New Orleans is by FAR the coolest city we have visited in the US. It is like no where else I have ever been and has a really, really special vibe that I'm going to fail miserably at trying to describe. The locals genuinely believe that the city is haunted, giving the place a very spiritual atmosphere. Thomas and I heard numerous times that we are coming to that time of year where the boundary between life and death can be crossed and we can communicate with the dead, whatever that means. You can see signs of belief in dark magic and the voodoo Gods everywhere which, although slightly eerie, is indisputably entirely unique.
The city is split into neighbourhoods and each one offers something totally different, from mansions to the ghetto, excellent live music to tacky cross-dressing bars, upscale restaurants to the best local creole food... the list goes on. I absolutely loved the French influence that is visible throughout the city in the architecture of the homes and buildings, and in the food. I have decided wooden shutters are a must in my future home!
Most of the houses, regardless of size or price, have porches with deck chairs where friends and families sit in the evenings and drink and talk, which I thought was so wonderful. And don't even get me started on the food; there is top quality grub of all nationalities everywhere you look. Everything I ate, whether it be cheap or expensive, was downright delicious. We were told that the city has over 200 restaurants and over 400 bars; we barely scratched the surface in our 3-day stay, so a return trip is an ABSOLUTE must. Although I wouldn't particularly want to live in New Orleans, I think it is a bloody amazing place with so much to offer and would be perfect for a 1-week trip of fun.
The long:
Tuesday:
After an 8 and a half hour drive we FINALLY arrived at the hostel, although I'm quite proud to say that we did it on just 1 tank of petrol. I can also assure you from first-hand experience that there is absolutely nothing to look at along the drive between Texas and Louisiana; it most certainly isn't the 1! Having said that, it was quite cool to drive the last hour of our journey and actually enter the city of New Orleans during sunset. Since it was dinner time when we got there and Thomas and I quickly popped into my beloved Whole Foods before pulling up at our final destination, "Nola Jazz House", to pick up some grub. The hostel itself was really nice and I could not have been more grateful to myself for reserving us a twin private room, since we had both so been looking forward to New Orleans and I didn't want our stay to be ruined by bad sleep (like we had had in Austin). The drive and our last night's activities in Austin combined had left us fairly exhausted so we decided to save both money and energy and have a cozy night in so that we could be fresh and ready to explore New Orleans properly the following day.
Thomas had bought sushi and I had created my own salad to accompany another piece of salmon from mum's gifted stash. Thankfully there was actually a frying pan and hobs at this hostel so I was able to respectfully cook the fish; Thomas even accepted a fillet... and loved it! So thanks mum.
We ate in the common room, which turned out to be a great idea since we ended up chatting for hours with some lovely Australian girls staying in the hostel and the guy who ran the front desk called David, who later became our bestie and knew New Orleans like the back of his hand, so we got loads of top tips for the next few days. With an itinerary sorted we hit the hay excited for tomorrow.
Wednesday:
We had a big day lined up so headed out from the hostel nice and early and made our way to The Ruby Slipper Cafe, a much hyped brunch spot.
The restaurant was full when we arrived and there was a queue of people waiting, so we knew it was going to be good. We ordered "eggs cochon", poached eggs with hollandaise sauce served over pork debris (pulled pork) and buttermilk biscuits, and a chocolate chip pancake. Holy cannoli. The place deserves a 10, which is not something I say lightly. Eggs cochon was like eggs royale but a million times better, and I love eggs royale. Screw English muffins, biscuits are where it's at!
As for the chocolate chip pancake, please try to imagine our delight when Thomas cut into it and there was melted chocolate INSIDE the pancake.
I don't care if that deserves an "only in America comment", because it should be available everywhere. Finally, somewhere that understands a good sauce to dry food ratio. Absolute top marks.
We left in a bit of a hurry as we had to get to our swamp tour for 12pm. Pedal to the floor we made it in the knick of time and boarded our pontoon.
