It is unbelievable how peaceful Bourbon can be - at least compared to the weekend before Fat Tuesday right after the Saints won the Super Bowl. The Saints were playing that Sunday so before the game started there was a crowd of folks in Brees jerseys, but after kick-off, we were practically the only ones wandering the streets.
I am a large fan of Jackson Square, apparently formerly Place d'Armes but renamed after the 1814 Battle of New Orleans. That's Andrew Jackson there in the equestrian statue.
I think I mostly like seeing the artists that paint around the square. And the fact that the square has a somewhat Disney feel with the Saint Louis cathedral in the background and the mule-drawn carriages - yes mules, not horses - that take tourists on jaunts around the quarter. Kyle and I look pretty insignificant and small compared to the architecture behind us.
We grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant that lines Jackson Square, and then headed to Pat O'Briens because, obviously, no trip to New Orleans would be complete otherwise. A potential recipe for disaster - a lot of dark rum hidden, undetectable in a sweet, fruity hurricane while meeting Kyle's parents for the first time.
I drink one and they say, why don't' you have another? I courteously oblige. :) It is the polite thing to do, right?
I did unfortunately have to courteously decline the offer for a Hand Grenade, despite the lure and temptation of Tropical Isle. So tasty, but after two Hurricanes - while touring the city with my boyfriend's parents - I thought it best to opt for dessert instead.
Only in the South can you go an entire day eating fried food - including your desserts. You certainly can't in California - not even if you tried. In California, you might find a restaurant that serves only veggie burgers and faux chicken, complemented by of course frozen yogurt for dessert, but it'd be quite a challenge to eat one meal fried let alone all of them in Los Angeles.
Not a challenge in New Orleans.
Lunch: Fried shrimp and fried fish
Appetizer at Pat O'Briens: Fried alligator (mmm.. I like alligator)
Dinner: Fried Chicken
Dessert: Fried dough (Cafe Du Monde beignets of course... beignet meaning fritter or donut in French - yes! I've found an application to my high school and college French classes! I'll pretend I didn't look up beignet on wordreference.com to be sure of its meaning... but I did know how to spell it based only on my knowledge of the typical word structures and vowels in the French language).
Who knew fried dough could taste so good when loaded with powdered sugar? I am fairly certain that eating beignets is an acquired skill - or at least eating them without ending up with white frosted shirts, shorts, shoes, lips, cheeks, noses, elbows... I swear I had powdered sugar everywhere and Kyle's family have all finished theirs with clean clothes and faces. I think they enjoyed the opportunity to see an out-of-towner try it out.
The nice thing about New Orleans sans the Mardi Gras crowd (look, more French... sans = without) is that you can actually see and do the things the city is famous for - like strolling through Jackson's Square, which was closed the week of Fat Tuesday so the drunks wouldn't destroy it, or getting a beignet at Cafe Du Monde without a two-hour-long wait in line. Obviously the people watching isn't quite as good, but I think that peaceful afternoon we spent in New Orleans is the city at its finest.
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