BigWeather's Blog

Our wake up was a bit later than typical, around 8am, and as such we advised Mom and Dad to go ahead with breakfast along with Greg to Horn’s while the three of us ate some of the pastries we got yesterday at Ayu.

We relaxed a bit and headed out around 11:30am to Port o’ Call. I had a mushroom cheese burger accompanied by a baked potato with bacon bits and chives. Michelle had a cheese burger and a potato with butter. Genetta had what I had but also had cheese on her backed potato. It was soooo good. On the way out I bought a purple t-shirt with the Port o’ Call logo.

We returned to the unit around 1pm so I could make the team meeting but it was cancelled. Oh well! Headed out with just Genetta around 1:15pm to try and find the house used for exterior shots of the hideout in Leverage: Redemption. We located it and took a few pictures, especially noting the really sad (but typical) state of the road in front — potholes galore. Just part of the charm!

We walked on to the Café du Monde store and got a magnet and keychain then around Jackson Square where Genetta got a Café du Monde vintage coffee post card. Near the Cathedral we saw a band playing the Saints Come Marching. They were really good and were getting many tips, including from us.

We went to the CVS near JAX and got some aloe. Turning back towards the house we stopped along the way at Café du Monde. Though there seats available no waiter showed up after quite a wait. We hopped in the long line and then decided to bail and just get sno balls at the French Market. I got a large sour apple and Genetta a medium cherry.

Returning to the house around 3pm we napped until just after 4pm and headed to dinner at Zhang Bistro. It was excellent! I had spicy Mongolian beef, Michelle sweet and sour chicken, Genetta spicy drunken noodles with chicken, Mom cheese wontons and shrimp wontons and a summer lettuce roll, Dad crawfish fried rice, and finally Greg had tofu fried rice. Dad and I had amazing mini-beignets with vanilla ice cream while Genetta had some Thai tea.

The ladies left for the philharmonic at the Mint, Dad took leftovers home, and Greg and I went to a gem and lapidary shop which had cool stuff like polished gemstones, geodes, butterfly displays, and insects in Lucite. The two of use returned to the house around 6:30pm and lounged while the ladies got back around 7:30pm. They really enjoyed the concert and particularly one singer’s great voice.

I ate some coffee ice cream and read a story from “Stay Out of New Orleans” while Genetta played solitaire. I then did some drafting in Arena and listened to music, blogged, and took a brief shower before heading to bed around 11:30pm.

We woke up around 8am, refreshed and ready to enjoy our first full day in New Orleans! We headed to Frenchmen All Day just up the block on Frenchman and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast. I had a café au lait (spectacular) and two biscuits with chorizo gravy and over-medium eggs on top. Michelle had bacon, egg, and biscuits and Earl Gray breakfast tea. Genetta had eggs Benedict (which she’ll always opt for if it is available, like me with chicken fried steak!) and potatoes and orange juice. Greg also went with the eggs Benedict. Mom had Genetta’s salad along with a biscuit and fruit. Dad had the bacon and eggs breakfast as well. It’s a nice spot to eat with lots of cool New Orleans-y things to enjoy decorating the walls. It was one of the waitress’ last day as well.

After finishing breakfast we went to the nearby Ayu Bakehouse to pick up some baked good for the subsequent days should we not wish to go out: pain de chocolate, croissants, etc. Genetta got an iced matcha and panne cotta. We also checked out a nearby park that had a police camera up high with flashing red and blue lights (though we didn’t see any crimin’ going on).

Back at the house we relaxed for a few moments then headed out around noon for lunch, this time into the Quarter. We window shopped along Royal and saw a number of interesting things including some nautical themed (and quite fragile — a huge no-no with as many cats as we have) lamps with octopus tentacles and the like. Oh, and they were quite expensive. So, yeah.

We arrived at the Vampire Café for lunch around 1:00pm. It’s a fairly cozy place with lots of wrought iron and bats and other decorations. The table cloths were a red and folded into a bat and the knife and fork gold and laid out in a cross. The menus were neatly illustrated with tales of famous New Orleans vampire legends. I had the bleu cheese Dracula burger with chips while Michelle and Genetta both had a regular Vampire burger. Genetta also had “fangria” from a blood bag which was cool. Michelle had a tea that she didn’t care for due to the minty taste. Greg skipped lunch and had Crème Broulee (or, rather, phlegm Broulee) for dessert. We also had two small dark chocolate bats. The food was decent.

Adjacent to the restaurant was a small store, the Vampire Café Boutique, which sold various vampire themed items. We ended up getting a stained glass bat that was quite cute and a Dracula duck for Mom and Dad. A short distance away was Fischer & Gambino, the store that carries lots of faux Tiffany lamps. Despite two walk-throughs nothing really grabbed us.

