseymusic.com/html/showcase.php). They were really great.

While listening we sample a local beer from the Abita brewery called Restoration Pale Ale. Made only with cascade hops, Monica though it was too mild for a Pale Ale. Anyhow while sipping we met a bartender from NOLA's renowned draft bar named Bulldog. The guy, knowledgable, about NOLA's beer scene, did not recommend Restoration pale ale from that brewery but did recommended their seasonal brews.  

The band ended up playing at about 2 am. As we strolled back to our cozy european room in the heart of the French Market we saw many cool bars, one of them called Paul's attention and we entered to have a PBR. Inadvertently  we ended up having a conversation with a aspiring film maker. at the end we went to bed.