Within a few minutes of setting off we were lucky to see the first alligator of our tour, which was a 4-footer that transpired to be rather partial to the odd hotdog:
Our guide was very informative about the different types of trees and wildlife living in the swamp.
I was particularly interested in the stuff that was hanging from the majority of the trees branches, which we were told is called "Spanish moss" and forms much in the same manner as the moss that we are used to.
Back in the day people used it as stuffing for pillows and mattresses, and Henry Ford even used it to stuff seat cushions in one of his earliest car models, but this didn't last long, as the moss is filled with all types of bugs that crawl out at night and eat you alive, hence the term "bed bugs"!
^ This green plant covering the swamp like a carpet will eventually kill the surrounding plant life by preventing all of the sun light from reaching the roots of the trees so, although it looks rather pretty for now, is really rather deadly for its environment.
We saw a number of huge different birds, including blue herons, white egrids and turkey vultures.
There were also some turtles basking in the sun, and I even spotted a Magic Ninja (the name I gave my red-eared slider terrapin when I was younger), which was pretty sweet.
Supposedly you don't get to see many of the larger alligators at this time of year since the weather is getting cooler and they want to keep their body temperature in the 80's (fahrenheit), but we were really fortunate to see a 9-footer chilling in the sunshine!
We also saw baby ones, which were super cute (I suppose they aren't really, but they look it).
Thomas and I learnt that alligators grow on average a foot a year until they are 6-feet long, at which point they slow to grow a few inches per year, until they reach a maximum of around 17 feet. They can also live to over 100 years old, which I found rather fascinating.
Spotting mammoth pigs and racoons was an unexpected added bonus. I was surprised to see how fond all of the swamp animals are of marshmallows; God only knows what it's doing to them!
^ Is it wrong to have fallen slightly in love with that raccoon? C'mon, you can't deny it's cute.
Finally, our guide told us about the house boats on the swamp and the effects that hurricane Katrina had on the area. As you can see from the pictures, one houseboat is a fair bit further from the ground than the other, due to the minimum height restrictions increasing post-Katrina; it's mad to think that the water level could have reached that high!
Overall it was a very informative experience and both Thomas and I loved seeing the variety of wildlife, particularly since our last few attempts at spotting some were not as successful as either of us would have liked, so that was really great. At $22 per person for a 2-hour tour I think it was definitely money well spent and a unique way to see some real New Orleans nature.
It was 3pm when we arrived back at our hostel, although we only stopped by quickly to replenish supplies en route to mini golf at City Putt, which was located not far from where we were staying. Thomas showed the true extent of the male ego by bragging the entire drive about how he was going to "absolutely smash me". Determined to beat him and make him eat his words I put my best game face on and took the first hit.
What's that Thomas... you hit your ball in the water? Oh dear.
Obviously I couldn't resist posing with some of the bizarrely featured oversized plastic figures.
As we played and the difference in our scores grew larger and larger, Thomas' showing off began to lessen and his mood darkened with swear words becoming more and more of a regular feature in each sentence.
^ It wasn't long before I wiped that smile off his face. Bear with me whilst I tally up the points.
Oh yeaaaaah, thas riiiiiightttttt.
Feeling VERY smug and pleased with myself we had a lot of laughs in the car on the way back to our hostel. We had arranged to meet up with the two Australian girls we had befriended the night before to go on a "ghost tour" of the city at 5:30pm. We caught the bus to the French Quarter, which was frustratingly slow resulting in us missing the 6pm tour start. Oh well, we had come armed with red cups, rum, tonic and coke, since New Orleans is one of 3 cities in the US where you can drink on the streets provided it's out of a can or cup. So we decided to go on our very own drinking tour. Beverages in hand we wandered down Frenchman and then Bourbon street, stopping to refill a couple of times.
