A Weekend in the Big Easy

To celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary, which was a few weeks ago in June, we drove over to New Orleans last Friday. The trip took a bit longer than I thought it would, maybe 6 hours. We stopped at a little roadside restaurant just before we got out of Texas, called the Spindletop Diner. Excellent food, very well prepared, and reasonably priced. The staff were also very friendly.We stayed at the Maison Dupuy, a nice hotel right in the French Quarter. We stayed there many years ago, when driving across the country from Florida to California, and had good memories of our stay. We were happy to discover they are doing well after the hurricane. As is most of the area. As we walked from the hotel to see the sights on Saturday morning, we noticed freshly washed sidewalks. How nice! Then as we approached Bourbon St, it became apparent that washing the sidewalks is a necessity. After most every evening, the sidewalks are a bit messed up with the results of folks over-enjoying the many bars on Bourbon St. and throughout the Quarter.

A carriage ride from Jackson Square gave us a broader perspective of the French Quarter, with some historical background filled in by the carriage driver. We tried to take a river cruise, but it was lunch time, and we were more inclined to fend for ourselves to eat. We went back to the hotel and got the car, so we could cruise the Garden District and the University area just west of that, all along St. Charles Avenue. Very pretty, lovely old buildings, mostly well kept or restored. We spent some time at Harrah's Casino after that, and I actually made a slight profit at the Blackjack Table. Cool!

That evening, we dressed up a little bit from shorts & sandals in order to "dine" at the Court of Two Sisters, a famous restaurant. The food and service and ambiance were every bit as wonderful as we hoped it would be. On the way back to the hotel, we had intended to stop and listen to some Zydeco music, but Bourbon Street was in full swing, and things were more than a little rough around the edges. We had a few nightcaps at the hotel instead.

Sunday, we drove towards home, leaving New Orleans by US 90 instead of the Interstate, in order to see a little of the countryside, Cajun Country. It was okay, not nearly the hustle and anonymity of the Interstate. But we had to join up to I-10 again at Lafayette, and made it home just fine.