Aviation arbor Famcamp — NAS JRB New Orleans — Belle Chasse, Louisiana
Temps: Lo 44F / Hi 63F (7C / 17C)
I’m no dummy!
Much as I would like to do my usual “journal” posts for the blog, it hasn’t taken me long to conclude that’s not going to be possible while we’re in NOLA. Even with taking several days off from sightseeing, I’m not going to be able to catch up before we start our next round of sightseeing ... unless I do quick summaries for the days past. Mind you; quick doesn’t necessarily mean short!
So be it! I can’t stress over blogging or it will no longer be fun. And if it’s not fun, what’s the point of writing a blog?
This trip to NOLA has turned into an “overview” trip anyway, and I’ll have another opportunity sometime during our travels for a more in-depth visit over a much longer period of time. Now that makes me feel much better ;-)
Mui’s out with his sister, who joined us on Monday. They’re out shopping before Işıl’s presentation at the Sheraton this evening. Retail therapy is not my thing, so I’m enjoying a quiet day at home today.
My reward for staying home — a hawk that briefly perched on a nearby tree.
[thanks Judy, for further id’ing this bird as a young Cooper’s hawk.]
Today was also the day to get a haircut before we leave NOLA Monday morning. I don’t normally blog about grooming appointments … but look what I found at the barbershop/beauty salon here on base!
Mural painted by Michelle Levine in ; looking towards the barbershop, which shares space with the beauty salon (to the left of the mural).
My last couple of posts brought the blog up to Thursday, 21 March. Continuing on from there …
Both days were forecasted to be overcast, with light rain gaining strength and possibly turning into thunderstorms on Saturday. The storms passed to our north, but we did get some sprinkles with occasional showers — just enough to keep the dust and pollen down. Our main project during these two days was to spiff up our home and make it guest-ready. And that’s all we really did … aside from catching up on some reading.
I didn’t take any photos these two days;
here’s an Iris from the Besthoff Sculpture Garden instead (post here).
With sunshine and temps reaching 75F (24C) forecasted, we were surprised to have the day start out overcast, gloomy, and windy. So, rather than the early start we had planned, we lazed around until the sun broke through around 8:30a. And then we were off mural-hunting.
The weekend rate at the Algiers Point parking lot goes up from $5 to $10. So, today we took the car across the river by way of the Crescent City Connection (no toll presently due to a pending lawsuit brought by the locals who want the bridge crossing to be free). Since the CBD (Central Business District) is dead on weekends, we found a reasonably inexpensive parking lot on Carondelet Street for $10/day. The lot proved to be centrally located to the murals I had marked up on the map, and was walking distance to the Garden District as well.
Mural or graffiti?
[located on the wall of a building in the rear of the parking lot]
We wandered through many-a-neighborhood on the outskirts of the Garden District. Some were rather run-down, but in many of them, improvement efforts were underway. People were welcoming towards two obviously-out-of-place roamers, often greeting us with a smile and a how-are-you. No photos — except for murals. Yes … I am saving them for a future “mural” post, but I will share one with you.
French Market Greetings — by Will Smith Jr — is one of the painted streetcar sculptures
for the “A Streetcar Named Inspire,” project (undertaken by the Young Leadership Council).
(I would have gone searching for these “murals,” but they have been auctioned off and most are no longer where the map I found says they should be.)
By the time we found ourselves in the Garden District it was close to 1:00p. Hungry, we stopped by Commander’s 
Palace. Alas, they could not seat us until after 2:00p. Or maybe that was their excuse because our attire was too casual. We’ll never know.
Moving on, we opted to dine at Coquette, a short walk down the road. It too was busy, but the hostess was able to seat us at the bar, which was perfectly OK since the menu was the same.
Frankly, we liked this place better because it was more casual than Commander’s. And the food was quite good, too.
The menu offered brunch, as well as a selection of small plates and entrees. Mui decided on the three course brunch … selecting the salad, catfish, and chocolate tart, with a side of peanut butter sorbet. I ordered the butternut squash cavatelli from the small plates menu. It was perfectly sized, thus leaving me with plenty of tummy-room to order my own á la carte dessert — chocolate éclairs.
Left: Mui’s catfish, and chocolate tart with a small scoop of peanut butter sorbet.
Right: My butternut squash cavatelli with shiitake mushrooms and maple syrup;
and, of course, the yummy chocolate éclairs.
After lunch, we walked around the Garden District for a bit before hopping on the St Charles Streetcar. Initially, we wanted to travel to the end of the line, but those plans didn’t work out since there was work being done on the line past the Loyola University stop. So, we ended up getting off there, crossing the rails, and getting back on the next car going in the direction of Canal Street.
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By this time, the wind had gained strength and the feels-like temperature was quite chilly. We were prepared. Getting off the streetcar at the Poydras Street stop, we quick-stepped it to the car for our jackets and then continued with our plans, which included photographing a few more murals and a Wyland Whaling Wall.
Painted by invitation, there are 100 of these walls; the one in NOLA is #69. The foundation’s website describes this mural campaign as: “one of the largest art-in-public-places projects in history, spanning five continents, 13 countries, and 79 cities around the globe.” I’ve seen and photographed several of these walls around the US, so I was especially happy to find this one. I find it interesting that the murals decorate a wall that usually overlooks a parking lot — I read somewhere that this is by design.
Featuring life-size blue whales, this Wyland Whaling Wall is on the side
of the parking structure at the Hilton Riverside.
