Anything goes in San Francisco but a lot more goes in New Orleans

DAY FIVE ~ New Orleans 0 miles

The much loved Grey Lady was given the day off today as I tried to cram all of NOLA into one day, and I certainly gave it my absolute best shot.

My Fodor’s “Essential USA” guidebook has been the source of many of my decisions for places to eat and sights to see on this trip. I wish that I had even more time to explore but I think this trip has really developed into an amouche bouche of the USA, a small sampling of some really good stuff (obviously I am addicted to Top Chef). I wish I had time to see everything but I know where I want to go back, and I have a strong feeling that my kids are going to hate me when I force them to take the Fry-so and so family vacation road trip across America. But when it came down to it Fodor’s wasn’t as specific as I wanted it to be, in fact I was really missing the Ricker, as in Rick Steves whose amazing guidebooks have been fantastic for European travel! Luckily dear friends Jen and Greg came to the rescue with the essential New Orleans in a day recommendation game plan! They really hit one out of the park as I had a pretty amazing day. I also want to thank my mom as she also had some really good recommendations from when she and Dad visited New Orleans pre-Katrina.

I started out in the morning by taking the Canal Street street car to see some of the NOLA cemeteries with their above ground mausoleums (this is due to the fact that most of New Orleans exists below sea level and because of the high water table). What was most interesting was that this streetcar skirts the Lower 9th ward where so much of the damage from Katrina occurred and the ride really gives you a small sense of the damage that still exists. So many buildings sat abandoned and boarded up, from small homes, to historic ones, to one major office building with everything single window broken. After the hurricane the population of New Orleans dropped to less than 300,000 people. It still hasn’t recovered, and it shows. Hurricane Katrina and FEMA recovery truly dominate the mind frame of every New Orleans resident.

From there I headed to the Acme Oyster House for my first ever charbroiled oysters smothered in cheese and other good stuff. It was at Acme when I realized that I would not make in the South as a permanent resident….everything is made from, dipped in or started from flour and with the Celiac it makes if difficult eating. In fact I wanted to eat the crap and shrimp gumbo…no! Chicken jambalaya…. No! Red beans and rice….suprisingly no! So I settled on the oysters and some fries in this total dive – delish! This no flour thing would continue to haunt me throughout the day…benignets at Café du Monde – nope. Grits and goodness at Mothers – nope. Eating at Jacques-Imos – yes but only with adjustments from a very kind waiter and chef who felt sorry for this poor sucker from California.

From Acme I took a walking tour of the French Quarter, one that totally stunk! Our guide was a lovely older gentlemen who spent two hours telling personal stories while we walked a grand total of five blocks! I was beyond frustrated and I felt that I should have done my own walking tour of the quarter. Some of the gems that he shared included:

Did you know that the New Orleans accent is similar to a Boston or New York accent and has absolutely nothing in common with a Southern accent?

Did you know that the black codes weren’t actually applied in New Orleans because everyone just got along?

It was the first time in my life that I have every stopped listening to the tour guide!

I was more than ready when I went to the Napoleon House for a Pimms Cup. This place was awesome as over the bar they had a bust of Napoleon and were blasting bombastic classical music, and the waiters all wore classic dress, kind of like the Buena Vista. This house was originally offered for an exiled Napoleon after the collapse of the Hundred Days instead of St. Helena. I also visited the Old Absyinthe Bar, the sight were Andrew Jackson plotted out the Battle of New Orleans in 1815.
Next on the agenda was an hour street car ride on the Saint Charles street car line, that passed through the Garden District (this is where Brad and Angelina have their home btw.) to end up at Jacques-Imo’s restaurant. The food was unbelievable, including the best quiche I have ever eaten in my life!
The lovely man who was dressed as a sea captain with a cool stick and a very colorful captain’s outfit hailed down a cab for me so that I could enjoy a Brass Band at Preservation Hall. And who doesn’t love a brass band? I got a front row seat and the band was amazing! (I have decided I want a brass band at my Viking funeral in a hundred years from now!) But I also want to take a moment to complain about one of the men in the audience. Yes you can clap to the beat during a performance – but if you are the only and you can’t keep on beat you are not cool and you need to stop clapping. Also when you change to hitting your thighs with your hands, it doesn’t sound cool like you are a brass band conessieur, no it sounds like sweaty hands hitting sweaty legs and that is gross! Finally unless you are Ray Charles sunglasses at night and inside make you look really lame!

One of the best things about traveling by yourself is all of the people you meet that you wouldn’t have meet had you been in a group. Today I spoke with the librarian of the Bronx Zoo who was in town for a librarian conference, the NOLA businessman who was at Acme for lunch before heading back to the office, a young man from New Orleans who told me to watch out for the trees on the street car and then laughed every time one came close to getting me, the man from Mexico whose daughter was living in San Francisco and who was a chemical engineer who had left Mexico City because it had become too dangerous, the grandma from Mississippi who had raised four kids and then went back to earn her college degree, the woman from East Texas who had just arrived and came straight to Preservation Hall, or the two friends who had been friends for over twenty years and adopted me as a surrogate daughter for the last half of a disappointing basketball game – boo Lakers. All of these people who chatted with me gave interesting little glimpses into their lives to this complete stranger from San Francisco.

Miles Traveled So Far: 2287.6

Movies that have run through my mind: No time too busy

Best sign of the day: Warm Beer, Lousy Food, Poor Service (This was outside one of the best places of have ever eaten)