March 20, 2021 - New Orleans Food Tour

We spent three days in New Orleans. The first thing we did was a Food Tour, of course. Basically we walked around the French Quarter and sampled New Orleans cuisine. Our guide was excellent and along with the food information gave us lots of New Orleans history.

Here we are having a delicious Muffuletta sandwiches down in the French Market.

The French Market has a large variety of food stands plus souvenir shops.

A food stand example.

We went to a restaurant for some tasty gumbo and jambalaya. Also on the food tour we dined on some Gator bits. Tastes like chicken although not as tender.

The impressive Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans statue near the French Market.

Typical corner restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Near Decateur Street with Jackson Square in the background and part of Washington Artillery Park in the foreground. What are all these people standing in line for?

They are waiting in line for the famous Cafe Du Monde where chicory coffee and beignets have been sold since 1862.

Later in the day, the line for Cafe Du Monde wasn't so long, so Lynnette and I had chicory coffee and beignets.

Lynnette really liked the beignets which are covered in confectionary sugar. Mmmmmm good!

Down by the Mississippi River! Looking south at the Crescent City Connection bridges.

Lynnette admiring the Andrew Jackson statue in Jackson Square. Artists and performers ply their trades in this park built in 1721.

A man as great as Andrew Jackson deserves a close-up.

Another corner restaurant. Notice the bride at left.

Washington Artillery Park.

After the tour, of course we had to check out Pat O'Brien's, just off Bourbon Street. Lynnette and I had been here back in 1981.

Lynnette enjoying a "Hurricane", the cocktail invented by Pat O'Brien's barmen in the 1940s. The story of the drink's origin holds that, due to difficulties importing scotch during World War II, liquor salesmen forced bar owners to buy up to 50 cases of their much-more-plentiful rum in order to secure a single case of good whiskey or scotch. The barmen at Pat O'Brien's came up with an appealing recipe to reduce their bulging surplus of rum. When they decided to serve it in a hurricane glass, shaped like a hurricane lamp, the hurricane was born.

If you know Pat O'Brien's, you can see we are not in the big room with the twin dueling pianos I remembered from 1981. It was closed for some reason; we were in the smaller bar on the other side of the main passageway. You might also have noticed that the Hurricane is not in a hurricane lamp glass, but a plastic cup. Covid, I guess.

Bourbon Street getting wild. It's 4:30 in the afternoon!!!

Although it wasn't Mardi Gras, beads were much in evidence.

Decorations are big on Bourbon Street.

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