NEW ORLEANS-part 4-The food

So now for the fun part of the blog....and this is for Jessica, because she says that she wants to see more than just pictures of food on here!!!!!!!!!

This is one of the many places that we found to eat in Nawlin's.....fun place, kinda of local pub setting....but such good foodShrim Etoufee......with rice YUMMY
This is baked "red fish" with crawfish and shrimp in a spicy creamy creole sauce. The coolest thing here beside all that was the potates...they boil them in a concoction of water and "shrimp boil" liquid that gives them a peppy hot spicy flavor. Then they roast them off with butter and garlic...very good!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Palace Cafe is one of the Brennan family restaurants...famous in New Orleans. It is located on Canal street. And on Sunday, for Brunch, you can enjoy live Jazz in the restaurant. Very cool!!! I can't remember the name of this dish, but I do remember the rice was so good. I think that it was loaded with butter. They call is lavender rice, and the shrimp is a yummy sweet slightly spicy sauce.This is a twist on Eggs Benny. They use pulled pork with brown gravy instead of ham and then they cover it with bechmele sauce

And, I think that Brennans, one of the original restaurants in Nawlin's, deserves its own blog dedication. So, stay tuned....

NEW ORLEANS-PART 3-Katrina Effects

The effects of Hurrican Katrina are still very prevalant and "in your face" in New Orleans....and it is just about the saddest thing that I have experienced. So, I will keep it short...

This is Lake Ponchatrain. The force of the hurrican forced the waters through the levys. And since there was so much water, obviously, the levys broke.

This is a picture of the levy that broke in this area of town...notice the panels on the right hand side. These are the one that were replaced.
Most peoples homes were completey destroyed in this area. If you were living in a "stick house" you would have lost it all. The brick structures were a bit luckier. The flood waters rose to heights of 4 -6 feet here within 45 mins...how scary would that be. Once the flood waters receded, people had to take everything out of their homes and stip them down to the bar studs.
But as the water was rushing in, some people had so much water coming into their homes that they had to chop their way out of the roof...they had got themselves stuck inside when the flood waters came so quickly. Some people didn't make it out.

When the troops finally came to check for people and pets ect...they would make a mark in the shape of a X on the outside front part of the house. In the top part they would put the date. ie: 9/19 then in the left middle they would put the troop #, the right middle would denote if they found any people and the bottom would be for if they found any animals at this address. I am not sure if you can see it here in the pic, but it is on the right side of the porch...Also, this home became a station for the SPCA. It was where folks could pick up food and water for their pets. Sad...
And this boat was found "parked" in front of the SPCA house....it was there when the waters finally receded and it hasnt been removed since then. Let's remember that Hurricane Katrina was 2 and 1/2 years ago....
Ironically, the French Quarter is the highest point in New Orleans, so as such, there was no damage from the flood waters there.
They say that the quater is 95% full again but the rest of the area is only about 75% full. That equates to about 200,000 people that haven't returned to New Orleans
The statistics show that 27% of the people of New Orleans had NO insurance and the most of the ones that did are fighting with their insurance company's. That is if the company itself didnt go broke....so scary and sad.

There is still alot of crime in New Orleans....especially if you get outside of the the quarter at night. But oddly, we both felt safe enough while we were there....we actually had some nice folks stop and pick us up one night as we were walking back to our truck after dinner. They didn't want us to walk at night in this area. It was only ONE block outside of the quarter.

And still they have folks living under the interstate in tents and panhandling. The city has put porta potties there so they space is relatively clean and each person has their own space for their "stuff"

Again, New Orleans, the city that is indiscrimately charming....

More later

NEW ORLEANS-PART 2-architechture

As many of you know, New Orleans is a mishmash of cultures. It began as a Old World city in the New World. It was a carefully planned walled town established by the french.

The french quarter was very practical. With narrow streets that were cool in the hot climate. And the closeness of the houses kept everything within walking distances.

Commercial and residential spaces existed side by side. And outdoor space was in the form of courtyards, rather than having a lawn or garden open to public view.

A gorgeous sidewalk in front of a hotel in the French Quarter. The black "pillars" are called colonettes.

A example of the beautiful iron work in the quarter. It is neither Spanish or American, it is French.
More wonderfull iron work....
Notice how the whole property is walled in...the courtyard will be in the center of this building. For privacy. Also, see the doors for the car park.

See how the window are covered by shutters. The shutters allow for privacy as well as noise prevention.
See how close the homes are to each other..........
I love how the patios are kept so nice with flowers....ironic since the humid climate was so destructive.
A glimpse into a courtyard. Looks lovely and inviting dont you think....

