Our second Sojourn in New Orleans has come to an end, and we are heading back to Boise. One of the things I will miss the most, once we’ve returned to our landlocked home in Idaho, is…the fish.
New Orleans has the wonderful Audubon Aquarium of the Americas on the River Walk, which runs along the Mississippi right next to where the Algiers Ferry docks.
It features a variety of water environments, ocean, gulf, bayou, and river, as well as a rain forest with a waterfall, and parrots, who have lived there since it opened in 1990. We had taken Lina to visit as a toddler, so it was fun to return with her this trip. And see old friends.
And of course lots and lots of fish.
You really do see fish everywhere in New Orleans.
Like on the sidewalk,
#koifishart
or at the Hong Kong Market, where you not only get to see them, but eat them too.
This, our second New Orleans Sojurn, was a little bit shorter than our first, and in a location slightly less convenient to our favorite restaurants, coffee shops, and other re-filling stations. But, we did NOT starve. Oooh no, far from it. We will be heading home quite fat and happy.
Want to know where, and what, we ate? Well, here’s a pretty comprehensive list with many hot links (Get it? I crack myself up).
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I have no idea if that is true or not, but if you want to eat 3 meals and a coffee per day like we do when we are in New Orleans, then you better start eating before lunch time, and that’s important!
In our neighborhood in Algiers Point we have Tout de suite . I had the “Katrina” Huevos Rancheros, and Mike had the “Poche” with boudin…
If we happen to be in the French Quarter at breakfast time we like Croissant d’Or where I had a small cafe au lait and the quiche Lorraine…
Once you have breakfast out of the way there are literally thousands of choices for lunch, supper, dinner, just appetizers and drinks, just drinks, and/or dessert. Here are just some of the places we ate at, and the meals we ate at them…
At Primitivo I had the Beef Coulette with Pimento-cheese grits…
Hamburgers are always high on our list and Mike did not miss out on having another Kim Chi Burger at the Mint Modern Vietnamese…
while I had the sizzling steak and sunny side up eggs…
and a tiny bite of Mike’s Kim Chi burger…
We added a new favorite burger to our list — the Pimento-cheese Burger, which we had at both High Hat Cafe and at Brown Butter Bistro (two new favorite restaurants)…
This sojourn had more emphasis on Vietnamese cuisine because there is a huge Vietnamese community in New Orleans with many living on the West Bank. In addition to shopping at the Hong Kong Market, there are plenty of restaurants to choose from. We ate at Pho Bang, and Rice Paper Pho…
and had Bahn Mi and Avocado Bubble smoothies at Mr. Bubbles…
Thanks to Joy’s influence I also had a few salads here and there.
With a beet, carrot and orange juice at Satsuma in the Bywater…
and after seeing “Hello, My Name is Doris” with Joy, at the St. James Cheese Co. on Prytania…
Mike’s exhibition “House Ghosts” opened on May 7th at the Carol Robinson Gallery in New Orleans.
That’s Carol, with Mike at the Opening…
We brought most of Mike’s new work for the show with us on our drive down, but we arrived in New Orleans with a few paintings left unfinished. Mike worked on them in the evenings, at his French easel which he set up on the kitchen table.
Go ahead, try this at home!
Carol always hangs a beautiful show, and “House Ghosts” was no exception.
There was a great turn out for the opening, and it was wonderful to catch up with friends, both old, and new.
I know we are probably a huge disappointment to our rabid musicaholic friends in NOLA — yes, I’m talking about you: Joy and Ed — because we are content with just the tiniest taste of Jazz Fest.
As in one day only, for just a few hours, dropping by only two or three tents, eating and drinking one or two offerings among the hundreds to choose from, and then heading home long before all of Mid City becomes one big grid-lock. Sorrynotsorry.
Watch this and tell me you think we missed out:
It is literally impossible to see it all, and because I am less and less encumbered by any FOMO (that’s “fear of missing out” for all my old school friends) and more and more content with enjoying what I’ve got, doing it our way works for us.
We arrived late afternoon on Saturday, April 23rd and went straight to the Art Tents to visit Rebecca Rebouche. She’s a busy girl, just back from Napa Valley where she was painting a family tree. (Something I would love to have her do for us one day.)
It’s Happy Hour all day long at Jazz Fest, so with our cold white wines in hand we wandered over to the food booths and enjoyed an oyster poboy…
then lingered a while at the Gospel Tent, where Glen David Andrews and the Treme Choir were raising the roof.
Our Spirits (and spirits) refreshed, we then headed over to the Gentilly Tent, stopping only to buy a present for Logan (sorry buddy, Mom and Dad went to New Orleans and all they’re bringing you back is this t-shirt),
and to watch this band which was playing for the Second Line in the video above….
Van Morrison was the headliner we were interested in seeing, so we snuggled in to wait for him — along with one-bazillion other fans, under a cloud of ganja smoke and the stylings of a “Peace, Love, and Prince” adoring sky writer.
After “Van the Man” we stopped by for a listen to the Pocket Aces Brass Band at the Jazz & Heritage Stage,
and then (pretty proud of ourselves, as you can tell from that picture), we headed out early — along with a few other people doing it their way.
Apparently ther are over one-bazillion great minds thinking alike in New Orleans. And that’s just the way WE like it.
I’ve mentioned Chris’s gallery and her work several times in my blog, so you will remember that in addition to her gorgeous embroideries and appliqués being among my very most favorite artwork in New Orleans, Chris is also the mama of Noah Antieau whose gallery Red Truck is one of my very most favorite galleries in New Orleans. It’s a small world, y’all.
Though we’ve visited the Antieau Gallery many times, the Opening last night was the first time that Chris herself was there at the same time that we were. I was over the moon, and a little bit star-struck to be able to actually meet her and talk with her about her work, and my work — I gave her a copy of my Tarpestry book which she seemed to like very much.
Of course it never hurts to have Lula “Ice Breaker” Chambers with me on these adventures!
