New Orleans - Part One

I've been trying to figure out the best way to show you my New Orleans photos. It'll take two or three posts. Reading this post, you'll probably be thinking... umm... did you do any work at all while you were in New Orleans?! Yes! Five out of six of the days were work days. I'll show those in the next post. I'm waiting for someone to send photos of me using power tools. Turns out I'm rather awesome at cutting stuff up with a chop saw.

I got a lot of fun stuff in on the one free day I had, plus the two nights we went out.

I got to New Orleans a day before I had to be at Camp Hope (more on Camp Hope later). I wasn't sure what free time I would have during the week so I gave myself a day to explore. Good thinking: by the time we ended our work days I was too tired to do much else. Unfortunately I didn't have time to explore anywhere else but the Quarter. Oh well - next time!

The French Quarter is still kickin' it:


Early morning ritual: hosing down Bourbon St. I usually avoid Bourbon St. because, well, I'm not a big drinker. I'm no longer in college nor do I wish I was young again. I'm also not prone to shouting "woo hoo! party!" at random strangers for no apparent reason. (No worries if you're one of those who like to shout at random strangers. I respect that - I'm just not that animated.) On this trip however I was comforted by the smell of old beer emanating from the street. I took it as a sign that things are going to be okay in New Orleans.


Andrew Jackson is still watching over Jackson Square:


Within a block from each other on Chartes St.:



Yarn!


The Quarter Stitch is a very friendly yarn store. It might be small in size but the yarn selection is choice. They have a wall of Koigu. I may have bought some as a souvenir. While I was there there was a young guy shopping for his girlfriend. He was partying in NO with his buddies but still managed to bring home yarn for her. Halfway through his shopping one of his friends waiting outside quietly passed him a to-go cup full of beer.

Every time I've returned from a trip to New Orleans, I am always asked the same question: where'd you eat? Even though five of the seven days I ate at Camp Hope I managed to get my fill of the required New Orleans food:

• Coffee and chickory cafe au lait and beignets from Cafe du Monde? Heck, yeah.


• Gumbo: I had the best chicken and anduille gumbo I've ever had from The Gumbo Shop in the French Quarter. If you want to make some good chicken and andouille gumbo, check out this recipe. All his recipes look amazing.


• Crawfish: on our last day the staff from the National Trust New Orleans office gave us a tour of the city. Before we started the tour they surprised us with boiled crawfish. They weren't going to let us leave NO without teaching us the proper way to eat them. I loved the tails but must admit I'm squeamish about the heads. Hopefully no one noticed what a wuss I am about shellfish.


• Po-boy: After filling us with crawfish and touring the city, they took us to Parkway Bakery and Tavern. I had my first ever oyster po-boy. My god. The ingredients are so simple; fried oysters, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, mayo and french bread. I never ordered one before because I always thought, what's the big deal they got all that where I live, too. But something about that soft crust french bread makes the grease and oyster juice mix with the mayo and tomatoes and creates a soupy mess of the most amazing sandwich. Hold on... just thinking about that po-boy has got me daydreaming again... I need a moment.

Margaret was one of the people in my group. Here she is making friends with a crawfish:


More later!