I haven't posted in weeks - which is weird, but time is flying here and busy-ness abounds. I've been helping my cat, Little Man, settle in to his new home, hanging curtains, hosting soirees, cooking up a storm, reading three books at once (dizzying, even for me), and planning travel to amazing destinations so I will have something to write about in the future. For now though, there is nothing but mundanity, which is something even we adventurers need now and again.
I mean, Indiana Jones still needed to keep his day job at the university to finance his expeditions, right?
All photographs were taken by, and are copyright of, the blogger.
27 January 2013
06 January 2013
Back to New Orleans
A long time ago, in an age known as 'my twenties', I lived deep in the Cajun heartland of Louisiana in a town few people have heard of and even fewer have seen with their own eyes. In that land of crawfish fields, tornados, casinos, and hospitality - I was fed. I was fed a'plenty.
Back a'piece there were crawfish boils, etouffes, gumbos, po'boys, collard greens, okra, bbq, red beans (and rice), and a spicy crawfish-velveeta-pasta concoction I sometimes dream about. I gained some 25 - 40 pounds in two-years in Louisiana - and not a pound was wasted. I left 8 years ago with some great stories, some great friends, and a constant aching to return to Louisiana.
While I was living in the back-bayous of St. Landry Parish, I would often of a Saturday grab my car keys and drive to New Orleans - roughly 2 1/2 hours away. I'd drive all the way there to have lunch at Mona's Lebanese Cafe, or meet up with a friend, or grab some beignets. I'd drive all the way there because I could not resist the siren call of the narrow streets of the French Quarter or the mammoth Greek Revival architecture of the Garden District. I'd drive all the way there because New Orleans felt like home.
Ironically, it was 'homesickness' for Baltimore that kept me from moving to New Orleans the Summer of 2004. I moved North, narrowly escaping starting a new life in New Orleans just months before hurricane Katrina would devastate the Crescent City. Sometimes the fates are with us.
Since Katrina I have been back to New Orleans only a handful of times, and distance and various adventures have kept me away for six-years. Fortunately, due to a random series of events involving my cat, my car, and my sanity, I returned last week to the city I love more than any other (well, maybe 'the city I love just as much as I love Baltimore').
What was best about this return trip? Well, the food was great, no lie. Two dinners at Emeril's New Orleans (seafood gumbo YUM), a lunch at August by John Besch (I can't tell you what I ate, but it was delicious!), and two dinners at Orleans Wine Bistro (which were more satisfying, more affordable, and served with more friendliness than any of the other meals I had on my trip) all helped satisfy my cravings for Louisiana flavors.
But while the food was great, the music was better...
Back a'piece there were crawfish boils, etouffes, gumbos, po'boys, collard greens, okra, bbq, red beans (and rice), and a spicy crawfish-velveeta-pasta concoction I sometimes dream about. I gained some 25 - 40 pounds in two-years in Louisiana - and not a pound was wasted. I left 8 years ago with some great stories, some great friends, and a constant aching to return to Louisiana.
While I was living in the back-bayous of St. Landry Parish, I would often of a Saturday grab my car keys and drive to New Orleans - roughly 2 1/2 hours away. I'd drive all the way there to have lunch at Mona's Lebanese Cafe, or meet up with a friend, or grab some beignets. I'd drive all the way there because I could not resist the siren call of the narrow streets of the French Quarter or the mammoth Greek Revival architecture of the Garden District. I'd drive all the way there because New Orleans felt like home.Ironically, it was 'homesickness' for Baltimore that kept me from moving to New Orleans the Summer of 2004. I moved North, narrowly escaping starting a new life in New Orleans just months before hurricane Katrina would devastate the Crescent City. Sometimes the fates are with us.
Since Katrina I have been back to New Orleans only a handful of times, and distance and various adventures have kept me away for six-years. Fortunately, due to a random series of events involving my cat, my car, and my sanity, I returned last week to the city I love more than any other (well, maybe 'the city I love just as much as I love Baltimore').
What was best about this return trip? Well, the food was great, no lie. Two dinners at Emeril's New Orleans (seafood gumbo YUM), a lunch at August by John Besch (I can't tell you what I ate, but it was delicious!), and two dinners at Orleans Wine Bistro (which were more satisfying, more affordable, and served with more friendliness than any of the other meals I had on my trip) all helped satisfy my cravings for Louisiana flavors.
But while the food was great, the music was better...
 |
| Jackson Square |
 |
| Jackson Square |
 |
| The Marching 100, Sugar Bowl Parade |
 |
| The Third-Line, Sugar Bowl Parade |
 |
| Really amazing little band of buskers on a Stoop |
Finally, it was time to say goodbye and drive home to Mexico, but I don't think I'll be letting six-years lapse again before I return to New Orleans.
Happy New Year and Peace Y'All!
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