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A quick visit to New Orleans, Part 1
When my sister-in-law
B.J. Adler was director
of Interschool
Orchestras of New York, a
non-profit music organization
providing programming in the
city schools, she invited me to
its gala. At the silent auction I
bid on a trip to New Orleans
and won!
So off I went and spent a long
weekend in the magical city that
my memory will cherish for its
uniqueness. It's a musical and
dining mecca, and did I relish
it all!
My friend Linda DeSabato
and I flew Delta directly two hour and 5 minute
flight into the sunny skies of a that is rebuilding
from the ashes
and destruction
of Hurricane
Katrina.
Most of the
city is restored
but there still work being
done, particularly
rebuilding the
population that
fell from 700,000
to 300,000 and is now about
500,000 in the city proper.
We stayed at the Renaissance
Hotel just at the tip of the
famous French Quarter where
the streets pulsate with musicians
on many corners.
Since we are both busy
businesswomen, we hadn't
researched where to dine
and leaned on our hotel concierge
for reservations and
recommendations although
my winning bid did include
dinner at the famous
Commander’s Palace restaurant
and "skip the line status”
for the jazz mecca
Preservation Hall.
We had three nights to
experience New Orleans and
we had just begun.
The city sits on the
Mississippi River and we
decided to take a twohour
cruise on the authentic
historic Natchez steamboat
docked at the tip of
the French Quarter. To get
there, we walked through the
narrow,
one-way streets feeling
the
pulse of the quarter
and stopped frequently
to hear a
jazz group or
watch individuals
dancing in the
streets.
F a m o u s
Bourbon Street
has become a loud,
young bar scene
with people lined
up inside and
out holding their
drinks as they
walk or sitting on the curbs. This
is a vacation leisure crowd with
nowhere to go but be where they
are a lot of happy people!
Royal Street is parallel to
Bourbon and it was my favorite
because it had a mix of shops
and restaurants, and even a place
for a foot massage!
We had brunch at the famous,
respected and popular Brennan's
despite our concierge being told
it was booked. I’ve learned it’s
best to go anyway because often
the restaurant can accommodate
you. I did give them my card;
they graciously explained that
they had 500 reservations for
brunch that day in their stunning,
recently refurbished rooms
and patio, and didn't want to
overwhelm the kitchen or service
staff or compromise the
quality of either. But
they would accommodate
us and we were led
to the charming patio
where a jazz trio entertained
us while we dined
on delectable fare.
I splurged on dessert
-- flambée crepes stuffed
with berries cooked at
my table side but I did
tell our accommodating
waiter, who prepared
it, to cut the butter
and sugar in half and I'm
happy to report it was
superb anyway .
That evening, we
decided to take a taxi to
Commander’s Palace,
located in the garden
district which dates to
the antebellum era with
large white pillared houses
featuring wrap-around
porches almost hidden
by the large leafy trees
surrounding them. We
pulled up to a large building
with turquoise and
blue striped canopies surrounding
the building
that faces a famous cemetery.
By the way, there are
"must do" history tours
of the cemeteries around
the t
city.
More next week!
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The French Quarter architecture
The Natchez steamboat
Our Renaissance Hotel
concierge helped make our
trip successful. The waiter prepares flambee crepes on the
patio at Brennan’s Restaurant
The Big Dixie Swingers are among the many street bands in New Orleans.