We headed to the Voodoo Museum’s lobby where Genetta got a coin for her purse. We skipped the museum itself, however, having done it in prior years. On the way back to the house we stopped by a cool shop owned by a husband and wife team. The wife was from Bali, Indonesia, and her uncle (who still lives there) carves tons of cool things and sends them her way to sell. Genetta got a skull carved out of an eight-ball as well as a carved wooden fleur-de-lis.

We walked home around 3:00pm and took a nap and hung out for a bit until 4:30pm whence we went on a short walk to Louisiana Pizza Kitchen for dinner. I had a steak and bleu cheese pizza, Michelle had a prosciutto and fig, Genetta a cheese with prosciutto and goat cheese, Mom a bleu cheese and pecan salad, Dad the crawfish pasta, and Greg some chicken and sausage gumbo with hot sauce. As always it was amazing! Michelle brought home some cheesecake. I passed on the pecan pie a la mode stupidly thinking I’d go out later and get some beignets (spoiler: I did not).

We headed back to the unit and then Genetta, Greg, and I headed to Jackson Square. We shopped at Jazz Funeral and other more tourist-y shops along the way. Greg shopped at a place selling lots of sports stuff. They had nothing for NCSU and we joked it must be sold out (spoiler: it was not). Greg got a Pelicans shirt and almost a hat but he passed on that. The storeowner, however, was pretty great about guessing his hat size!

Jackson Square was closed so I just took some pictures over the gate. We then wanted to head to the river but a train was blocking the way, leading us to JAX and the facilities there (which were closed but we were able to use). By then the train had moved so we walked along the river and back to the house around 8:00pm.

We listened to the music being played on the Frenchman corner a block away from the house’s balcony until 11:00pm. I had some Haagen-Dazs coffee ice cream to make up for not getting beignets earlier in the evening. Balance in all things! Headed to bed right around midnight after a very fun day!

A note about pictures in the blog for this trip — there will definitely be duplicate subjects from the already published 2012 and 2014 trips and I’m sure there’ll be duplicates going forward when I do 2017 and 2022. It’s all good, I take pictures of things that catch my eye at the time and tons of things in New Orleans are very eye-catching!

We woke up bright and early at 6:00am for our latest New Orleans adventure. After showering, last minute packing, and saying bye to the cats we left the house at 7:45am and picked up McDonald’s on the way to the airport. While going through the security check point I lost my sunglasses in the scanner. They had been in the tray but were nowhere to be found on the other end. Though I had to wait a few minutes the TSA guy was really great and was able to retrieve them for me.

We had an uneventful flight to Charlotte at 10:50am, landing around 11:30am. While changing between concourses A and C we walked through the hub area where they had some really cool trees, like an atrium. We got some crappy ham and cheese “paninis” (in name only) and Michelle got a salad. We boarded around 12:45pm bound for New Orleans (despite the gate sign saying the destination was Little Rock — the horror!).

Our seating was very nice — an exit row with plenty of leg room. Also we got lucky and got the last of the ginger ale to enjoy with our pretzels. We listened to a person nearby talking with the flight attendants about their job as a Mississippi cruise ship worker. Apparently they work six weeks (seven days a week, fourteen hours a day) then get two weeks off. Sounded brutal!

We landed in New Orleans and resisted temptation to stop at the airport’s Café du Monde in favor of getting our luggage. Michelle and I got our luggage but Genetta’s was nowhere to be found. We talked with the luggage assistant and they assured us they’d send it along when it arrived. We grabbed a taxi to 1427 Charters and while the guy didn’t talk much he was nice. Though he did get a little lost near the Mint requiring me to guide him to the house.

On arrival we said high to mom, dad, and Greg and relaxed a tiny bit before showing Genetta around the place as it was her first time. Greg, Genetta, and I went to Café du Monde to get some beignets (two orders — Genetta had three, me two, and one was to go home for Michelle) and three frozen coffees. We also went to Kulture Vulture, a store with lots of cool metal and rock memorabilia including a Ghost shirt that Genetta had to have and a Papa Emeritus III figure that I wanted (but resisted).

We returned to the house and relaxed a bit before heading to Royal Sushi & Bar for dinner around 5:00pm. I had two helpings of Gozya pork dumplings (ten total) which were great! Michelle had spring rolls and shrimp sushmai, Genetta the ramen miso base, and Greg a ginger salad and Sex in the City sushi. Mom had ginger salad and spring rolls while dad enjoyed calamari and Gozya pork dumplings.

After dinner we returned home and chilled. I worked an hour or so catching up on mail and had Café au Lait and Beignet ice cream while listening to music emanating from the street corner until they stopped playing around 11:00pm. Just as we were about to head to bed the airlines contacted Genetta. We headed out to the corner and waited for her to arrive around 11:30pm then headed to bed around midnight.