From here, we wandered back to Canal Street and hopped on a streetcar heading to the cemeteries. It turns out our timing was bad. Both St Louis Cemetery #1 and #2 were locked, and we had to be satisfied with a peek through the bars of the wrought iron gates.
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St Louis Cemetery #2 (left) and #1.
By the time we got back to the heart of the French Quarter, our feet were telling us that our 10-mile (16 km) wander around NOLA was enough; and our tummies were telling us it was time for food. Easier said than done on a Sunday. Many of the restaurants we’d marked on the map were either closed; or, on closer inspection, the menu offered little for a picky eater (that would be me). Others couldn’t seat us for a while.
In the end, we returned to the Crescent City Brewhouse, where we ate lunch our first day in town. I ordered the same Brewhouse BLT (with fried basil leaves and fresh mozzarella), but Mui decided to have the grilled grouper this time. Since we had enjoyed dessert at lunch, there was no sweet ending to this meal ;-)
Grilled Grouper on Flatbread: Fresh gulf grouper on house-made naan bread;
served with avocado, tomato, carrot, pablano pepper, cabbage, cucumber and
cilantro, dressed with a mango mayo; sweet potato fries on the side.
By the time we were finished with dinner, it was time to drive to the airport to pick up Mui’s sister. Too bad we didn’t dally in town for a little while longer. We’d parked the car and were walking to the cross-bridge to the terminal when Mui’s phone rang … it was his sister calling to say that she had missed her connecting flight and would not be arriving until the next morning! So, back to the car we went and drove home to the Phaeton!
Brrrr! What a change in temperature … a 20+ degree drop to a high of only 56F (13C) today. With a stiff breeze to boot.
Tracking Işıl’s flight to make sure it had taken off, we left the house around 9:00a to pick her up from the airport. Her flight was on time, and soon hugs and kisses were being exchanged.
Dropping her off at the hotel to get settled in, we drove to a parking lot at Canal and Marais streets ($2/day from 9:00a to midnight; $5 for overnight). Hopping on the Canal Streetcar for the trip back to her hotel, we then collected Işıl and headed over to the French Quarter for lunch.
Some — you know who you are ;-) — will find it odd that we decided to eat at Bubba Gump’s when there are so many great restaurants in NOLA to choose from. However, the movie Forrest Gump holds a special place in Işıl’s heart, so it was the perfect place on this occasion. The food wasn’t half bad; and I think she got a kick out of the trivia quiz and the photo ops.
Counter clockwise from top left: shrimp shack pasta (me);
New Orleans shrimp (Mui); shrimp scampi (Işıl).
There’s the famous “box of chocolates.”
Nearly 36 hours of traveling, and catnapping at O’Hare overnight, had worn Işıl out. So we bagged plans for a walking tour of the French Quarter. Instead, we went inside the St Louis Cathedral, or more properly — the Cathedral-Basilica of St Louis, King of France. While the siblings took a load off on one of the pews and quietly chatted, I wandered around and took some photographs of what the brochure describes as “the oldest Catholic Cathedral in the United States.”
The current cathedral is the third church built on the site. Completed in 1794, it
replaced the permanent church that was built in 1727 and destroyed in a fire in 1788.
The first place of worship on this site was built in 1718.
The mural above the altar depicts King Louis IX announcing the 7th crusade;
the statues are (from L to R): Hope, faith, and Charity.
The mural in the center of the ceiling depicts Jesus telling Peter, “Feed my Sheep.”
It is surrounded by four evangelists and ten apostles (minus Peter and Judas).
Bottom left photo shows the organ and clock at the opposite end of the nave from the altar.
Three of the ten stained glass windows depicting scenes from the life of King Louis IX.
L to r: his marriage, coronation, and illness and death.
(For larger pictures click here for a series of photos in my online gallery.)
Our meandering stroll through the French Quarter was periodically broken up with periods of rest. First at Café Du Monde — for coffee and beignets, of course; and later at Pat O’Brien’s, where, in deference to Işıl’s allergy to all things containing alcohol, we quenched our thirst with a couple of virgin cocktails.
Mui opts for the colorful Sunset; Işıl orders the Eye of the Hurricane.
And on that note, we walked Işıl to her hotel; hopped on the streetcar to go pick up our car; and headed home to rest up.
Another cold day! What happened to spring?
This was the requisite “shopping for gifts to take back to Turkey” day. Not my thing, so I begged off and stayed home. After helping Işıl help the US economy, Mui brought her to the Phaeton for a light lunch … Caesar salad topped with grilled shrimp (which we had picked up from the Westwego Fish Market), followed by key lime pie (store bought, I’m afraid). We took photos with Işıl’s camera, so I have none to share in this post.
The afternoon saw Mui and his sister back in the stores, while I continued to recharge my batteries, which were drained from the hub-bub of the past few days in NOLA. A quiet evening at our respective accommodations wrapped up the day.
… and finally … back to Wednesday, 27 March
Işıl is a professor of English linguistics (emphasis on sociolinguistics) at Anadolu University in Eskişehir, Turkey. The purpose of her visit to NOLA — other than spending time with us, of course — is to speak at a symposium. Today was the day.
This blog would be incomplete without “Satchmo;” the statue is near the Algiers Point Ferry Terminal.
Mui joined Işıl in the city with plans to attend her presentation. As it turns out, the presentation was moved to the late evening, so he’s back home. But his trip into town wasn’t for naught. They dropped by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and caught a free jazz/blues concert. Performing again was Richard Scott, whom we had the pleasure of listening to last week.
And that catches me up … whew! Tomorrow starts a 3-day run of sightseeing — some in town; others out of town for a much needed change of pace.
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