Happy Saturday in New Orleans! Turns out I had no trouble
getting up that morning, thanks to being a wonderful hour behind the East
Coast! I’ve never been a strong sleeper, especially not in a strange bed, so I
was up before the sun and had plenty of time to enjoy a morning walk to Café du
Monde to meet the boys by 7:00. I left around 6:15 or so and gave my Love a
call because he was already up himself.
I arrived at the café a bit before 7:00, and while I was
still on the phone with Steve, who walked by but Amanda and Bill! They were so
in love and unaware of their surroundings that they didn’t see me! I was not
about to bust in on their breakfast date, but it sure was cute to see them!
Stan and the boys arrived a few minutes later, bright-eyed
and bushy-tailed, ready to attack the day! I know some women go to New Orleans
to pick up men, but though that was not at all my intent, there I was with four
handsome gents! We did in fact take a picture:
Stan had said that if I made it there to meet them at 7:00,
he’d buy me a beignet, and he did indeed make good on that promise—and a
coffee, too! I had fun hanging with the boys for a while, and I even persuaded
them to pick me up for church in the morning. On their way out, I had the
pleasure of introducing them to my friends, who hadn’t even noticed we were
there until I walked up! Again, I did not intend to be a third wheel on their
date, but in true gentleman style, Bill insisted I sit with them for a while. I
really do have the greatest friends!
Back to the B&B! It’s a nice walk in the day time.
Breakfast was buffet style, served in the lovely parlor. The Parisian Courtyard
Inn B&B is truly lovely—antiques everywhere; ornate, Victorian décor; lace
tablecloths and doilies galore. Now sure, the beignets were good, but I knew
for myself that I’d be needing some protein to get me through until lunch, so
yes, I had another breakfast. After walking three miles round-trip, I figured
I’d earned it!
Now to the Garden District! There was a free tour of
Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and the Garden District starting at 10:30 that I
wanted to take advantage of, but Tracey and Amanda were moving a bit slow that
morning. And why not? They were on vacation! So I decided to set out and take
advantage of the rest of the morning.
The tour was great! I didn’t know I needed to sign up in
advance, so when I got there, the guide, Kat, had to put me on standby. And
fortunately for me, one person didn’t show. There was actually a party of four
ahead of me, but since there was only one no-show, Kat had to tell them they
were outta luck, but I was in luck! Hooray!
We meandered through the cemetery for about half an hour and
saw many wonderful crypts! Turns out they’re like mini crematoriums. It gets so
hot inside the above-ground graves that the bodily remains turn to ashes and
get pushed back when a new body is ready to go in—no less than a year and a day
from the time the last person was put in.
Then we set out for the larger portion of the tour through
the Garden District, which is apparently where all the celebrities live! I’m
not particularly interested in where famous people live, but I was along for
the ride! New Orleans just surpassed NYC and LA as the #1 filming city—movies,
TV shows, music videos, etc.—which is pretty cool. I had no idea! What I also
didn’t know was that the Garden District only suffered some wind damage from
hurricane Katrina in 2005, no standing water or anything else like that.
We saw Sandra Bullock’s house, John Goodman’s house, the
Benjamin Button house, and the biggest house in town—11,000 square feet! We
also stopped by a couple of Anne Rice’s homes and the house Mark Twain visited
often when he was in town. But my favorite house, of course, was none of those,
but it was the oldest in the area—dating back to 1730! And it’s been in the
same family for six generations now.
Kat and I exchanged cards—tour guides must stick together,
you know—and if she makes it up to DC, she’ll have her own personal tour guide!
She also gave me directions to the restaurant where I’d be meeting Amanda and
Tracey for lunch, and a suggestion on a good café in the area called City Perks. I got another crazy mid-day coffee (iced
mocha to be precise) and headed toward Charcoal’s Gourmet Burgers on Magazine
Street.
Amanda and Tracey met me there with a delightful surprise… a
street car day pass! I got the elk burger, and the girls got the antelope
burger, I think. It was great! Trying new meats is fun for me.
After lunch we took an unofficial tour of the Garden
District, including celebrity houses! I couldn't remember everything, of
course, but we hit some of the highlights! Next stop: my BB, which the
girls loved! I’ll admit it, most B&Bs are kinda girly.
We were starting to get pretty pooped at that point (at
least I was!), but I still needed to get some Christmas gifts from downtown, so
we walked in to town (the street car was way behind schedule, so walking was
the best option for us) and found a great candy store! The girls got me a sweet
potato praline—yum! And oh so Southern!
Just as we hugged goodbye and parted ways to go to our
respective lodgings, I turned around, and who was there but Stan’s dad and one
of his brothers! I gave them both a hug because that’s what good Southern folk
do, you know. Too funny to run into them at random like that!
So then it was time to make my way back to the B&B, but
not before a quick stop at Starbucks for a mug to add to our collection! Much to my dismay, however, the
first Starbucks where I stopped was out. And the barista told me there is a
SHORTAGE of New Orleans Starbucks mugs! So I tried a couple more Starbuckses
that were nearby, but they were closed. I’d just have to try again tomorrow!
This is what I dreamt about that night...
Goodnight to all. Stop back by soon and hear about our last
full day in New Orleans! It involves a larger than life dessert and a duck
washing, so get ready!
For pictures, click here!
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