Gordon and I had to re-schedule our Baltic cruise (again) but we were tired of being locked down in California so we booked a Mississippi cruise. We flew into New Orleans at 3 on a Saturday afternoon. The airport looked brand new and I suppose it had to be re-built after Hurricane Katrina. We took the shuttle to the Hilton and got a running commentary from the driver about how high the water had gotten during Katrina. Recovery from Katrina is still a big topic, especially with the tourists. We all watched it play out on TV. If the USA had a Walk of Disasters, Katrina would probably be included. Anyway, we got to our hotel and checked in with the tour company. We had to take one more COVID test (had to take one three days before the cruise started, I thought all the testing was redundant but the company was probably trying to avoid lawsuits). We took our nap and tried to find someplace for dinner. We tried to get into the Commodore’s Palace in the Garden District but they were booked. Most of the best places were booked because it was graduation weekend and everybody wanted to celebrate. Gordon got on Yelp and we finally managed to get into a highly recommended restaurant called ReBirth. And it was only four blocks from the hotel. We had to eat at the bar but that was fine; I’m more comfortable at a bar. We had four people with us watching the bartender burn something to make a drink. I almost got holes in my shirt but it was interesting. And I’m glad we couldn’t get into the other places because the food was spectacular. We shared gumbo and a salad then we each got our own fish entree. Delicious. I’ll go back if we ever get to NOLA again. We took a short stroll by the river on the way back to the hotel then died. It’d been a long day. The company fed us at the hotel the next morning but then Gordon and I took off on our own. We walked the five blocks to the Cafe du Monde for beignets but the crowd was blocks long. We checked three other beignet places in the French Quarter but all the lines were too long. Even the line in Starbucks on Canal Street was long. We gave up. We took a riding tour of New Orleans at noon. They took us to one of the above-ground graveyards and explained how the plots worked. I’d never seen anything like it. They took us to Lake Pontchartrain and showed where the levee failed. I didn’t know that the levee to the Gulf of Mexico did it’s job, it was the levee to the lake that failed and flooded the town. It’s a huge lake. Looked like an ocean to me. They drove us through the Garden District so we could enjoy the houses. Then they took us to the city park. I’d never heard of it but it’s full of art installations and family attractions. And they took us to a Cafe du Monde without a line! We finally got our cafe au laits and beignets. And they were delicious. The bus got us back in time to catch our boat, the American Countess. We’d been in New Orleans 24 hours and it felt like a month. The boat looked liked a paddlewheel. I don’t think they got much propulsion from the paddle but it looked great. We practiced an emergency drill then they let us go for dinner. And that began my Battle of the Butter. The food was good, the wine selections were great, but they were understaffed And the CDC had some bizarre serving rules that made what staff there were work harder. We were always the last served (seemed like) and nothing came when it should have. If we managed to snag a bun we couldn’t get any butter. I went through a week of begging for butter for my bun. Oh well, it gave me something to bitch about. We skipped the entertainment that night; we were tired. We sat on our veranda and played Huck Finn, watching the river drift by in the moonlight. It was neat.
Honeybun
Nottoway
