Day 6 included a "food walking tour" of New Orleans in the
morning, and a "ghost tour" in the evening.
Heading over for our food walking tour, here is the quintessential New
Orleans shot: a bridge over the Mississippi River, a steam boat to the
right, and in the foreground is a guy playing the guitar for tips.
Andrew Jackson Square with his statue, and in the background is the St.
Louis Cathedral.
You have to like the stylin' blue hooves on this horse.
Our first stop is to meet up with our guide at Cafe du Monde, renowned
for its beignets. In the background, you can see the line heading up the
block, so our guide had the sense to get ours to go, and we ate them sitting
on the fence behind the restaurant.
Here's Kimberly sampling the fare. You have to lean forward, as they
are covered in powdered sugar.
Peeking in at the chef. The dough comes through the machine on the left
that cuts it into squares, and he tosses them back into the fryers behind
him.
When they're done, he scoops them out and throws on the first batch of
powdered sugar.
These gates are closed for flooding, and are part of the levee system.
A statue of Joan of Ark (Jean d'Arc), also known locally as "Joanie
on the Pony".
Cute story: almost all of the restaurants in the French Quarter that
make Po'Boy sandwiches get their bread from a German bakery named Leidenheimer's.
Here is one of their trucks out for delivery. They used to have a slogan:
"Leidenheimer -- it's French for bread."
Next course, a cup of chicken and shrimp gumbo. Gumbo is made with a
roux -- a sort of gravy that is then mixed with rice and spices and meat.
Next course, a muffaletta. The triangle you see is 1/8 of a muffaletta
sandwich. It consists of some number of Italian deli meats, some number
of cheeses, but what makes it a muffaletta is the olive salad in the middle.
In this case, there are three meats, three cheeses, and the olive salad
included cauliflower and carrots. Yum.
Now a little dessert. In the foreground is a praline, and to the right
is a "shoe sole" -- a praline-flavored pastry.
The back side of Jackson Square; the cathedral is to the right. This
whole line of "vendors" are psychics and tarot readers.
And, of course, nothing is ever complete in New Orleans without a little
street music.
A shot of the cathedral.
A couple of signs we saw around town.
Later that night, we went out for a "ghost" tour. Here is Kimberly,
waiting all bundled up, for the tour guide.
Above this store is the place where started the Great Fire of 1794. It
was Good Friday, and the devout person had candles lit on an altar at
home, which ignited the curtains. The church bells were wrapped for Good
Friday to honor God with the silence, so they couldn't sound the alarm
in time.
This is where they signed the Louisiana Purchase.
"Touchdown Jesus" shining up on the back of the cathedral.
We dropped into this hotel where the ballroom is haunted, but first we
stopped to try a Belle Giselle, the drink named for the ghost. There is
also supposedly a Confederate soldier that is sometimes seen behind the
bar.
Take lots of pictures of the stairways and the ballroom; that way, any
photographic anomalies can be identified as ghosts.
Sad to say, no one on our tour encountered a ghost anywhere.
Another hotel that is supposedly haunted. This one has a "corn fence"
of wrought iron.
The Pirate's Bar, supposedly the longest-continually-operated bar in
the United States.
Look! Ghosts!
This building is owned by Nicholas Cage, but is so haunted that no one
has lived in it for more than two years at a time.
