New Orleans - Day 2



Our morning began MUCH earlier than we'd hoped when we received a 5 AM wake up call that we had NOT asked for. So annoying. We were both quite unhappy as the call more or less awoke Isla for the day (at 3 AM Seattle time!) Accidents happen I guess but usually 4 star hotels are a bit more dependable. Anyhow, we didn't really have a set plan for the day but jumped on the trolley toward the Garden District to grab breakfast as Slim Goodies. Graham had some delicious Guatemalan plate of black beans, plantains, eggs and cheese with tortillas and salsa and I shared a full breakfast of meat, eggs and sweet potato pancake with Isla. The place was really quirky and the bathrooms made me wonder if the health department hadn't been by for an inspection for awhile but it was fun. Apparently Obama ate there because there were pictures of him on the walls.

Following breakfast, we walked ALL OVER the Garden District, admiring the gorgeous mansions, particularly their doors which were quite ornate. Isla totally zonked which allowed us more time to really explore.



We walked by this one house and the owner happened to be standing outside. He was super friendly and started telling us about all his neighbors (most of which were famous). He pointed out the house where the Tale of Benjamin Button was filmed (below-do you recognize it?)

Then came the real kicker. He told me that Sandra Bullock lived four houses down!! WHAT? I was a block away from my favorite actress' house!? I didn't know she lived in New Orleans! He told us to go on over and say hi to her and her new baby, Louis Armstrong--she'd likely be home with him. So we went and stood in front of the gate of her HUGE home (the picture only captures about 1/100th of it) but she didn't come out. Maybe we should have actually rang the bell but I was too chicken. Her neighbor said she is even friendlier in person than her movie persona. I was pleased to see she had a little pond along the fence with a sign that said that any coins would be donated to Make a Wish Foundation. I like her even more now.

Oh and I had to include this next picture because we found a lot of New Orleans looked like there was a party in the trees. We saw Mardi Gras beads EVERYWHERE, hanging from balconies, draping in trees, dangling on power lines and scattered all over the ground. I thought Mardi Gras was in March?? Apparently the city sees no reason to clean up the leftovers...

Sweet girl, awake from her slumber

We rode the trolley back to our hotel and then headed for the pool which was basically my single goal for the day. Isla was being such a trooper and I wanted to be sure she got in some pool time. Man does this girl ever love the "cool" as she calls it.

She was quite literally SQUEALING with delight basically the whole time we were in the water. She also seems to have no fear and will hop off the stairs or edge of the pool into over-her-head water if we didn't keep a close eye. I love her and couldn't help smiling at her joy.

I promise I went in the pool too. I'm just not pictured because somehow my husband convinced me that I looked good in my two piece even though pregnant. I was extraordinarily skeptical but took his word for it. Then I saw the pictures and determined they were not for the public's eye. :) Anyhow, I love this next shot...like father, like daughter.

We headed out again for a very late lunch at Mother's Restaurant, a local and very popular cafeteria style place. Our goal was to get something "light" (since it was already nearing 3 PM and we didn't want to spoil dinner) but also southern. Is that even possible? Still I'm not sure. We settled on a grilled shrimp Po' Boy on soft french bread. Man was it ever good, even though it was a fried shrimp sandwich waiting for us when they called our number. Oh well. I'm sure fried is more southern anyway. We ate it in front of the aquarium along the river walk in the sunshine (the weather has been great by the way). We also took this opportunity to walk by Jackson Square and Cafe du Monde in the daylight. There were some awesome street musicians that stole our attention for a few minutes.

Doesn't Isla look so thrilled by the park? She was wanting OUT of the stroller. I don't blame her!

We happened upon a gelato shop and my ever-intelligent husband suggested that we stop and get some. Very good idea. I had bourbon pecan (REALLY good), chocolate moon pie and cookies and cream. Graham had the bourbon pecan with a shot of espresso over top. We let Isla out of the stroller and she proceeded to run around and try and "catch" the pigeons with arms outstretched just like this:

Sitting and figuring out our possible dinner options

French Quarter architecture

Next stop: Lafayette Park for a free Wednesday night concert series. We were hoping for jazz since we were in New Orleans after all, but it was sort of more Cuban-style. We stayed for 15 minutes or so but by this point were so tired of being on our feet. I wish I'd worn my pedometer. I'm sure I was at 20,000 steps at least! My legs felt like lead and the baby was causing a royal side ache (or baby ache) as I call it) when I walked. This has been happening a lot lately (it did with Isla too) but just not quite to this degree. Sitting down and vegging for awhile was definitely in our best interest.

After a little rest, we hit the streets for still more walking in search of dinner. I remember when I visited New Orleans the first time as a 10 or 11 year old, my parents had us avoid Bourbon Street like the plague. Well, as much as possible. If you are at all familiar with the French Quarter, you know that Bourbon Street runs straight down the middle of the neighborhood and it is inevitable that you at least cross it at one point or another. I was an 11 year old who loved rules so when my parents told us to avoid it, I was happy to do so (and make sure everyone else did as well). I'm pretty sure I probably even used my hands to shield my peripheral vision whenever we would encounter the street. Really, I don't know what my 11-year-old mind thought I was gonna see should I catch a glimpse of the street. I seem to recall thinking there would be topless women hanging off all the balconies but I think that must just be during Mardi Gras. We walked along Bourbon Street for a few blocks and I'm pretty sure everyone I saw was clothed. Maybe it was just a good day. But I must say that the best way to walk down that road is pushing a stroller and pregnant. Everyone more or less leaves you alone! Imagine that. There was one guy who tried to get me to come into a bar and buy a drink but ummm Hello!!?? Belly? Baby? Stroller? The street was pretty wild and LOUD. You could tell you were nearing it from blocks away. There was lots of music (some of it actually really good jazz), street performers and tourists walking around with open alcohol containers all over the street. If there's one way to lower the classiness factor of your city, it's to allow booze out in public. I'm definitely not a fan. Anyway, guess I didn't take any pictures of it so hope my description gave you enough of a mental image.

I've discovered that guidebooks can be both good and bad for our travel style. Graham and I both really like to make sure we eat the best meals possible while traveling and tend to treat the guidebook like the Bible. However, indecisiveness is also our common problem which often leads to LOTS of walking so we can see the menu of almost every restaurant listed to ensure we're making the "right" choice. Probably not the best idea when you've been walking all day. All I really wanted were hush puppies but we found these rather hard to come by (we actually never once saw them on a menu). We asked a few people and were told where we could get them but the restaurants recommended were chain places that didn't carry the appeal we liked. We finally settled on the Pecan Connection (giving up on the idea of hush puppies) which of course was as far across the city as you could get from our hotel. We ordered the try-it-all meal that came with gumbo, fried catfish, fried chicken, ribs, etouffee, red beans and rice, collard greens, cornbread and amaretto bread pudding for dessert. Still, our waitress looked at us like "Is that all you're going to order?" Apparently this meal was meant to be consumed solo, not to be shared between three people with hearty appetites. Ha! And it's no wonder New Orleans used to hold the title of the fattest city in the nation (until Houston took the lead when many New Orleanders transplanted there post-Katrina). Needless to say, we had PLENTY of food and I got my southern fix. The table next to us had ordered fried okra too and had more than they could possibly eat so they passed the heaping bowl our way and we dug in (never done that before!) Even Isla liked the okra. We were planning to stop at Cafe due Monde for another beignet and cafe au lait after dinner but after all that food, who could?