New Orleans Food stop

I know many of you who have been here-New Orleans and had a few "go-cups" but it really is about the food.
We ate our way through the city.
Irenes,Jacques-Imo's,Lola's,City market, Cafe Du Monde,Grocery market,Cochon, Upperline, Dante's Kitchen, Le Crepe Nanou, Mothers, HH Whitney House---breakfast in the morning-- and more.

(I put picture of Jackson Square church in as penance for all the food we ate.)




Irenes-good but make a reservation an hour or more than the time you want to be seated,  It seems only the locals got seated at their "reserved time" we waited 1.5 hours and ate dinner at 10:30 (8:30 reservation).
Jacques-Imos- OK but pricey and crowded. I ordered the fried chicken,which they promoted as the best in NOLA, nah it was just fried chicken.
Lolas- delicious. I have been here before and again the food was great and the price made it even better!
City Market- Mufelleta to go, You just can't go through town with out buying one to share this giant tasty NOLA sandwich!
Cafe Du Monde- go order  the coffee and dig in to the sugar dusty donuts. It is part of the NOLA journey.
Grocery Market (on St Charles) One of the many good places for a po-boy sandwich.  They love their sandwiches. So will you.
Cochon-excellent, interesting menu tasty pig.
Upperline-good and my family says great (but my duck was over cooked (hard in some parts), I  will give it another try to be fair I should have sent it back I am sure they would have graciously replaced with another.
Dante's Kitchen- this was my favorite during this trip of NOLA eating. Very tasty, fresh and great, great flavors in all of our dishes.
Le Crepe Nanou- a nice selection of different crepes, nice dessert too.
Mother's- Oyster Po-boy, excellent, may be the last time I get one for a long while. Oil Mess!!!
HH Whitney House- breakfast YUM YUM! always worth the stay, even if they had ghosts the breakfast would make you come back for more and we did!!!!

I am sure we went to a few more stops but this would be a good start if you are headed to Food City! The quaint New Orleans atmosphere makes all parts of our visit fun.
I didn't even talk about the museum, music or many other little day trips you can take but they are all around you, New Orleans is definitely back!

Road Trip!!! SD to NOLA

I am going on a road trip from San Diego to New Orleans. You may ask Why? Mostly to ride with my son who is begining graduate school at Tulane.  He will need the car.

We figure 1820 miles of mostly desert then marsh/swamps- So I think I will take pictures every 100 miles and let you know what we see. (Ok don't expect to much). We are not leaving until the end of May but if you absolutely know somewhere we MUST stop at (It must be close to the 10) please add your comments below.
I know my EL Centro friends will say Stop here, but I must admit our first over night will be Tucson, AZ and unfortunately El Centro is actually pretty close to San Diego so I think we will buzz by about 7 am which doesn't make for a good guest stop.

New, New,New Orleans!

Our third visit back since Hurricane Karena was in March 2008 not only is New Orleans back but better than ever.  We decided to stay (a first) in a Bed and Breakfast-HH Whitney House on Esplanade.  Now we drove up and saw an interesting old house,  a big  home like Aunt Mary's for all of you who knew her friendly big home in Boston. I must admit -I thought Holy S*it, I don't know if this will work- the front of the white house had  graffiti  OK --- on closer look it was the  familiar Hurricane rescue symbol, a large diamond  of who went through and  how many people are in it (dead or alive)=marine arrived, "0" at home and thankfully "0" dead!

We decided at least lets go in  and we didn't regret a second of our time spent in this lovely home.

Our host Glenn and Randy are great. You will love how friendly and helpful they are. I love that Glenn has a rich southern history and shared it freely. The inside of the house is decorated in

antique southern style, each bedroom decorated differently.  We arrived on a week with only a few guest so we had the house frequently to ourselves.  Randy's pick of  food and restaurants is excellent, a man who thinks like me not only where to eat but what to order to make it terrific.

Now as we are ( in my case I sometimes think  forced marchers) walkers the HH Whitney is just outside the loud french quarter. Our host Glenn tells us the best BBQ oysters are at Drago's Seafood Restaurant, so off we go, they were the best! Even better than Acme Oyster House which are delicious too.  Upon return Glenn was amazed we walked all the way as it is on the far side of French Quarter on the river, later we discovered over 5 miles round trip, a bit much for an appetizer.

So I want you all to go to New Orleans, here are the places I want you to go. First stay with Glenn and Randy at HH Whitney House, if your a walker, take a cab to the house , skip the rental car and then even if you are out late in the quarter a cab is only about $5.00 to get home. I would not walk home late at night in New Orleans, remember we are still tourist and we look like it, don't do dump crap!  Otherwise we walked back until about 8-ish, like any one watch where you are going and who is around the entire time you are anywhere in New Orleans. 

New Orleans =Jazz and food.  Well, so some for folks it is also drinks. Me, It was wine with one notable  killer drink at Port of Call which kicked me into la la land by 8 pm and I only drank half of it!. God these New Orleans folks and lots of visitors are tough! But back to Port of call, great burgers and local folks, we sat at the bar. Oh yeah, My husband, Paul is my designated driver, walker, cab getter and greatest friend, enjoyed the bar he talked to strangers sitting all around.  I  know ....those of you who know Mr. Silent find this hard to believe but on vacation he must become Dr Hyde.

Another really great spot which is off the beaten path was Lola's on Esplanade, which had wonderful paella and overall a relatively inexpensive great meal.

Lunch at Commanders Palace, garden district,is not to be missed. This is in the garden district  take a cab or trolley and arrive 1-1 1/2 hours early to walk through the neighborhood. Work up an appetite for a great (expensive) meal, BUT  do get a few .25 Martini's to decorate your table. You will need reservations and get there on time.  (If you stay at HH Whitney ask to borrow book(s) which shows walking tours or other tours or just ask for directions).

Now we hike all over and ate muffelettas, oysters and lots of other good food. We went to museums, took the ferry over to the other side of river and walked around even did the dumb Mardi Gras manufacturer tour!  Lots of shopping with antiques  We will go back, this is a fun 3-4 day trip for any of you folks that want a quick get away.

Let  me know if you go and what you like, tell us interesting finds and of course more great food locations or jazz!!!