Sunday, February 01, 2015

Da Big Easy - Part 2

a/k/a - That's wasn't so easy, was it?

Recap - So, we left our intrepid trio, we heard the dulcet tones of the Technicolor Yawn coming from the little room in the wee hours of the morning...


Knowing this would be a rough time for the girls in the (later) AM I set my alarm for 7:00 and was soon in the arms of blissful slumber.

At 6:58 I was up, dressed and ready to go- I was surprised at how clean the bathroom was that morning based on the noises from the night before...
I expected it to look like a crime scene, but nope- it was in pristine condition.

My early departure was two-fold- first - I had an errand to run, and second, that errand was best done early... the longer you wait, the longer it will take...

I made for the corner of Decatur and St. Ann (800 Decatur) and the famous Cafe du Monde to get a New Orleans Hangover Dissipation Kit: A couple cafe au laits and a big bag of beginets to bring back to the girls.
Being quite early, and knowing that they were still a-snoozing, I sat at a table and enjoyed a small au lait and listened to a street performer doing some acapella gospel songs for the early-morning crowd.
As I finished my coffee, the to-go order arrived and I was ready to leave-
In the 20 minutes that elapsed from my arrival then line had grown from one or two people waiting for tables to 30 or so folks in line stretching back down Decatur.
Listen to your Uncle Jay- you want the good donuts-and-coffee experience- go early, or be prepared to wait in a long line.

I took the goods back to the hotel, haggled with the front desk clerk to extend our reservation to a second night, then went back to the room...
The Woman and the PC were just up- going through morning ablutions, etc and welcomed the hot coffee and the fried dough with quiet thanks and bloodshot eyes...

The morning passed uneventfully- they took their time getting ready to head out, and by early afternoon we headed out- it was still raining and the coffee and donuts had worn off and a more substantial meal was needed. We headed to Metarie and my favorite spot for lunch: Drago's.

2 words: Charbroiled Oysters


Oh my...
They were so good I almost ate the shells...

The Woman had a shrimp with remoulade po' boy, and the PC enjoyed the fried shrimp platter- loading up on carbs as a drinking base for the upcoming evening's festivities...

We headed back to the Vieux Carre, I needed to find a place to park overnight and the girls needed to shop a bit... I dropped them in the Quarter and found a curbside spot to park while I used the Interweb to research parking in New Orleans...
No good tips or hidden spots came up in a regular search- Premium Parking has everything in the French Quarter sewn up- and they use variable pricing- overnight on Thursday is $27, overnight on Friday or Saturday is $45.
I used ParkMe.com (and later their Android App) to find the Riverview Lot (between the river and Cafe du Monde) for $27/night, even for the weekend.
Perfect- and it was a short walk to the hotel.
I headed back to the hotel- napped a bit and the ladies arrived shortly thereafter.

7:00 found us ready to head out for the evening-
We hit Maspero's Cafe (not the Original Pierre Maspero's, there is a difference...). The french onion soup was a bit lacking, (in my humble opinion), but the alligator sausage po' boy was very good... The Woman had a ham po' boy, and the PC had jambalaya.

Thus fortified, we headed for Bourbon Street again...
The girls were somewhat more subdued, both in their liquor intake rate and in their need to see multiple venues- we walked up and down the street then settled on a little joint with Zydeco music from a live band...


Photo shamelessly stolen from TWWKMT's instagram account...

We sat through 2 sets with only 2 or 3 moderate sized drinks each, then headed back to the hotel... They were still feeling the effects from the previous evening...
I had plans for them for early the next AM, so I encouraged the early retirement.

We got back to the domicile before midnight.
Better- no street pizza, and no one became a multicolored organic fountain that night.
(Little victories! Yay!)

Soon: Part the Third - Mothers, Nick Cage, Marie LeVeau & Frenchman
Stay tuned.


TBG - - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

No comments: