Gumbo at last

Andouille sausage, Etouffee, crawfish, beignets, shrimp, what a day. Grits, duck, chicken, crab, one small taste and you will never be sad. Gumbo, black beans and rice and more, oh my what a life. There were so many other things I didn't get a chance to eat, and so many places I didn't get to visit. However, I must finally leave N'awlins with a peace of mind. I got my gumbo! And damn it was good, even the okra. Words don't do justice to the people, places and the spirit of New Orleans. Although kicking and screaming it was time to depart. I hope you continue to forget the dishes and travel with me as I trek around the globe. Next stop, New England and Nova Scotia Canada. See you there.

City of the Dead

If you are seeking history of a city and you aren't sure where to go and you really don't want to spend your day sitting in a library. Go to the cemetery, especially if it's historic. The best stories you will find, as you gaze upon the eyes of yesterday. My friends stare at me and shake their heads, a soft nervous chuckle floating between their lips, family sometimes allow their mouths to gap open and strangers only nod, a light movement of the head. I don't care. I am what I am, an unorthodox history buff. Books are my life but sometimes they just don't do it. I. Love. Historic cemeteries. There is no better place to learn the history of a city than at the old historic cemetery, encasted upon thick walls of plaster, erected to hold the souls in or the people out? St. Louis #1 cemetery in New Orleans was just the place. Dating back to 1789 and listed on the national registry of historic places and one of my top picks for cemetaries, St. Louis Cemetery #1 is the oldest existing cemetery in the city. It also, oddly enough, continues to be an active and functioning cemetery and for a fee you too can be buried there. But beware, space is tight so you may have to shoulder up to practicing cathelic and Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau but you may have to presnt her with a cake or bottle of wine or civil rights activist Homer Plessy a black smith and free person of color who was stepping up to the job long before Martin Luther King or Megar Evers. Don't believe me, read Plessy v Ferguson. Initially I decided to go to the cemetery and just walk around. Thank God I didn't. It might have been the dream I had the night before of someone running through a cemetery that caused me to change my mind and go on a tour or just my third eye pushing me in the right direction. The tour was the way to go. Nancy, the tour guide was energetic and quite informative. You would have thought she'd been doing it for years, although only months dirtied her curriculum vitae. A tranquil eeriness will fall over you as you press between and meander through the tombs, while ever present eyes from the statues above gaze down upoon you, watching, waiting, listening. St. Louis #1 is an above ground meeting place of the dead. With the extremely high water table in New Orleans, flooding allowed restless below ground bodies to float up. Yikes! Duriing a yellow fever epidemic of yesteryear, solid concrete walls were erected to keep contagion in. Humm, interesting concept, even if it didn't work. But what about the oven vaults where you had to wait 1 year and a day or Italia- Pietro Gualdo the architect who died in 1857 or the Barbarin muscians tomb where any jazz muscian can be buried or even the tomb engraved with Omnia Ab Uno (Everything from the one) that is owned by the actor Nick Cage because he wants to be entombed at St. Louis #1 in N'awlins when death closes his eyes. Regardless of who you are, where you are going or where you came from, make sure you open your eyes and your mind to the splendar and magnificence of a historic cemetary. I promise, I won't steer you wrong. And don't forget to bring a camera and note pad and pen to ensure you capture every thing, and I mean every thingggg!

Ohh wee, Can't get enough!

Well, my trip is winding down and it saddens me. There just isn't enough time to do it all. Next time I'm staying for a week for sure. Today being my last full day in the Big Easy I decided to start it off with a real New Orleans breakfast, crawfish omelet, grits with lots of butter, salt and pepper, chicory coffee and yes, beignets. You just can't eat just one. Yummmm!!!. Today is the annula New Orleans Red Dress run for breast cancer. What a treat! Take a peek and then come with me to the cemetery. See you there.

Infinite Possibilites, NOLA Day 3

There are infinite possibilities when it comes to entertainment in the Big Easy. Today I decided to walk along another path and visit the New Orleans Aquarium and Zoo. They also have an Insectorium here, but being that I am definitely not into bugs I'm gonna take a pass on that one. However, if you want to learn how to cook them and also have a bug tasting experience, this is the place for you. Oh, and by the way, I don't know if I've ever seen real sea horses except those that we mail ordered when we where twelve and they never grew. You can get a really great deal here to visit four of the great places. I only had time to hit two. The aquarium was facinating and had an Amazon rain forest. Way cool. Peguins are always my fav and they were there to Entertain. As you know from previous post, I love zoos. I hadn't put NOLA's on the bucket list but I'm certainly glad we got there, even if we only had hour and a hald hours to visit it. Several of the animals had already gone in for the night but no worry, we got a great view of some of the others. When I return to N'awlins I will definitely make sure I take a day for this zoo. It's huge. I saw somewhere it's on of five largest zoos in the United States. So, come along with me and see what you can see in a short time. I'm calling this speed zooing. See you tomorrow for the grand finale. Bam!