Sugar Cane Plantation

October 27

On our way to Baton Rouge we stop at Nottoway Plantation, nottoway.com, the largest (64 rooms) remaining antebellum plantation in the South.  The home was built in 1859 on the banks of the Mississippi on a portion of 7,000 acres acquired by a Virginian named John Randolph for a sugar cane plantation.

Before the tour, we lunch on gumbo (me) and oyster po'boy (Rick) on their glass-enclosed veranda overlooking stunning live oak trees...a beautiful setting for a Southern lunch.

We're guided through the house by a woman who has been doing it for 24 years...she is a treasure trove of information and there are only four of us in the group.  The home has recently been renovated and what we see of it is lovely.

However, we find the property is primarily a hotel and event venue, so the only bedroom we see is a part of the hotel and none of what would have been the outbuildings or how the house was really lived in. And part of the tour is the restaurant we just ate in! Because of this, I think the $20 per head charge is very high. We learn the property is owned by an Australian, Paul Ramsey, who apparently is the 17th wealthiest man in Australia/New Zeland according to Forbes.  I would suggest you stop here for lunch only and poke around....do the plantation tour thing at one of many of them around New Orleans.

We found ourselves in Baton Rouge in a down and out spot for the night...Cajun  Country RV Park. We believe everyone else lives there permanently.  While we are not comfortable there at all, it does spark a great deal of thought about the disparity of wealth and opportunity in this country.  I look across the way at a boy, just younger than Ian, and think about the startlingly differences in their lives.  We wonder if many of these people have been displaced by Katrina and we notice a number of people living there who are driving construction trucks.  We suspect they are  part of the rebuilding process.

We will leave here early in the morning, but I'm still thinking about that little boy.

Hitting all the Tourist Spots

October 26

It's our last day in New Orleans and we are going to pack in all the things we haven't gotten to.  

We first go to Cafe du Monde cafedumonde.com  and inhale the fabulous beignets.  I have never seen this place not packed, including late at night.

We convince ourselves that a brisk long walk along the riverfront will erase all those calories, then head to St. Louis Cathedral stlouiscathedral.org in Jackson Square.

The church is the oldest continually operating Catholic cathedral in the country.  Parishoners  have worshiped on this site since 1727.  Unfortunately the original structure burnt to the ground in 1788 when a candle ignited lace curtains on the altar.  The new building was not finished until 1794 and was subsequently annexed with two more adjaccent buildings in 1846.

Had never actually been able to get inside Preservation Hall preservationhall.com before.... it's always so mobbed, but a Monday night in October was the secret.  It's a $10 admission charge, no drinks are served and only the few at the head of the line get to sit on benches...it's standing room only and the music is terrific.  The trombonist, in particular, commands the room and just makes you smile.

We end the night next door at Pat OBrien's  patobriens.com  indulging in the obligatory Hurricane.  Three pianists/vocalists rotate at the two copper pianos...they are all good, but this particular woman does a Janis Joplin that has the room on it's feet!

And so ends the marathon birthday celebration....tomorrow head to Baton Rouge.

A Day of Extremes ~ An Abundant Brunch & Katrina

October 25

The last scheduled activity of the birthday extravaganza is a jazz brunch at the Court of Two Sisters courtoftwosisters.com. Since we know we will probably have a food overload again, we take an early walk to St. Louis Cemetery #1.

It's far better tended than the Lafayette Cemetery and interesting that diverse groups banded together to bury their own.

The restaurant is very pretty...definitely ask to be seated in the courtyard.  I hadn't been there before and it is indeed a tourist magnet, but we liked it and the food is just fine and more than abundant.

We really want to tour the lower ninth ward where Katrina hit the hardest.  What we saw is unconscionable.  More than five years later, the destruction is everywhere. There seem to be three main stages of getting to the rebuilding phase. 

There are many structures that have not yet been touched.  Then there are piles of ruble from the tear-downs.  Then there are cleared lots were only the cement slab foundation remains. All the remaining standing buildings have been marked  with a code that I have not yet broken, but seem to tell when the structure was inspected and if any and how many bodies were found inside.

It is unbelievable that in this country after this extent of time our citizens are living like this.  We need to refocus on this as a top priority.  It's hard to understand unless you see it or have lived it.  Reminds me of what it felt like for those of us who lived in NY or DC on September 11, 2001.  The rest of the country just didn't get the  impact it had on us.  I am glad to have seen this and understand just a little bit what these people are going through.

The New Orleans Cooking Experience & Mini Mardi Gras

October 24

The New Orleans Cooking Experience, neworleanscookingexperience.com, is today's adventure.  I booked a half-day luncheon cooking class as one of Rick's birthday presents.  Classes are held in a charming inn called The House on Bayou Road and today is being led by Chiqui Collier, a local caterer.  She is a barrel of charm and energy!

There are 11 people in the class coming from all over the country and the world. The menu is Oysters Brochette, Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, Red Snapper Imperial and Banana Foster Napoleans. The cooking is done in the inn's wonderful kitchen and eaten in the dining room.  Wine and beer flow from the moment we arrive!

Rick prepares the Oysters Brochette and does a marvelous job.  The dish is greeted by our fellow students with applause and rousing rendition of Happy Birthday!

It's a  very congenial group ...we find one couple from Australia, another from Syracuse, two couples from Chicago and Minneapolis who have been to class here several times before and a local who apparently comes quite often.

