"If you are going to drink all day then you have to start in the morning" is the slogan of the Ruby Slipper where we started out our day with breakfast. Their signature Bacon Bloody Mary is made by combining 20 bottles of vodka and infusing it with 10 lbs of cooked bacon for five days. WOW what a way to start your day but only in New Orleans.
After a breakfast of champions it was onto the streetcar and a trip to the Garden District. Wonderful homes of a bygone era. As we walked about I could imagine hearing the mistress calling to her maid "Missy will y'all fetch me a cool mint julep while I set a spell on the front porch and rock on my porch swing". I didn't realize until later in the day that my favorite actress Sandra Bullock lives here where the average price for a home is between 3 and 4 million dollars. That would be USD of course.
We had a very interesting tour this afternoon visiting the levies and witnessing the areas which were devastated by Hurricane Katrina 11 years ago. When levies break, water doesn't flow uphill and since New Orleans is built on swampland below sea level the results were not going to be anything but catastrophic. The cemeteries play an important role in the history of the city especially given the circumstance surrounding swamp conditions on which they were built. Used multiple times for the principle purpose of burying those who pass on, the movies have also incorporated many cemetery scenes into movies such as Double Jeopardy starring Ashley Judd and Billy Bob Thornton.
And the food fest and antics in the French Quarter continue. Beignettes or basically fried dough dusted with powdered sugar is a good reason why there is a problem with obesity I thought as I shoveled down three and washed it away with a Coke. The evening's dining event at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse was highlighted with a serving of prime rib, rubbed down with honey and served with a creole sauce. This was preceded by an appetizer of bone marrow escargot and pared with a great Argentine Red Argiano. The sweet spot was satisfied with a banana bread pudding. Two spoons please. It took me a while to comes to terms, but in the end I had to confess it was the best slab of beef I ever had the pleasure of eating. More music along the never ending stream of bars and clubs with women and girls flashing their breasts to encourage people to throw strings of beads at them. This enticement seems to be only second to music and football as the national pastime in the Quarter. Girls selling shooters out of test tubes and serving them to you while appearing to be making out at the same time is just another one of the many bizarre things one sees here. We are leaving today but thankfully we will be back to NOLA in a week. There is so much more to do and see which we have to take in including getting down to the Mississippi and the Paddle Steamers.
Sounds delicious!
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