I just got back from New Orleans and my first time at the French Quarter Festival. It is a 4-day event with stages setup along the riverfront and even all the way down to the French Market. Local restaurants setup their food and beverage booths as well with jambalaya, shrimp and grits, shrimp over cornbread, red beans and rice, alligator and more. Plus, there is no entrance fee. It is very hard to beat that combination of music, food, drink and free entrance. I have already made a note to add it to my annual travel calendar.
I got to go since my buddy, Derek, was over there for a conference. Kevin took off work and came over, too. Mike and Maureen were already in town with family so they joined us while we all were there.
The first night, Thursday night, was a late night - up to 3 or 4am. Kevin and I waited for Derek to finish with his conference so we picked a great spot on top of the hotel (
Troubadour Hotel) at the Monkey Board. One of their happy hour drinks was French75. Who knew champagne and gin went together so well? Their elevator sign reads "Do Watcha Wanna". We all had been here before and it had, I'm pretty sure, been different; but similar sentiment.
Derek had eaten dinner with his colleagues earlier so we ate at Irene's without him. I Love Irene's. I like her new location even better than the old place. Make sure you make a reservation as she does pack them in.
We went to Harrah's and met Derek. He was gambling with some of his colleagues. None of us did very well that first night at Harrah's, but I did very well the next night on roulette and walked out with about $800 in winnings. That felt pretty good.
The rest of the night was bar hopping with one of the memorable moments of the evening happening at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop on Bourbon Street toward the end of the night. Derek happened across this sketch artist who sketched us all up on the sideward outside of Lafitte's. You will love the sketch (see further down the page). Chester only charged us two drinks and then I tipped him $20. He probably does pretty well as a street sketch artist.
Getting back to the hotel was rough. Derek only had a single bed and the hotel was unable to change him to a double. The front desk clerk, however, was able to put us in a dirty room. It was 3am or so and we were all about passed out so we took it. I've slept in worse places. It was rough, though, when the front desk called to wake us up at 6am letting us know we had to move back to Derek's room so the morning staff could clean the room (or so that the morning staff would not know that they had let us use that room). I would have rather just slept on Derek's floor and not have had to get up at 6am. Still, it is just another story that we all will bring up at dinners for years to come. We'll tell our Perdido Key and Derby crews for sure.
We slept late on Friday (Derek couldn't. He had to be up before 8am for conference stuff. Poor Derek, hahhaha); and met Maureen at the French Market. It is early in the year so there was not much produce at the market. I was looking to see how they sold their basil there as April and I are growing basil in pots and will probably have a lot to sell in Alabama.
Maureen, Kevin and I had a good time walking around Jackson Square with all of the artists. I found a jacket I almost bought for the Kentucky Derby (although a woman laughed at me when I tried it on - haters gonna hate, I doubt she'll ever be at Derby anyway) and got my fortune read by Zoltar at one of the shops facing Jackson Square. Zoltar is the fortune telling machine that was in the movie "Big". Zoltar talks and tells you a fortune and then prints a fortune as well. I liked the fortune he tells you; not so much the printed fortune. It is a dollar. Get your fortune read before prices go up.
The three of us walked through a lot of the French Quarter Festival and ate there, too. Then back to Royal Street and walked through a lot of the galleries. I met one of the artists who told me he drives, once a week, to Pensacola Beach and back in the same day just so that he can sit on the beach under the pier and be by the water. It is a 3 and a half hour drive from New Orleans to Pensacola Beach. That is lots of time and lots of miles and gas. He must love the beach. I did tell him he should buy a condo there.
We stopped in at the new historic New Orleans museums. It is located on the lot where one of the old three story houses had collapsed a few years back. They had a map table in the front entrance showing New Orleans from its beginnings to present day. It was very Minority Report-ish. We did not tour the museum, but I probably will next trip.
We walked Maureen back to her car at the Marriot and then she dropped us off at our hotel. Kevin and I changed for dinner and went back up to Monkey Board for happy hour drinks. We were early so it was much nicer than going there yesterday afternoon when it was so crowded. Derek was with conference people so Kevin and I got an Uber over to The Meatery where Derek met us and Mike and Maureen as well.
We had a great dinner at The Meatery. Kevin had picked it because he watches the Food Network and the owner of The Meatery, Isaac Toups, had been on one of those competition shows and won. Isaac Toups was there that evening and we all got a group photo with him after dinner. I think Kevin was star-struck.
Mike and Maureen drove us all back to our hotel saving us an Uber ride although actually we got them to drop us off at Harrah's. I then proceeded to win my money. Kevin, who had to work the next day in Foley, called it an early night. Derek and I made our way back out to Bourbon Street but were back far earlier than the previous night. Derek had an 8am flight back to Savannah.
This was a great trip. The French Quarter Festival is now on my annual travel calendar and thanks, Harrah's, for giving me a bunch of money and thanks, Derek, for sharing your hotel room. Let's all do it again soon!
Another quick note: they are finally redoing the World Trade Tower next to Harrah's on the river. I had been there before Katrina when the revolving restaurant was still open on the top. I do not recall it revolving that trip. I think they had stopped running the motor and were just about to have it redone by Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson but then Katrina hit New Orleans and the entire building has sat vacant until now. It is going to be a Four Seasons Hotel and Luxury Apartments. Surely, they will bring back the revolving restaurant. I'll be there.
https://twocanal.com/
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| French75 at Monkey Board Happy Hour |
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| Dinner at Irene's |
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| Rickshaw Ride to Harrah's |
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Unprofitable night at Harrah's
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| That's okay. We will be back tomorrow. |
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| Chester does our sketch art outside Lafitte's |
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| Noah, Kevin, Derek by Chester |
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| Disney stock hits all-time highs on Disney+ news |
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| Dinner at Toups' |
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Photo Booth at Harrah's
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| Tried to recreate Chester's sketch of us. |
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| Super Dome from Monkey Board |
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| Photo with Isaac Toups after dinner |
