House Lust in New Orleans

Venturing out on a streetcar named St. Charles, we spent most of the day touring the Garden District of New Orleans, which is enough to make you drool all over yourself.  The homes are gorgeous, and they go on for block after block.  Lots of celebrities live in some of these beauties, but we promised Anne Rice, John Goodman, Sandra Bullock, and Archie Manning (plus Eli and Peyton) that we would respect their privacy and not make a big point of identifying their homes. Since the friend’s house where Jefferson Davis died has a big plaque and a stone monument in front of it anyway, we did not have any hesitation in calling it out,  All I can say is that they each have nice taste. 

Drained of drool and starved for something to eat, we lunched at Commander’s Palace.  It may be considered touristy by some, but if every place that catered to tourists were this good, it would be a different world.  And if this place were in New York at those prices, we would eat there every week.  Here’s a glimpse of their signature turtle soup, pumpkin soup, sheep’s head fish filets and a chicken salad, all of which were to die for.  They also have the charming custom on Monday through Friday of charging 25 cents (not a typo) for a martini, and $5 for a glass of wine.  I would show you the dessert, but somehow that got past the camera.  Sigh.  It was wonderful….

To aid our digestion, we next went to Lafayette Cemetery, across the street. One of the famous New Orleans cities of the dead, it’s not quite so atmospheric on a gorgeous sunny day, but you get the ideal of above-ground burials.  Many of Anne Rice’s vampires resided here as she lived just a few blocks away.

We then rested up for  the show at Preservation Hall, which was extraordinary music from the actual Preservation Hall Band, but excrutiating seating.  I was on a mat on the floor and thought I would have call a crane to get up.  But then, two hurricanes at O’Brien’s next door afterwards and I just didn’t care…