Ten on Tuesday

1. Last week we had a previously planned trip to New Orleans [Craig on business, me as a tag-a-long.] We stayed at a beautiful, small hotel in the French Quarter, just a couple of blocks from the Mississippi .
2. It was a neat little place with only 80+ rooms that was built as grain processing building back in the 1800s and was fire station before becoming a hotel. [And yes the uneven floors and nooks and crannies of the hallways gave testament to the age of the building.] LOVED IT. But you know I love quirky.
3. I can’t pretend to really *know* New Orleans – we’ve been there many times through the years – but mostly to the French Quarter, and out by the zoo and Tulane [and oh yay, that one time we stayed at the ALLIGATOR FARM – a true test of being a mother of boys for me – ha.] IMO - It can be a filthy – filthy city, but it can also be a really beautiful city full of history of a truly blended people. A nice place to visit, but we’d never want to live there.
4. While Craig was in his meetings, I enjoyed seeing the sights – antique shops, artsy stores [oh how fun!] lots of candy shops tucked discreetly here and there [nothing blaring like in Gatlinburg,] diners galore [we didn't eat at one,] and of course, the “standard” souvenir shops.
5. And I also enjoyed the beautiful architecture and culture of the French Quarter, and okay, the occasional trip down the street [eight blocks or so] to Café DuMonde. Mmm – make that daily trips, sometimes twice. And I took a cooking class too – so fun! I walked for hours every day and so enjoyed having no real schedule…
6. All the walking is the only thing that kept me from gaining ten pounds because we surely enjoyed the food as well. Craig’s Cajun food of choice is crawfish etouffee [and he enjoyed several different varieties,] while I enjoyed different things – shrimp BBQ with grits, jambalaya, shrimp po-boy [above], gumbo, shrimp creole, and of course, pralines and beignets. Yum. And that delicious chicory coffee. Oh my.
7. But let me tell you – my innards were none too happy with ME by the end of the week – still, it was worth every pain and discomfort, because we just don’t have food that good up this way. Ha.
8. One of the pleasures of the French Quarter is the music – zydeco down in one part, jazz in another, and who knows what out on Bourbon Street . We enjoyed it all – from the street performers to the trio at The Court of Two Sisters during brunch, to the calypso music blaring from the local riverboat..
9. And yes, we did take a little stroll down Bourbon during the late afternoon hours – and oh my goodness [said in my best MK voice!] it’s a different world over that way – yes, we saw the unsavory side of life, but we also saw some fun [creepy -?], off-the beaten-path street people, and the dueling pianos at Pat O’Bryan’s [if it hadn’t been so dark and dirty feeling we might have stayed a bit, but I just couldn’t shake that itchy feeling to get out of there, but that's just me folks.]
10. It was a wonderful week – and we came home to have a great weekend as well – I had a scrapbook event planned [I’ll share more about these scrappy outings another time] and Craig fished with his buddy. Then on Sunday, we went over to The Shoals and had breakfast with my mom, lunch with Craig’s mom and came home to a [soon to be] beautiful bougainvillea in a hanging basket from my boys. They’re hard to find in our neck of the woods, and I’m so happy they made the effort!