I have been three times to New Orleans, a complex and fascinating experience. Mostly I spent my time there eating wonderful food. The honky tonk of Bourbon Street is amusing for an evening stroll. The sound of jazz and impromptu parades echoes through the streets. A nighttime walk down to Cafe du Monde for a beignet and a cup of good coffee is a not to be missed experience. https://shop.cafedumonde.com/ My only regret is that I have not explored more of Louisiana. I would love to visit the bayous and I would also like to visit Whitney Plantation which is located in Edgard, Louisiana. Edgard is located along the Mississippi River, slightly west of New Orleans. The Whitney Plantation provides a unique perspective on the lives of the enslaved brought to sugar plantations. The work and treatment on these plantations was so brutal that there was actually a negative birth rate among enslaved people working on sugar plantations according to the Whitney Plantation website. https://www.whitneyplantation.org/education/louisiana-history/slavery-in-louisiana/ I believe it important to visit historical sites that convey the full story of this country’s past, not just the whitewashed version the Lost Cause mentality of the Jim Crowe south promoted so successfully.
But let’s return to NOLA and let the good times roll. Except before we get to the good times, I need to mention one of my visits to NOLA that resulted in an evening spent in the Marginy District with the son of my friend George. Travis is a social worker who works with the homeless population of NOLA trying to get them housing, food, and medical care. His job involved visiting abandoned buildings to see if he could find squatters there in need of services. I went on a walkabout with him, but we did not encounter any customers because I think Travis was being careful of the old lady. Instead we ultimately visited a jazz cafe in the better lit, more artsy part of the District. Nevertheless it was quite an experience for me. Travis, described in the attached article as “social worker Travers Kurr, a soft-spoken Maine native who graduated from Tulane University, wound up standing next to Randy “Boodrow” English as the latter dry-heaved into a plastic trash can in his Central City apartment last month” gave me a wonderful tour of a part of the city I would never have seen without him. You can learn more about his work and the NOLA police department in the attached article. https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_c951ad45-d147-5064-805b-7137ddd9258b.html
Now I am ready to return to the French Quarter and finish my riff on the food and drink of NOLA. Speaking of drink, there really is nothing like a Sazerac when you are alone in NOLA and wander into a bar, climb onto a stool, and have to order something. Why not go for pure alcohol ? According to Alton Brown the essential ingredients of a Sazerac are an ice cube, a sugar cube, bitters, rye whiskey, absinthe, and a lemon peel. https://altonbrown.com/recipes/classic-sazerac/ The most important ingredient is the rye whiskey, closely followed by the absinthe. In the event absinthe is unavailable suggested substitutes are often Pernod or pastis. The point is you must have an anise flavored spirit with a considerable alcohol content. Absinthe itself is made from wormwood, anise, and fennel. In my opinion it has a definite anise or licorce taste. I simply love the aroma of a Sazerac.
Where should one eat in NOLA? My rule of thumb has always been that at lunch time I look for the place with the longest line of people waiting, provided the ones waiting appear to be office workers or can otherwise be identified as locals. I figure those are the people that know the best places to get fast, inexpensive lunches. A fancy meal is more difficult to arrange unless you have a personal recommendation from someone who knows the city. Of course Commander’s Palace is well known and has for years been considered NOLA’s best restaurant. I have a friend in Charleston who visited NOLA every spring and she swore by their bread pudding as being the best in world. https://www.commanderspalace.com/ It is certainly the restaurant that comes to mind when you think of the French Quarter. Probably the best meal I ever had in NOLA was at a restaurant outside the French Quarter recommended to me by a friend. The August Restaurant describes itself as “contemporary creole with a focus on local ingredients.” It was pricey, but the food, as evidenced by the picture of the sheepshead filet at the top of this page, was glorious. In New Orleans it is just as easy to find a 12 dollar shrimp po-boy as a 40 dollar full course meal. And whatever you do, make sure you leave room for dessert.
Before I leave Louisiana I have to tell you about one more person, Tubby Dubonnet. Okay, he isn’t a real person. He is a lawyer character in a mystery series that I love to read. The thing about the Dubonnet mystery series is that reading those stories gives you a feel for New Orleans much more authentically than any tour guide book can ever do. Every mystery takes you to another part of NOLA and another set of true New Orleans characters. Tony Dunbar, the author, was once a practicing lawyer in NOLA and he really understands and loves the city. https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/tubby-dubonnet/ There are at least eleven books in the series. I don’t claim to have read them all but I have read a fair number of them. If you are planning a trip to NOLA, or even if you just want to learn more about the feel of the city, read one of these mysteries.
I haven’t ended one of these pages with music in the more recent entries. But if any page deserves a song it is this one, and nothing seems more fitting than this video of Arlo Guthrie’s City of New Orleans. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klgr0C9V2sM&t=12s
Please watch and enjoy as much as I have enjoyed the City of New Orleans.
Memories - A Second Chance at Happiness 