New Orleans
With only one full day to investigate New Orleans we were up and at 'em early. Everyone had told us that we had to have breakfast at Cafe Du Monde, so that was our first stop. Holy cow!!Talk about a cash cow!! And cash is all they accept by the way. They are open 7 days a week 24 hours a day 364 days a year (closed on Christmas) and the place is PACKED!! The menu is simple--they serve beignets (donuts with powered sugar on top) coffee, hot chocolate, or orange juice. That is it. 4 items. Order quick, eat quick, and get out so more people can take your place and get their fix. Once again, don't these people realize how hot it is?? Why does everyone just pretend we aren't all sweating to death as we sit outside eating beignets and drinking hot cocoa? At least in Mesa, we have the common sense to stay inside and sit in our air conditioned homes! Here, everyone just pretends that the heat and humitity don't exist and continue about their business as usual. Abby loved the beignets and took a few extra for a snack later in the day.
We crossed the street caught a carriage tour. For an hour we were driven around town by a mule (they tolerate the heat better than horses and are the only animals authorized by the city to work tours) and given the history of the big easy. A favorite stop was the city cemetary where we learned that people are buried above ground due to the high water table and the fact that New Orleans sits below sea level. Families buy a crypt and they are all buried there--generations of people all in one crypt. We learned that you have to be buried for a year and a day before the next family member can be buried in the same spot. That gives enough time for the heat and humidity to naturally cremate the body. The bones are then pushed to the back of the crypt with a "shaft" (she says that is where the phrase comes from, but google had a different answer on our car ride) and the newly dead family member is added. Nicholas Cage bought a crypt there--it is white and shaped like a pyramid.
Other fun things we saw that day included Sandra Bullocks home (in the garden distric--beautiful homes that the american's built when they settled there), the St. Louis Cathedral (abby lit a candle since she saw everyone else doing it), and the Mississippi River. Abby's favorite thing of the day was the Outdoor French Market. Lots of fun little shops and she got a snowball (snowcone for those of us in AZ) which was very refreshing. The girls had rings made as souveniers and bought fans to help keep us cool. We tried pralines (ehh) and bought our christmas ornament for the tree! (yippee) The man we were meeting for dinner had given us some recommendations for lunch and after we walked clear across the french quarter to get there, Bryan decided it was too nice for us to eat at and found a different place online for us that served pizzas. We walked there and it was even nicer than the first, but the troops were revolting so fancy expensive pizza it was for lunch! We had an appetizer of a roasted caulifower head with whipped goats milk which was interesting but at least the kids all liked it and ate it all up!
We took about an hour to rest in our hotel room and get catch the end of the world cup soccer game and then Bryan and I were off to meet Ben at Antoine's for our first meeting of the trip.
OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER
Yep! Kristin ATE one! The things I will do to help sale this business. In the very restaurant that invented this dish. Of course I also got to eat Baked Alaska. And these incredible puffed potato things that were delicious!! Meeting went well. He was a really nice guy. The kids stayed holed up in the hotel, so we picked them up some chicken from the Chicken Shack off of Bourbon street on our way back to the hotel (we decided they shouldn't see it twice). All in all.....it was a great day! Plus, we get to hear from Alyson tomorrow and find out where she gets assigned for her first area!!