Yesterday was cold and rainy even by Louisiana standards. New Orleans set an all time low for the date at 32 last night and this morning everybody was wearing down and bundled up even more than yesterday.
I took another long walk around Audubon Park yesterday after visiting the grocery store for supplies and trying to find a Credit Union ATM to avoid paying fees for a cash withdrawl. Finally found one that was in the Student Center of Loyola and with the proximity to the park, I just decided to do my walk there. Cold, a bit of rain and wind limited me to a little over an hour but I got in 4 or so miles around the golf course and thru some of the neighborhood and saw even more beautiful houses in the University area.
Back at the apartment to warm up and learn how to use the heater, a shower and some lunch made all things better and I did some research on what bands were playing nearby. The best sounded like the Brass-a-holics at the Freret St. PubliQ house and for $5 they were fantastic. A 9:30 start time sounded late but the band was so good I made it thru two sets. They played soul, funk, hip-hop, rock, jazz and Dixieland in the sets. Unbelievably upbeat and rockin'! Good tunes. For those of you coming to visit. They play every Thursday at the PubliQ.
Today I decided to walk south toward the river and check out one direction of Magazine St. It's, according to Monica, my landlord, seven miles of shopping and restaurants. Everything true it seems. Loads of ethnic food and lots of antiques, clothing and art galleries.
As I turned back towards my apartment, I came upon the Commanders Palace. Established in 1880 and still operating today. It has a jazz brunch that I'll be attending later in the month with my friends, Carol and Susan, that is renown in New Orleans. We'll be having the Turtle Soup, made with the freshly slaughtered baby green turtles from the Gulf. (Just kidding. A little sick AJ humor, I've had way to much to drink tonight.)
Across the street was another of New Orleans cemeteries, Lafayette No. 1, it's one of the "safe" places to tour on your own and has graves from the 1700s
Notice the tomb on the left for Destitute Orphans. (Are there any other kind of orphans? Maybe incredibly rich ones? A close up showed two young children's graves from 1878 and 1895.
Closer to home (sic) I came upon Martin's Wine Cellar. I was pretty stunned. Again in a neighborhood that was more unimproved that renovated, it seemed very out of place. I went in and found not only a reasonably high end wine store, but one with a deli.
I spoke with a very nice lady named Lorraine who gave me the background on the store, it had been here since 1946 and was somewhat of an neighborhood institution. After Katrina, it took them 9 years to rebuilt at this location On Friday's they not only taste 4 different wines but the also have a 4 at 4 promotion. Its 4 wines at $4 and 4 appetizers for $4. It sounded like dinner to me.
Returning at 4, I sampled The Culprit (which I bought a bottle of) and a Marchei Di Gresy Sauvignon Langhe Bianco 2013, which had a strange finish and I wasn't enamored with. For appetizers I tried the Gator Pork Slider and Pomme Frites with truffle aioli. Yum.
Not content to call it an evening. It was just before six and not quite my bedtime, I headed for Cure. This bar is credited with revitalizing Freret Street. It was among the first to open after Katrina and has become renown for its Cocktails.
http://www.southernliving.com/travel/souths-best-bars-0/cure-souths-best-bars
The bartender that I met, Turk made me a "refreshing" bourbon cocktail. Bourbon, orange juice, lime and an italian floral liquor. Not a combo that I would have thought of, but it worked. Very nice. I then had a house "Sazarac". 1/3 oz Absinthe, 1 3/4 oz Cognac, One sugar cube, Three dashes Peychaud's Bitters, Sazarac Rye whiskey and a lemon peel. Unbelievably smooth. Even non-whiskey drinkers would like this drink.
Here's a shot of Freret Street at sunset. Tomorrow it's the Freret Street Market. Bands, art vendors, food and fun from 12-4. Looking forward to it.
So, I hope all of you are having a terrific weekend. I'm looking forward to coming home and seeing all of the Wednesday happy hour gang. Sorry that I'm gonna miss Steven's 65 Birthday party, it sounds like quite the affair. We will however make it up when he comes to Corpus Christi to help bring the Reed's back to Westcliffe.
Wishing all of you the best.
Les Bon Temps Roule!
No comments:
Post a Comment