Back from Vacation Part Two

Posted by Bob Greenberger on May 23, 2012

Continuing reporting on our vacation to New Orleans…

Friday

We continued to explore the city and then took a lunchtime cruise aboard the Natchez, a steam paddleboat that took us out on the mighty Mississippi river. We travelled only a few miles, seeing naval vessels, boats loaded with cargo, oil refineries, and a sugar factory. Deb enjoyed the sights, I found it somewhat disappointing. The lunch was a nice buffet accompanied with a Dixie jazz band which played some nice music as we cruised.

Once back on land, we continued to walk and wound up exploring the Preservation Hall at 50 exhibit at the Old Mint museum at the end of the French Market area.

Our day continued with a twilight walking tour of the French Quarter, conducted by Glenn, who was born and raised in that party of the city. He was extremely knowledgeable, debunking some of the legends, telling us new ones. Glenn was strong in his opinions so we were told which restaurants to avoid and which he loved, freely giving recommendations. One stop was at the home where William Faulkner wrote his first novel – I never knew he lived in New Orleans although I did know Tennessee Williams was there and we saw his home, too. It was a very good tour.

Based on Glenn’s recommendation we sought a restaurant for dinner but there was a wait and the menu was not as advertised so we wandered some more until we settled at Stanley’s an eclectic place on the square. The food was filling and good.

We strolled some more, stopping here and there to listen to some of the music. There was a wide variety and our bad luck was that we wound up stopping at places just as sets were finishing or performers changing. Still, we liked what we heard and found, most often, that the jazz at Café Beignet, on Bourbon, was an oasis from the madness as the street got rowdier by the day. This night in particular was made more complicated as part of the street was blocked off for the shooting of a scene for the new season of True Blood. We round a corner, get shoved off to the side and pause to watch as extras partied down the block followed by Eric Northman himself. Alexander Saarsgard strutted, bared his fangs, and roared with delight. The fans clogging the sidewalks were beside themselves in delight. As they reset to shoot a fresh take, we moved along, finding refuge in a bar for some bluegrass. WAIT! There is more to read… read on »