We leave four hours later just as a food coma is about to set in!  It was fabulous and we swear we will never eat again!

We certainly don't want dinner, but about 8 p.m. we decide we have to get out and at least walk around.  Well, we stumbled onto a great, fun surprise! Crowds are gathering on the curbs all over the Quarter...we ask a policeman what's up and find a Halloween Parade is approaching. 

It's a mini Mardi Gras kind of thing...I must've gotten 5 lbs of beads by the time it's over!

This was exactly the evening we needed and an extra added benefit was we ended up walking at least 2 miles and felt all the better for it.

The Garden District

October 23

The Garden District off St. Charles Street is a National Historic Landmark District built between 1832 and 1900 featuring one of the best preserved collections of southern mansions.  We spent a wonderful afternoon admiring the Victorian, Greek Revival and Italianate homes built by the then nouveau riche and often called the American area because the residents were new arrivals who made their fortunes in cash crops, the slave trade and in banking.  The were snubbed by the native Creoles and settled their own district which was annexed to New Orleans in 1852. 

I've learned a lot of history, but I still don't know what Roman Chewing Candy is!

The Lafayette Cemetery #1, established in 1833, is in the Garden District across from Commander's Palace.  I'd been there about 10 years ago and while still fascinating, I was so sorry to see it in such disrepair.          

Later that evening we head back to the casino, drop a little money, then duck into Besh Steakhouse chefjohnbesh.com, run by noted Chef John Besh.  We graze at the bar again on another trio of soups which were fabulous and a steak tartare topped with a quail egg that was divine.  It's pretty pricey, but very good.

Does this look like a winning spin to you?!!!!?  We thought the legend said I had won $10,000.  Nothing showed up....not a dime.  We called over an attendant, who then in turn, called over three others and they couldn't figure it out.  Finally find out that I had five black 7's....only the red ones win!  Wouldn't you think five of anything in a row should at least win something?  Nada!  I have vowed off Harrah's...need to find a friendlier place down the road.

Birthday in New Orleans

October 22

Cafe du Monde was supposed to be Rick's birthday breakfast, but getting up a litle late he opted for his favorite Key Lime Pie!

Felix's, a 100-year-old oyster bar was the luncheon destination.  Rick was in heaven with his fried oyster and shrimp platter...I had an appetizer portion of crawfish cakes, which was way too big and way too much filler....but had a great time with a waiter named Glenn (my father's name and spelled the same way).  Then went to Harrah's to play Rick's birthday numbers which he has always had good luck with....but not this time!

Then back for champagne and a little present opening.  Kelly, Chip and Ian gave him Wii Sports Resort (we brought along our Wii along with the kitchen sink!) Since we have no room for anything else in this beast, my gift was a four-day itinerary of hopefully fun things to do, starting with dinner tonight at Commander's Palace commanderspalace.com.

The restaurant is far larger than I had imagined with rooms off every nook.  We had a very good meal ....started with sharing a trio of soups - pumpkin, gumbo and turtle - and a Caesar salad-  soups were excellent --Rick had red snapper with shrimp and grits, me slices of veal atop an oyster boudin (a mixture of oysters and rice) -- very good.  Top it all off with a to-die-for pecan pie, which we took back with us as we are way past overload.

Liked the restaurant, good food, very accommodating staff, but there was a bit of a "factory" element to it...similar to what Tavern on the Green was.

Took a wrong turn leaving our table which turned out quite fortuitous...ended up in the kitchen and got to look around and chat with the chef...one hectic place.

We were going to head back to the casino, but sheer exhaustion hits both of us and we have a full day planned for tomorrow.

One Scary Day

New Orleans
October 21~27

Oct. 21 - We're  very excited about arriving in New Orleans and it's just a short jaunt from Biloxi.  The travel gods then decided to throw us a semi-scare. 

Nearing the city, we hit a patch of road that doesn't look too bad, but there is something about the configuration that causes us to "porpoise" for what seems an eternity.

 Rick is doing a magnificent job of keeping us going straight, but he does have some white knuckles going on.  I'm sitting in the banquette alongside the kitchen cabinets when the top cabinet flies open and all the china dishes come hurdling out, flying around my head and crashing in smithereens on the floor!  No one got hurt, but scared the heck out of us!

We are so ready to arrive at a place I booked on the water that I thought was the best of the choices we had, plus it was really expensive, so it must be good right?  Wrong! 

We drive down a seamy road along what is supposed to be a marina.  We arrive at Ponchartrain Landing RV Resort , ponchartrainlanding.com and yes, while we are on the water, we are looking at a demolished old factory.  Pay for one night and jump in the car to look at another place I was looking at.

Book French Quarter RV Resort fqrv.com for the next five days. Location, location, location.  It's only a few blocks from the Quarter, so it's very convenient, but it is also near a highway.  But frankly, to us city people, we find it comforting. It's a constant buzz that we just don't notice.  Sometimes all the quiet in the country freaks me out! It's not as expensive and we score a large spot with a very plesant screened gazebo -- site #33.  There's also a nice pool/jacuzzi area and a media room with the biggest TV I've ever seen.

Sad to say, the real highlight was to find a Whole Foods!  Did a huge shopping glad to be around familar surroundings....and they had the most extraordinary pumpkin display.

Tomorrow is Rick's birthday and though I'm not present ladden, since we have virtually no room to put anything new, I've got a few things up my sleeve I think he will enjoy.