Tag: Crawfish

ACP in NOLA Day #6 “Paul Simon, etc.”

by reissmd, posted in New Orleans, New Orleans (NOLA)

Last night was very special.  We took an Uber to the Saenger Theater.  By the way don’t take a cab here unless it’s from the airport where the fee to and from the city is a fixed rate.  We’ve taken 3 cab rides here and not one taxi had a meter.  It’s as if they make up the charge on arrival (With the exception of the airport rides).  For instance last night we took an Uber to the theater and paid $10.  Yesterday we took a cab to the same place to buy the tickets and the charge was $20. 

Oh well, let’s concentrate on the happy thoughts.  The show was at the Saenger theatre which was built in 1927.  It has housed performances by Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Jerry Seinfeld and many others.  Broadway shows have also been featured including Chicago, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, and next week Hamilton.  The theater is gorgeous. Before the show we had a chance to tour around this beautiful theater.  We met an usher who had been on the job for only 2 days but was born and raised in New Orleans and it was obvious that the theater had been a big part of his life. He filled us in on the history of the theatre and gave us a list of the songs and the order in which they were going to be played.

Look like we are having fun?
A variety of statues adorn the walls. There is a night sky decoration on the ceiling.

Simon came onstage at 8:15 for a show that was scheduled to start at 8.  I was disappointed looking at the song list because “Father and Daughter” was not included.   Although not his most famous song it has been special to me since I made two music videos using the song. Each honored one of my daughters Lindsay and Erica (I also made one for David using “Let’s Hear It For the Boy”. A better choice for obvious reasons).  Simon finished the show and then came back for his encore with the songs listed as “The Boxer” and “The Sounds of Silence”.  He started to talk about his daughter Lulu and then much to my surprise he started playing “Father and Daughter”.  By the time he got to the last line (“There could never be a father who loved his daughter more than I love you”) I was in tears. [Patrice here: The big baby was in tears just writing this sentence.]

It was a special night but the 83 year old soon to be 84 didn’t quite sound the same as years ago.

This morning I started off thinking it was time to hit the gym and get on the treadmill. I kept procrastinating until Patrice woke up and said “Let’s go to breakfast”. We took an Uber to Who Dat Coffee Cafe (2401 Burgundy St, New Orleans, LA 70117) which was recommended by our friends Alan and Becky. We shared the special of the day Oysters Benedict.  I said to the server that it sounded very healthy to which he replied “They don’t call us the heart attack capital of the world for nothing.”  

Oysters Benedict with Grits instead of fruit (Why try to be healthy?).
Your happy travelers in front of Who Dat Coffee Cafe.

After breakfast we took a short walk to the nearby Jamnola museum. Jamnola stands for Joy Art Music New Orleans Louisiana.  It was a small but fun museum with lots of creative exhibits. 

I thought we were in an M.C.Escher painting.
We offered an alligator some tasty Californians.

We thought we would then cruise the neighborhood but heavy rain with thunder and lightning convinced us to just chill in the museum a little longer.  

Crawfish (also spelled Crayfish) making Robert Etouffee
He changed his mind and we played a duet instead.
Patrice showing off her muscles.

They had a number of costumes and accessories that people have worn at Mardi Gras celebrations including the outfit below.

A guide was asked if it weighed about 100 lbs to which she say, “No, somewhere between 95 and 105”.

Then it was off to lunch. It was still raining quite hard so a walk to burn off some calories was not going to work so another Uber ride was upon us. We decided to return to Muriel’s for another amazing meal.

Crawfish and goat cheese crepes.
Blackened Redfish with some broccolini (added to make you think you are eating healthy).

I think Muriel’s might be our NOLA favorite. 

Sorry, I need to stop for now. My book group meeting is about to start. Dinner will be late so I will leave you until tomorrow.

Ciao

ACP in NOLA Day#3 “Who is Having More Fun?”

by reissmd, posted in New Orleans, New Orleans (NOLA)

This morning I headed out to the ACP meeting trying to get to a 7:00 AM talk. Yes, 7:00 AM! Don’t these people realize that some attendees are coming from California? I did my best not to disturb Patrice while leaving at that absurd time of the morning. After a quick breakfast I made it to the meeting where the speaker was discussing wound healing. I had no idea the extent of the pictures that were to follow. After seeing some tasty bed sores and limbs that looked like they were destined to be amputated, my breakfast started to revisit me. Luckily it stayed where I had placed it rather than returning to my mouth.

The morning went well, as did the afternoon. While I was trying to get smart, Patrice was again exploring the city. She went to the Audubon Aquarium (I thought Audubon was into birds?) which is not too far from the hotel and said she was thinking of me. Then she sent me this picture (see below)

Thinking of me? What is she trying to tell me?

One of my concerns for this vacation was that I would not get any time to exercise. We are staying at a hotel that is across the street from the convention center and with so many interesting talks how would I get any time to work out? It turns out that the New Orleans convention center might be one of the longest ones in the world (1 kilometer according to Wikipedia). Even though we are across the street, the meetings are at the opposite end. On Wednesday my pedometer read 14,243 steps. Today it was at 6,477 by noon. The set up here is kind of crazy. It is not unsual to have about 500+ steps between lectures. And when you get disoriented about the lecture room location (which is easy to do) you can add on another 500 steps.

After the conference we decided to head out for dinner. First I thought I would see how the outside world was doing and I found this. See below.

Hmmm, this blog is suppose to be fun and games.

After seeing that my appetite became curbed a bit. I thought for a moment and I asked myself, do you think Patrice would accept McDonalds instead of another fancy NOLA restaurant? That would be a NO!

Dinner was at an Italian restaurant named Domenica (123 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA 70112). It is located inside the Roosevelt Hotel and was recommended by a friend of Patrice. The food and service were superb. See below.

Patrice had the fish of the day, Red Snapper.
I had the crawfish pizza. It was excellent but Patrice’s fish was much better.
We shared the Brussels Sprouts.

As I said the restaurant is located in the Roosevelt Hotel. The hotel looked very elegant. It opened in 1893 when it was called The Grunewald Hotel”. In 1923 it was renamed in honor of former President Teddy Roosevelt. I was told that Huey Long often frequented the place. We checked out the lobby and saw this painting. See below.

Patrice said it reminded her of us. I didn’t understand then I looked a little closer.
Now I understand.

I have to get some work done now because before you know it, I will need to hustle down the street to the conference.

Ciao