Our second day in New Orleans my sweet Eric woke up early and decided to take a walk while I got pretty for the day. After primping, I walked out to find him and we met at Harrah’s. Mr. Perfect was armed with cafe au lait and fresh beignets from Cafe Du Monde.  We walked down to the river and had an impromptu picnic breakfast while enjoying the tugboats.

A Wonderful Way to Start Our Day

Here’s a photo of my yummy beignets:

What's Better Than Sweet Fried Dough? Pretty Much Nothing, That's What

Eric and I took a walk along the riverfront, stopping at the Holocaust Memorial.  Instead of it being a sad occasion, it is a celebration of spirit.  The monument looks different from every angle. I took a photo, but it just cannot do it justice.

Holocaust Monument

It was an overcast day in Louisiana, but still full of life. We walked from the river over to Jackson Square, a beautiful park close to the French Quarter.

The Center of Jackson Square

I liked all the people watching here.

The Ice Cream Must Be Good If Abe Eats There

Juggling Lessons

All this people watching made me thirsty, so we ducked into Stanley for some milkshakes. Mmmmm, milkshakes.

Another Open Kitchen At Stanley

A Strawberry Shake for E and a Pecan Pie Shake for Me

The fellow sitting next to me ordered the po boy sliders and was kind enough to let me photograph them. Don’t they look delicious?

If I Hadn't Just Eaten Breakfast....

It was time for another stroll. This time, the French Quarter. Still decorated for Mardi Gras (but without the crowds).

Loved All The Balconies

It was in the French Quarter on this very day that Eric purchased the most fabulous painting for me from a very chic gallery. More on that much later. But suffice to say, I am thrilled.

Eric and I just ambled around and took in the sights. Then popped into Fritzel’s for a beverage (thanks for the tip, Arlynn!)

Errol's Handcrafted Cocktails. I Had The Amaretto Sour!

And on to lunch. They do a lot of eating in New Orleans, so I felt right at home.  We headed to Frank’s for muffalettas. Well, a half of a muffaletta. They were huge. Accompanied by some fries and cokes the size of missiles, it was plenty.

Sandwich Species - "Muffaletta Gigantis"

After lunch it was time for some gift shopping and a trip to the Absinthe Museum. That was cool. Then back over to Chuck’s for some more beverages and cheap jukebox fun. This time the bar was filled with old men playing pool and singing every Four Tops and Temptations song that the jukebox carried. I loved it.

At this point it was getting time for dinner and we decided to have dinner at Rambla, located right in our very own hotel. Best meal of the trip.

And dinner, of course, started with cocktails – a blueberry cosmo for me and a bombay breeze for Eric. Excellent.

Care To Join Me?

And then the food. Really amazing stuff.

We tried grilled octopus, a ridiculously yummy charcuterie platter, bone marrow with bacon jam (!!), the mushroom flatbread and wrapped it up with chocolate mousse topped with not only whipped cream, but chocolate Pop Rocks! It was all fantastic.

But seeing is believing, yes? Yes, yes it is.

Rambla's Menu

Charcuterie Platter

The Mushroom Flatbread

Grilled Octopus Served Over Pureed White Beans and Topped With Fennel

Bone Marrow With Bacon Jam

Sexy Candlelight To Dine By

That Chocolate Mousse Before It Was Completely Devoured

The best day ever. And we still have two more to go!

Thanks for joining me on the journey! Day Three tomorrow, Darlings!

xoxo, Patti

For my birthday this year, my perfect husband took me to New Orleans for quite the celebration.  Eric booked a sleeper car on Amtrak, so we could try a different mode of travel. Great idea. Our compartment was so big we turned on our iTunes and danced, we watched movies, we played cards and just generally had a ball. It only took a bit longer than driving and we had nothing to do but sit back and enjoy ourselves. It was just like Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint in North By Northwest. All aboard!

Our Car Was Just Like This One

Arriving into NOLA earlier than expected, we checked into the International House Hotel – a really gorgeous property in the business district. Dinner reservations at Luke were for 9pm, so we had a drink at the very swanky hotel bar and walked on over.

Luke was chosen specifically for its seafood tower. And as we had just watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, we were craving some caviar and vodka.  Our waitress was a lovely young lady who confirmed that there was caviar on the top of the seafood tower.  She brought us the tower and it was topped with….ceviche. Now, if you don’t know, ceviche is seafood marinated in citrus juice, which “cooks” it. It is not caviar.  I’m not sure if Luke just didn’t see fit to train their servers, but that’s a pretty big mix up. She told us she only eats burgers, fast food and breakfast. She hates seafood, so she has no idea what they serve there. That seems weird to me. But by golly, she was nice.  As for the seafood, I regret to say that it was only mediocre at best. Mushy crab, mushy shrimp and bland oysters made up the majority of what was on offer. We ate most of it, but this was not a terrific culinary start to the weekend.  The strawberry topped cake we ordered for dessert was yummy, though.

Some photos for you.

The Aforementioned Seafood Tower

The Open Kitchen at Luke

A Passel of Seafood

Our Tasty Dessert

We took our leave from Luke and walked back toward the hotel. Eric mentioned that it would be swell if we could happen upon a neighborhood bar for a nightcap.  Suddenly, we look up and lo and behold, there stood Chuck’s – Open Nearly 24 Hours. Ask and ye shall receive, I tell you.  We popped into Chuck’s and ordered a couple of beverages and I decided to play the jukebox. At .25 per song. One quarter per song. That’s crazy cheap.  So, we sat in Chuck’s, enjoyed our drinks and our twenty-five cent songs. Much more fun than Luke.

Even though we didn’t do much on the train but lounge, traveling leaves one depleted and at this point, we were done for the day.  We had packed three bottles of champagne and asked the hotel to send up a bucket of ice. We iced down one bottle of the bubbly and hung out in the room for the rest of the night. Perfect end to our fine first day.

Tomorrow I will regale you with tales of beignets and other tasty treats.

xoxo, Patti

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