Lots of fun and food, and a chance meeting in New Orleans

 Jerry and I are in our Super 8 rooms in Harrison, AR. We head for the Buffalo River in the morning. Not sure how much Internet access I will have, if any. I’ll try to post photos from my iPhone when possible but will spare you my writing.

   Here’s the latest report from Kathy in New Orleans. Not sure I have these in order, but I don’t think that steals from the sense that a good time is being had by all.

At old-school Irene's in the French Quarter. Italian with only a slight Creole accent.

Night in Fouberg-Marigny (left): This district is taking over from the French quarter as the hipster music scene. We had a blast in this bar.

Shrimp and grits (right) at Emeril Lagassa's NOLA, recommended by Joe Yoxall and others. Also on our table, fried chicken, classic Sazerac cocktails. Yum!

Interesting history of burial practices -- above ground because 80 percent of the city is below sea level.  Catholic section dominates as it was exclusive to them for years. Pyramid is Nicolas Cage's tomb he bought a while back.

Trees with Spanish moss.

Live oaks everywhere; many are covered with tiny ferns and Spanish moss as well as dozens of strands of beads tossed out to crowds during parades but snared in the embrace of these giant oaks. We learned today at the botanic gardens that they can live several centuries and have grown to a spread of 132 feet with trunks of 11 feet wide. Glorious.

Infamous Superdome during Katrina: All cleaned up now.

 

A city park that has a wonderfully diverse sculpture garden chock full of fascinating work. This one is a series of crouched figures sitting on top of one another. 

At the Camellia Grill. When we greeted them with the local "where'd y'at," they broke into the coolest Cajun-style rap I'd ever heard. This guy on the left sounds like Lou Rawls. A total hoot.

Brunch and jazz at a grand old eatery, very formal, Old South stuff (called the Commander's Palace, a landmark restaurant). No shorts and flip flops here, just white linen, a great jazz band, mimosas, shrimp 'n grits, pillowy biscuits and sinful bread pudding.

And a bonus: discovering John's old Ohio State buddy Don dining two tables away. What are the odds? As dessert arrived (heavenly bread pudding with bourbon sauce), the band came over to serenade us, then all of a sudden Don is tapping me on the shoulder! He is there with his wife and a couple who are their neighbors.

At Commanders, the eggs benedict comes with giant biscuits and slow-roasted pork. Above, Susie goes in for the kill while Marilyn photographs her dish.