Bourbon street is mad. That is genuinely the best word I can think of to describe it. There are street entertainers every few steps, cross-dressing and strip clubs in all directions, people hanging from balconies throwing beads at you in some bizarre tradition that expects you to show your boobs in return, and local, cheap food available at every corner. Oh, and it smells like s***, as in of actual poo, which the locals joke about as being reflective of the kind of people that frequent Bourbon street.
We did, however, get to see an awesome street dancing pair, aptly named "White Gold", which I thought was rather fantastic.
It was absolutely buzzing by the time we turned off the street and walked towards the water to find our chosen dinner restaurant, "Coops". We arrived and joined the mammoth queue. High expectations were set.
Tripadvisor never lies, eh? Once seated we went straight ahead and ordered the sharing platter to get a taste of all the local specialties to help us decide what to get for mains. The platter consisted of fried chicken (the staple); gumbo (a kind of rice soup); jambalaya (like paella); shrimp creole (shrimps in a cajun spiced tomato-based sauce), and red beans (beans stewed with pulled pork served with rice).
It was great to try everything "New Orleans" and there were some truly great flavours in the dishes, but it's just not my kind of preferred cuisine so none of it is going to feature on my favourites list. I liked the jambalaya the most so went ahead and ordered that for my main, whilst Thomas got the shrimp creole.
We also ordered a "fried errrrythang" to share between the 4 of us, which was probably my favourite part of the meal. Deep fried shrimp, crab claws, and oysters (something I've never had before and were undoubtedly the best in my mind) swam there way down into my much appreciating stomach.
It was all super authentic, cheap and yummy so we were 4 very happy customers. Seeing as we were so close to the infamous Cafe du Monde (featured in the film Chef), known for serving the best beignets in the city, it would have been rude to pass up on dessert.
There are only two things on the menu; beignets and cafe au lait. Spoilt for choice we placed our ordered and eagerly awaited the arrival of our highly reputed dessert. Powdered sugar galore ensued shortly afterward. I mean, it was unavoidably everywhere. But it was worth it. A beignet is like a very hot donut with a thicker, chewier consistency, absolutely drenched in powdered sugar. I was "afraid" I wouldn't like it due to its lack of sauce, but I was pleasantly surprised. It went down an absolute treat and was something we both really wanted to try during our stay, so was a big tick in the box!
It had been a long evening since we had started drinking so early so Thomas and I were happily done for at 11pm. We said farewell to our Australian friends and grabbed a cab back to the hostel, where we passed out immediately.
Thursday:
Thomas and I left the hostel at just gone 12pm and drove to St Louis Cemetery No.1, the oldest and most famous cemetery in New Orleans, where Nicholas Cage has already bought his extravagant future resting place. Apparently the hip and cool (and wealthy) say "I'm so New Orleans I'm going to be buried above ground", so as to avoid rising from the ground and having to mix with all of the other earth-buried spirits when there is flooding.
The cemetery is just absurd. There is every type and style of tomb, ranging from the glossiest and whitest to old-age red brick.
^ Currently empty and awaiting the arrival of Sir Nicholas Cage.
You wouldn't believe the size of some of the tombs:
Just insane. It was such a surreal place to walk around, particularly when taking into consideration how seriously the people in New Orleans take the passage of death. We went to see one exceptionally spooky tomb that David had told us the history of, which belongs to a "Marie Lavoe", a priestess from the 1700s, who preached "blood magic". It is a long-standing tradition that people visit her tomb and ask for a wish, before drawing an X on her grave. If the wish is granted, then you must return and draw a circle around your X because, otherwise, the voodoo Gods will punish you. It has in recent times also become custom for people to leave sacrifices at her grave to thank the voodoo Gods for granting their wishes, which have featured many dead animals, and even a baby. Hence the cemetery now closes at 3pm to avoid any late night unlawful gifts being left.
^ Some of the current less eventful donations.
Visiting the dead worked up an appetite so it was time to try "America's best fried chicken", as in LITERALLY what is said to be America's best fried chicken, at Willie Mae's restaurant.
