Today is the 19th “dating anniversary” for my wife and I. Hard to believe!
Woke up to the sound of the manager of The Courtyards Inn looking at our busted AC unit. Was quite hot in the unit, up to nearly 80. Turns out the condensate wasn’t being pumped from the reservoir, causing the float to trip the shut-off. “Simply” bailing the water out was enough to get the unit working again until it can be fixed on Monday. A small hiccup in an otherwise great place to stay!
We headed to La Peniche for breakfast. We all had a very traditional eggs and bacon with bread and potatoes hearty breakfast, which was good as always. We then headed out to Dauphine, a street parallel to Bourbon (which we avoided like the plague it is) and walked nearly its entire French Quarter length from Esplanade to Canal. Along the way we admired the homes and few businesses that line the very quiet street (particularly compared to Bourbon just a block away). Some houses were decorated for Easter. Some have walls topped with spikes, nails, and even broken glass to discourage people from trying to enter the properties unwanted. We passed the amusingly named Moon Wok, a Chinese restaurant that we had gone to in 2010 — alluding to the Moon Walk that is a path at the top of the levee.
Live oaks along Esplanade
Easter decorations, French Quarter
Also every street in the French Quarter has a fancy tile sign that shows the name of the street during the time when New Orleans was a Spanish city (1762 – 1803). While North Carolina followed a pretty ho-hum path to statehood (from the colony of Carolina to the colony of North Carolina after the split from South Carolina to state), Louisiana followed a much more twisted path. After initially being explored by the Spanish in the 1500s the first European settlers were French, near New Orleans, in the early 1700s. France later lost most of it as a result of the Seven Year’s War in the 1760s. In 1800 Napoleon bought the land back from the Spanish for the French, only to sell it to the United States in 1803. But that’s not all — the land just north of New Orleans was part of the Free and Independent Republic of West Florida in 1810 after American settlers overtook the Spanish garrison in Baton Rouge (Spain having stated that the area of West Florida was not part of the Louisiana Purchase as it was never owned by France). Statehood in 1812 ended all that nonsense (though the Sabine Free State from 1806 to 1821 along Louisiana’s western boundary is a fascinating read as well).
Spanish street placards
Once nearly to Canal we turned towards the river and onto Iberville. We found a nice place that had fried mushrooms and fried cheese sticks (noticing a trend here?) but sadly kids were not legally allowed so we had to move on. We ended up going to Mena’s, a decent cafe where I had a chicken fried steak po-boy. Michelle had grilled cheese and Genetta a turkey club. KU fans everywhere today it seemed.
We turned left (northeast) on Royal after crossing Bourbon and stopped at several shops. We stopped at a couple of antique shops. Now, these were the real deal. One had a painting from 19th c. France for $95,000 and an 17th c. Italian marble table for $175,000. There were also many swords, knives, guns, and armor, even some chain mail from the 1600s. A wedding chest from Italy (1450 to 1600, estimated) was beautiful, the dowry was placed in it in the form of cloth and other treasures. While it was very interesting I was sweating the whole time — one clumsy moment and I’d have to spend the kids’ college funds!
We also stopped at Cohen’s coin store where they had a wide assortment of coins from the Greeks all the way through the Confederacy and more modern times. Addison wanted to buy just one, and not even an expensive one, but I knew it was a slippery slope. I’ll think about it, I suppose.
For years I’ve stopped by Le Petit Soldier shop which has military items and also a nice collection of pre-painted miniatures. I always pick up a figure to remind me of the trip, most recently an American infantryman from the Vietnam War back in 2010. We went in to the store (now called Sword and Pen, I think) and browsed but it seemed like the collection of pre-painteds is smaller than ever. Addison wants a figure but we decided to check out the collection of W. Britain at the toy store near Jackson Square.
We stopped in several other stores, mostly selling masks and the like. Michelle found a cookbook in a store called Kitchen Witch and the kids each got a t-shirt at an adjacent store. We then headed to Jackson Square where Addison browsed the W. Britain figures (though he did not decide on one) before we headed to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets (yeah, I know, but I only get them when I’m in New Orleans!).
Saint Louis cathedral from the rear
From there we shopped a bit along Decatur but the crowds were a bit much. Did run across a store with 50% off Ohio State and Louisville goods, as both lost the night before (to Kansas and Kentucky, respectively). By this time Addison wasn’t feeling well so we headed back to Royal and then to the unit to rest.
Harsh reality for some Final Four 2012 teams
While Michelle and the kids rested I visited with my parents in the cool courtyard. About six we headed off to dinner at the Praline Connection. While waiting for our table we saw this awesome jacked up 70s Chevelle cruising by, but I failed to snap a picture. Michelle and Genetta went into a bookstore named “FAB”, for Faubourg Marigny Art & Books. I’ll leave that out of the blog and let her tell that story! Such an interesting cross section of people in Faubourg Marigny!
A house in Faubourg Marigny
Dinner was red beans and rice with smoked sausage and mac and cheese. It was wonderful. Michelle had red beans and baked chicken, Genetta had red beans and fried chicken, Addison had ribs, Dad had fried shrimp, and Mom had a meatball po-boy. Got some pralines to go and chatted with a performer that had come in to eat about how great the red beans were.
The Praline Connection, home to some seriously good food!
After heading home I set out with Addison and Mom to see the fireworks that were to go off at 10p over the river. As we neared the French Market we could hear Jimmy Buffet finishing up his set and then watched the amazing fireworks. Some of them were very, very loud, spooking these very large (at least a foot long) rats that scurried across the street from us. Mom most definitely did not like them at all. The show over, we headed back to the unit and to bed (and me to blog, jiggety jog).