When New Orleans became American in 1803 as part of the the Louisiana Purchase, the existing citizens did weren't so happy. They were not consulted of the purchase, didnt speak english, and they had some bad history with the Americans. So, as more and more Americans came to New Orleans, they built a "new city" upriver and across Canal Street. The Americans did not follow the "building codes" of the original New Orleans and they built American style homes surrounded by lawns and gardens. This area is called the "Garden District"

Even though these are American built homes, you can see the Spanish influence.

As well as Greek Revival....

Very charming homesAnd we are back in the French Quarter...this is a old blacksmith shop named "Lafitte's Blacksmith" It is now a bar. Imagine that, on Bourbon Street no less.....lol
This is a close up of the construction of Lafittes Blacksmith Shoppe. Built 285 years ago, they used cypress wood and brick to construct a super strong, fire resistant, long lasting building. Very cool.
The court house in the quarter. Very pretty but a little newer than the blacksmith shoppe.
St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square...A great spot to listen to music in the street. And a beautiful building.

NEW ORLEANS-PART 1 The graveyards

NEW ORLEANS...pronounced NAWLIN'S lol

Well, I have come to the conclusion that there is so much to tell about New Orleans, that I will do it in sections. The first one is the really cool (yes, weird I know) grave yards.
Very much unlike ours on the west coast (and I would imagine most places) in the fact that they are mostly above ground. We did see one in ground grave, but the walls were about 2 feet thick all the way around the grave itself. Very heavy, and unlikely to cause a "pop up"
This, of course, makes sense when you realize that most of New Orleans is built below sea level.

These are "family tombs". Whole families are laid to rest (some include 20 or more family members) Some are very ornate and well maintained. Notice the white washed ones. Remember that some of these date back to the early 1800's. Kinda tough to keep maintained after awile.
Some tombs are very simple and are used for other purposes besides housing complete families. These are called wall tombs. As you can see, alot of these are not maintained well at all. Remember that these tombs were for people of lesser means and as such, they aren't capable of "keeping up with the Jones" Notice the ones near the top left of the picture have been bricked in. The family name plate have fallen off in disrepair. There may be no family member living still or they have all left the area.

This notice is asking folks who have family in this cemetary to keep up their sites (they are responsible for them) or to have "perpetual care" at their site. This is a maintanence agreement done by someone else for the family.
This one is actually built out of ballast stones. Stones used in ships of olden times to keep it level when crossing over to North America. They were discarded as the ships are loaded. You will see streets and walls built with them (see Savanah, GE) and as here, a tomb. On some of the tombs, you could see the water mark from when Hurricane Katrina came through 2.5 years ago. The water in this grave yard rose to 4 feet in some parts...But that is a whole other section for my New Orleans blog....

This is a beautiful tomb....
A small sign of Katrina...notice the lower left hand side of the picture, on the steps of the tomb. It is the cross from the top of the tomb. Think how heavy that granite cross would be!
This one is sad...on top of a family tomb. This is a woman holding a baby in her lap with her hand to her forehead. This signifies the loss of a baby to the family.

You have probably seen on TV funerals in New Orleans...where the casket is carried down the street with the band playing behind and family members waiving white hankerchiefs....well from there they head to the cemetary and the man in charge has the tomb open. The deceased is set in on a shelf to the right and the tomb is closed up again.

A year and one day (it wouldnt be polite to open the tomb on the anniversary) the tomb is opened and the decomposed body is put into a biodegradable bag and put to the back of the tomb on shelves with the rest of the deceased family.

Well, if two family members die on the same day and they have to put two in the tomb, the cant. There isn't enough room. So, one of the decedants is put into one of those wall tombs for the year and one day. At that time, both family members are put to the back of the tomb and then it is resealed.

I have about 25 more pics of the grave yard but that would be a bit morbid...LOL

NEW ORLEANS..........

This is one of about 500 pictures that we took in the 10 days that we spent in New Orleans. I am slow at getting the blog done for this part of our trip. It is a wildly amazing city...with so much going on in so many different areas. I am having a hard time trying to get it organized and ready to publish...

I can only say that a waitress at a great cafe that we found, described New Orleans as "indescriminately charming." The perfect description of his city.

Once I get it all sorted out in some clear fashion, I will up date the blog site.

Leave it be said that, 10 days in New Orleans was a blur. A very musical, foody, sightseeing, dancing, noisy, caring, educational, freindship making, cable car riding, grave yard visiting, partying town....

A couple days sleep might help....LOL