From someone that doesn't get particularly excited by fried chicken, I have to say it was incredibly tasty. The meat was succulent and the batter had the perfect blend of spices and crispness. Thomas' first comment was that he "never wants to eat KFC again". It scored high marks for sure.
Time for Mardi Gras World, where all of the floats for Mardi Gras are built from scratch.
We got to try on some of the costumes and learnt about the carnival, its process and meaning. After watching a video collaboration of several different Mardi Gras' I can say that it looks like an incredible celebration, which New Orleans takes very seriously, with the main aim being simply to spread joy and have fun.
Some of last year's floats:
Who would have thought the amount of work that goes into making the decorations. The workers literally spend a year building just a handful of figures each before they have to start the process all over again for the following year.
I've definitely never stopped to think about how things like this are actually made, and the time and labour involved is really quite unbelievable. It made me really appreciate the finished products so much more.
^ Just look at the detail! Truly impressed we left with a piece of "King cake" in hand, which is the cake traditionally served at Mardi Gras and is a bit like a cinnamon roll. Inside each cake is 1 slice of cake that has a baby inside it (literally I have no idea), which if you get then you have to throw the next Mardi Gras party or bake the next cake.
We stopped by our hostel to say hi to David (so much love for him), and hear about his bad date the night before from which he had brought us a gift of leftover cookies n' cream cake, not that we needed it! He gave us directions to where we wanted to go and off we went on our car tour of some of the outer neighbourhoods of New Orleans. We drove down St Charles street, otherwise known as "mansion street", to check out the homes there:
Rather grand indeed, particularly when compared to the more common style of quaint and quirky housing throughout New Orleans:
I know I've discussed it to death but neither Thomas or I can still get over how seriously Halloween is taken over here, just look at the effort these home-owners have gone to, it's incredible!
^ Me in 100 years, wine glass in hand.
Once we were done rich home admiring we made our way to Baccahnal, a trendy outdoor wine bar, where it wasn't long before we were assaulted by conversation from some very drunk (and friendly) Americans who wanted to know all about our trip.
The wine bar had a lovely atmosphere and the garden was full of people merrily drinking and eating food (which I might add looked very delicious; Thomas and I could spend forever in New Orleans eating, the food options are truly amazing!). We bid our fleeting friends farewell and drove back to the hostel to make ourselves pretty for our splash out dinner at Commander's Palace, supposedly New Orleans' best restaurant.
Oh yes, happy birthday Thomas!
I ordered crispy pork belly with a sunny side-up quail's egg and lemongrass sauce, whilst Thomas got the signature Turtle soup (made with actual turtle, yes). The soup came highly recommended and I must admit that I had my doubts about his adventurousness, but I ended up extremely jealous as it was excellent and mine was actually a little disappointing (a lack of crunchy crackling)! That will teach me.
We were both stuck between the same 2 mains so decided just to split them half and half; 8oz fillet (Kansas beef you'll be pleased to hear mother) with potato puree and bernaise, and mushroom and truffle risotto with heapings of crabmeat.
Both were superb. And, as you know, no good meal is complete without dessert. Thomas had the apple cobbler and I had the pecan pie. All the stops were pulled out for the birthday boy!
^ Great hat Thomas! It had been a wonderful day and evening, so we could think of no better way to end it than to see some burlesque at Hi-Ho Lounge, where the show "Cirque d'Licious" was being performed; we were in for a treat!
We watched a man swallow swords and a fat woman dance around with flaming nipple tassles; what more could we possibly have asked for to end our stay in crazy fun New Orleans?
The burlesque show was actually very, very good and at $10 each, well worth the price. Thoroughly impressed and exhausted by New Orleans we returned to the hostel and to this incredibly sweet note waiting for us in our room.
Thomas and I decided to thank him for everything by buying him a 6-pack of his favourite Budweiser and an Oreo cake. He really was the bee's knees and so helpful in every aspect.
Goodbye New Orleans, you will be heavily missed!
No comments:
Post a Comment