The Big Easy

Last month our good friends invited us to join them in NOLA for a few days. They hosted us at their fabulous pied-a-terre; an historic building in the French Quarter. Their unit is one of four in what used to be a shotgun house. The building was damaged during Katrina and their unit was picked-up by a contractor and repaired in the aftermath. Fortunately much of the original millwork remained as well as the wide-plank heart pine flooring. The original exterior doors, window and shutters are beautiful and the ceilings are a fantastic 14′ high and a little more than that in certain places where the floor isn’t completely level. But hey, after 200 years…

 

The dilemma anytime we visit The Big Easy is how to do everything in just a few days. Good food and drink is a given. In fact I can’t think of a single bad meal or inadequate cocktail ever in New Orleans. And the restaurant courtyards are gorgeous. Our first night’s dinner was at Sylvain. Outside on this to-die-for patio, in March, and without a jacket or rain gear. This would never happen in Seattle in March. The food was outstanding but my photos not so much so you’ll have to trust me.

The sky in New Orleans is amazing. Especially when the clouds are rolling through.

Both of these are from the walk home after dinner. There’s those clouds again. And I’m completely enamored by the gas lanterns you see on so many of the homes.

We took a trip out to the St. Bernard Crawfish Festival because for me no trip to New Orleans is complete without some crawfish. Sunshine, crawfish, and light beer. It just doesn’t get any better than that. Or does it? Turns out it does thanks to CRAWFISH BREAD. I’d never heard of crawfish bread but based on the length of the line I knew I had to try it. So, there are no photos, because it was gone before I could get my camera out. The best way I can think to describe it is as a calzone stuffed with a mixture of crawfish, cream cheese, bell pepper, and onion. Take a look at this link for a nice, un-demolished, photo and recipe.

 

 

We also went to the first New Orleans Bourbon Festival. There was bourbon of course, 83 different kinds to be exact, good bites, think burgoo soup and smoky pork concoctions, and great music. It’s always great to get to talk to the people doing the distilling. Just like winemakers and brewers the distillers seem to love what they do and have so much passion for it. And, you know, the sampling part of the job seems like fun.

 

 

We also took a coastal byway boat ride. That’s Cap’n Reggie feeding marshmallows to the alligator. This was the biggest one we saw, about 8 feet long.

The spanish moss is amazing and gives everything a haunting feeling of decay.

Post boat ride stop for shrimp po’boys and red beans and rice. Yum!

 

 

 

I love the architecture in New Orleans. I’ve toured a few of the French Quarter mansions and they are truly stunning but I think I like the smaller houses the best. They have so much character. People seem to go to a lot of trouble to choose great colors for the house body and then really interesting accent colors for the door and window shutters. And the two story homes have the most incredible balconies that are beautifully decked out in ferns and colorful flowers.

Oh, and I got to have my picture taken with this guy, Mark Gambino, the 2017 winner of the the Stella and Stanley shouting contest. As they say in The Big Easy, Laissez les bon temps rouler (let the good times roll).

I’m off to High Point Market tomorrow so be sure to check out my Instagram to see my favorite finds.

Thanks for stopping by – Wendy