If you recall (or scroll down) Day Two in New Orleans ended after a night of serious carousing. After a few hours of sleep I woke up with a throbbing head, a dry mouth and. . .well. . .looking like this:
One hot shower and one boring complimentary continental breakfast later, I was ready to hit the road.
We took a semi-private van tour and learned a lot of basic facts about this city. The guy that gave the tour was a bit of a douche and, unlike MY city tours, you could tell he was just reciting a memorized speech. He wouldnt let up on the horrible jokes and kept referring to New Orleans as MY CITY. Thats the only way he would refer to the place. Hed say, the population in MY CITY is xyz. The humidity this time of year in MY CITY is abc.” I wanted to strangle him. Have to give him credit though. . .he had to speak and drive at the same time. Took very few pictures, though. It was a gray day. Did snap a few obligatory ones at one of those spooky above ground cemeteries.
We drove through City Park and Uptown and the Garden District and the Warehouse District and the CBD and saw the Superdome and Ann Rices House and Lake Pontchatrain and a McDonalds that looked like a church. All together it was a (wait for it) three hour tour.
We headed back to the hotel, which happened to be right near this place.
And right near that are the two statues dedicated to the great Ignatius J. Reilly. The statues are where the department store used to be where we first meet him in the book. The statue made of bronze is right out there for folks to see. Behind glass is an Ignatiusfish, and the Ignatiusfish comes complete with a Wheel of Fortuna and arrow pointing to his pyloric valve. All I can say is: All singing!! All dancing!!
Nearby I was also tickled by this sign.
We hung out in the room for a while. We flipped some TV channels and came across the Food Network. As it happens, Emeril was on. This was kinda cool, as we were headed to Emerils later that night!
We wanted to go to one or two fantastic sky-is-the-limit restaurants. At first I didnt want to go to Emerils thinking it was dumb and tacky. But every book I read listed it as one of the best. And when you call to make a reservation the maitre d really goes out of his way to make sure you know that this is a nice place, not Ruby Tuesdays. (Im sure some day Emeril will have restaurants in malls there are three in New Orleans; the one we attended is the original and, dare I say, most posh.)
Anyway, the place was great. I was wearing black pants and the waiter dashed off to make sure Id have a black napkin. If only he knew how rarely I wore pants when I eat in the comfort of my own home.
I neglected to photograph our appetizers, but I got this insane crabmeat and brie fondue with foccacia croutons, Ann got a goat cheese salad (with, like, the kick ass goat cheese still in its earthen rind) and Garrett got some gumbo.
For dinner and had this awesome mushroom and andouille crusted redfish. And, yes, that is the essence on the perimeter on the plate.
Garrett and Ann both got some sort of risotto and chicken situation.
Later there was coffee.
And Port.
And a chocolate tort.
Ann got this insane banana cake.
And I enjoyed the cheese plate. Always fun pretending that you know what you are talking about when you select for a cheese plate.
I didn’t have the flash on, but you can kinda get the vibe of the interior from these shots.
We walked home through the Warehouse District on Tchoupitoulas St. Wed taken a cab there, but New Orleanders are a little nuts with their fear of walking. It only took 15 minutes or so to walk back and we needed the exercise after that meal. Along the way we stopped at some really nifty hotel lobbies, one of which, and I am ashamed to say I forget the name, had some absolutely gorgeous paintings and installations. We all wished we could fit something else in our stomachs so we could enjoy a drink there. . .but no one seemed to mind that we were just hanging out. Anyway, after a meal like that you just go home and pass out and that is exactly what we did.
