Road Trip: South - Capitals Tour
Day 5: Sunday, May 21, 2017 - New Orleans, LA
Weather: 83, cloudy.
Steps: 11,600 (Steve); 10,862 (Linda)
Drove: 107 miles
We indulged in yet another continental breakfast with the same offerings as yesterday, because, well, it was the same hotel as yesterday.
It was Sunday morning so the beginning of the day was planned around going to Mass at the Saint Louis Cathederal at Jackson Square. The service was at 11:00 AM local time. So after breakfast, we hung out a little before driving into town. We were originally going to walk, but decided that, due to the potential weather and having already walked, we would drive. But the lot we found was only about 10 blocks closer than the hotel so it wasn't really that much closer. But we really weren't that much farther away to begin with. I guess it's all relative.
Just before hitting the Jackson Square park, we captured a trio playing on a second story balcony of the restaurant Tableau.
A brief video clip.
We still had plenty of time to take some photos in the Jackson Square area and the mighty Mississippi.
Inside Saint Louis Cathedral, before Mass started (we were early), we got a couple pictures in.
The church is a really nice and old church.
A couple notes about the service. While there was an organist, there was also a choir. No real surprise there. But there was also
a timpany drum. Yes, you read that right, a timpany drum. Second, though there were hundreds in attendance, there were twelve
Eucharist Ministers helping give out Communion, and it went surprising fast. Also, for those that may not be familiar with the
sign of the cross during a service, picture making the sign of the cross on your body at the end of the Mass when the priest says
"In the name of the Father [touch forehead], Son [touch torso], and Holy [left side] Spirit [right side]. Amen." Two
seconds, tops. Now picture that being said by a very old newly appointed Bishop. Slowly. "In... the... name... of... the...
Fa-ther.......... and... the... Son............ and... the... Ho-ly...... Spir-it......... A-men." Probably eight seconds.
Mass ended a little after noon. Time for Linda's next surprise. We had reservations for a walking food
tour. Our meeting location was at SoBou (short for South of Bourbon). We were seated inside and a waitress
said there was someone else that was there for the tour. She eventually found us, her name was Erin, and we waited
for our guide. Eventually, Lindsay, from Doctor Gumbo, arrived. But she brought along an additional 14
people. So we initially thought it was going to be 3, but turned out to be 17. Our starting spot was also
the host to our first three food items: pork cracklings (aka rinds), bou dan balls (essentially a breaded and fried
sausage ball), and what they call the Sunday Special (it is essentially a beignet [southern donut] with a sweet icing).
All three were delicious.
Our next stop was the Pepper Palace. They had a huge
collection of hot sauces, salsas and the like. You were welcome to try any sauce you wanted. They ranged
on a scale of #1 (like tomato sauce [Tobbasco is #4 and Sriracha is #6]) to #10. There was also a sauce called
The End. It was higher than #10. You had to sign a waiver to try it. Seriously. While I did
sample a #10 - the Time's Up Reaper Hot Sauce - I did not try The End, though I was this close to doing it.
Lindsay said some people had on previous tours, but they regretted it.
And outside Pepper Palace, our host, in the
middle, Erin and Linda. I thought I was sneaking a photo, but I was caught.
The next stop was at Leah's Pralines (pronounced prah-leens [only non-locals call them pray-leens]). We each got a sample so we shared one and packed the other for a snack later. We also got a small sample of bacon-pecan (pronounced bay-cun [just kidding, pronounced pa-khan {not pee-can}]) brittle. I sort of wish this was the last stop as it would have made for a nice dessert after our meal. No picture at this stop.
Between stops we had a chance to see some architecture.
Next up was NOLA Po' Boys (if you are reading this chronologically,
you may recognize that name - it coincidentally happens to be the location we ate dinner at the previous night). We sampled
both the catfish po' boy (fried fish on a roll with lettuce and tomato) as well as the muffalata (meats, cheese and olive
salad on toasted bread). And here is Lindsay making a delivery to the table.
And the next stop was at Tujague's (pronounced two-jacks),
the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans behind Antoine's (Leah's Pralines was across the street from Antoine's).
We had slow cooked beef brisket with a mustard based sauce. While I am not a fan of mustard, the sauce tasted more
like cocktail sauce than anything with mustard. They prepared an extra portion by mistake. So rather than
it go to waste, they gave it to "someone" who happen to be standing nearby. Want to guess who the lucky
recipient was? <big smile>. Oh drat, another missed food photo op...
Our last stop was at Tableau. Yes, the same one
with the musicians from this morning. To get there, we passed through Jackson Square. Coming out of JS, there
was a band playing to the right. I did what I could to try to get a few seconds of them on the fly - we were all
walking toward Tableau afterall.
At Tableau, we had seafood gumbo that was really good.
Though we had a great long lunch, it included a lot of walking - not that there's anything wrong with that. And we
didn't want to risk being hungry early later. So, of course, we hit up
Café du Monde for some café au lait and
beignets. Here is the to-go line after we waited on it for about ten minutes.
We ate the beignets on a bench in Jackson Square - and I'll say du Monde's beignets and dark pants don't play well together.
We drank the coffee as we walked to the car and had it done a little after getting underway.
We bid NOLA adieu and were off to visit our next, and second, capitol: Baton Rouge. We hit a heavy down
pour a little before the city and it stayed with us the entire time to the hotel. There was even a little
lightning and thunder. We approached the city.
We checked in at the Super 8, relaxed a little and went to sleep.
FUN FACT: Louisianna has parishes, not counties.
FUN FACT 2: The word "cajun" is derived from the Anglo-fied term for someone who is "Acadian". When asked
"What are you?" the response was "Acadian"... "Acadian"... "A cajun". Took many years.