http://www.fqrv.com/
Then we headed to Domilises for a PoBoy. This is a very small, out of the way, neighborhood bar known for excellent PoBoys. But it turns out they are closed on Thursdays & Sundays! Luckily Dan had noticed Pascal’s Manale on the drive to Domilises - founded in 1913, this family-run, Italian-Creole restaurant is located in uptown New Orleans & is famous for creating barbecued shrimp (note: if you order the BBQ shrimp & they offer you a bib, wear the bib). This neighborhood restaurant is vintage New Orleans, from the service to the décor. After our lunch we were going to check out the funky shops on Magazine St, but it was too cold; so we got a hot coffee & headed back to the RV.
That night it was dinner at Cochon. Chef Link and co-owner Chef Stephen Stryjewski, have embraced the old style Louisiana traditions receiving whole pigs daily & overseeing an in-house Boucherie; creating boudin, andouille, smoked bacon, and head cheese. The menu also features handmade crawfish pies, rabbit & dumplings, and spoon bread with okra & tomatoes. Most entrees & sides are finished in a wood burning oven; & Cochon offers specialties from the wood burning oven such as roasted oysters, suckling pig, ribs & beef brisket. Seafood from local waters round out the offerings with Chef Link’s signature roasted gulf fish “fishermen” style. The end result is that although only open a few years, it is already one of the top rated restaurants in New Orleans & a destination for “foodies” from all over the world. Corrie had the mushroom soup, fried green tomato w/shrimp & remoulade, & arugula salad w/pickled beets; Dan went w/the boucherie plate (a great sampler of their Boucherie products) & rabbit w/dumplings. A fantastic meal!
Since it was still early in the evening Dan decided to see if we could catch some traditional jazz at the Preservation Hall. The Hall was opened in 1961 to preserve traditional jazz music by providing a permanent place for nightly jazz performances. It has sense become on of those “must do” items on ever tourist’s list. For $12 you stuffed into a small room with about a hundred of your closest friends; probably in violation of multiple fire codes. There are only seats for about 40 people so everyone else stands in the back trying to catch a view of the band. The music starts at 8PM, with the band playing 45 minutes sets until midnight. Once you are in, you can stay through all sets. We had to stand through the first set, but had seats after that. The band will take requests - $2 for a traditional jazz number, $5 for others, & $10 for those tourists that HAVE to hear “Saints Come Marching In”. It was a good time with such standards as St James Infirmary, Going to New Orleans, etc; & yes they even finished w/Saints Come Marching In!
http://www.preservationhall.com/hall/index.aspx
Friday, 04FEB, Dan gets up early (at least for him) so he can catch the 0930 tour at the French Quarter Visitor Center of the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park & Preserve. This National Historic Park is unusual in that it has six different locations: a Prairie Acadian Cultural Center in Eunice, a Acadian Cultural Center in Lafayette, a Wetlands Acadian Center in Thibodaux, the Barataria Preserve, the Chalmette Battlefield where Jackson defeated the British during the War of 1812, & this French Quarter Center dedicated to the history of the New Orleans & the Vieux Carre. The French Quarter Center has numerous displays detailing the area history from Native American times to post Katrina. As usual with the National Park Service it was an excellent & informative free walking tour; but because of the cold & wet there were only 4 people on tour at the start & only 2 make it to the end (Dan was one). Then Dan went to the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park. This Visitor Center does not have many displays, but usually has two or more free musical performances during the day.
http://www.nps.gov/jela/index.htm
http://www.nps.gov/jazz/index.htm
After rejoining Corrie at the RV, it was back to Domilises for PoBoys; Corrie had her usual oyster poboy & Dan went with the roast beef & swiss w/gravy, both excellent. As we said this is small neighborhood bar & it turns out with a very small restroom (barely room for a toilet & no sink!). Since it was finally sunny out & having finally gotten poboys at Domilises, it was off to Magazine St for window shopping & coffee.
On the way back to the RV we decided to check out the NOLA visitor center at Basin St. This is a fairly new Visitor Center located in the last remaining RR building in NOLA. It was a freight office for the Southern Railway & has displays on NOLA history, music, food, etc, & plenty of parking (something impossible to find in the French Quarter). In addition, it is right next door to St Louis Cemetery No. 1, where you can visit & make an offering to Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen.
http://frenchquarter.com/sightseeing/basin-st-station.php
Saturday morning if was off to the Riverwalk Market Place where Dan checked out the Southern Food & Beverage (SoFAB) Museum which contains the Museum of the American Cocktail (MotAC); while Corrie checked out the shops. The Museum is a work in progress, but still worth a visit & gives an excellent overview of how different immigrant groups influenced & contributed to the culture & the great cuisine of southern Louisiana. One of the funniest exhibits was the Katrina Deli Lunch Cart which rolled during the 2006 Mardi Gras (the first one after the hurricane). Items included were Bush Baloney Sandwich, Heckuva Job Brownie, Levee Leak Soup, Red Beans & Maggots, etc. While Dan was still in the Museum Corrie headed to Harrah’s Casino where the gods of chance were very, very, good to her. After lunch in the Faubourg Marigny, it was back to RV to enjoy some more of the sunshine.
Trivia – what is the only native North American spice? Who said “where good rum is immortalized & drinking is an art.” (think tiki)?
http://www.riverwalkmarketplace.com/http://southernfood.org/
http://www.museumoftheamericancocktail.org/
Unfortunately as the day wore on Corrie’s mild cold got worse & worse. So that evening Dan went by himself to a club in the Faubourg Marigny called “d.b.a.”, to hear John Boutte perform. Dan was impressed with John after seeing him perform at the APR08 French Quarter Festival (see our BLOG entry about the Festival for more details). His songs are sometimes featured on the new HBO series – Treme (which is neighborhood in New Orleans where Boutte was raised & now lives). It was good show, but not the same without Corrie being able to attend.
http://dbabars.com/dbano/index.php
http://www.johnboutte.com/
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