We spent the weekend in New Orleans, LA.
Friday afternoon, we headed to Johnny's Po' Boys. Po' Boys are well known in New Orleans. They are similar to hoagies - just with different fillings. John got a hot sausage po'boy while I got a shrimp po' boy, both with mayo, lettuce and tomato. We were glad to have experienced New Orleans cuisine, but weren't too impressed with the meal itself. A Koch's hoagie from West Philly would beat that any day of the week :)
After that, we drove about 45 minutes to visit several plantation homes. The first one was the "San Francisco Plantation." We found that every plantation charges to see the grounds and the house - so in traditional Indian fashion, I distracted the tour guides while John snuck in pictures of the grounds and slave quarters .. ha ha ha :) It was amazing to see how just a few feet from this huge mansion, the slaves lived in such small quarters.
We decided to take a tour of the last home we saw - our favorite, the "Oak Alley Plantation." The front of the property is surrounded by 28 trees (14 on each side) which have been around for 300 years. The trees were there 100 years before the house itself. We were told the history of the house, and stories about the first and last owners. The last owners actually lived there until the 1970's. 600 acres of the original estate are leased for sugar cane, and 450 acres still are virgin woodlands. 75 acres of residential area surrounds The Oak Alley Foundation property. The foundation owns and operates the Oak Valley Plantation and the surrounding 25 acres. It was a really amazing place, and the pictures don't really do it justice.
Saturday morning, we headed to "The Old Coffee Pot" - a place one of my clients who was originally from New Orleans had suggested for breakfast. The place was cute and cozy, and the food was excellent. It was definitely a good choice. A description of our food is included with the pictures.
After that, we took the streetcars for a tour of the city, going throughout the city to the park, to riding beside the river. We then took a quick ferry ride across the Mississippi, before heading back to the hotel. It was an extremely hot and humid day to be out - probably around 90 degrees, but felt like well over 100. We were going to go out at night to see Bourbon street nightlife, but I think the heat from our day trip got to me, so unfortunately, we ended up staying in. We'll have to make another trip to New Orleans at some point to make up for it :)
Sunday morning, headed to Cafe Du Monde - a well-known New Orleans establishment. It was built by the same people who had built the Oak Alley Plantation. It's a great place to sit and people watch. It gives you a glimpse of what New Orleans used to be like. The only food item on the menu are "beignets" - a type of French doughnut, similar to our "funnel cake." It was crowded, and all the customers had powdered sugar on their face. Our recommendation - definitely don't wear black to this place unless you want it covered in white powdered sugar :)
Next: 6 hour drive to Houston, Texas
Here are our pics from New Orleans:
Sunday, June 8, 2008
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