Craziness in New Orleans

When I mentioned to my brother that I saw nothing crazy happen in New Orleans, he replied "What do you mean? What about the group of Santas and other dressed-up people?". I reminded him I travel to Key West twice a year. Yes, there was a lot of good "people watching" opportunities, but I guess had we stayed out much later we would have seen some real blog-worthy craziness.

Like I said, we were in New Orleans only long enough for three meals. For dinner we ended up doing the usual. Let a waiter outside a restaurant convince us to eat there, and once again, we were not disappointed. The waiter was really nice and all three of use enjoyed our dinner. I had seafood pasta, which was good, but not great. Brad said his meal was the best one of the trip. For breakfast we took my co-workers advice and ate at Mother's. We had trouble finding this famous eatery using our map, but a local helped direct us to the building. We were expecting a typical restaurant, but here you stand in line, order your food, then sit down and a waiter comes by and takes your receipt and then brings you your food. I got the shrimp omelet, which came with bread and grits. Now, grits are pretty much tasteless, and the shrimp was dry. My toast with butter and jam was the best part ot the meal. I'd say Mother's is overrated.

Our last meal was going to be a buffet at Harrah's casino, but we arrived too late. So we walked around and ended up eating at Crescent City Brewhouse. This ended up being my favorite meal. I had the redfish, with a red beer, followed by a triple chocolate cake. All very good.

I can't imagine this place during Marti Gras. The streets were pretty empty at dusk, but by midnight it was difficult to move around. People keep asking me if I saw evidence of Katrina damage, but the French Quarter was spared the flooding and destruction brought on by that hurricane.

We walked all around Jackson Square, looking at the art for sale. There were many self-proclaimed artists and lots of interesting paintings, but we bought nothing. We had the opportunity to paint our name on a door, for a small donation, and I which I had, but we didn't. There were also tarot card readers who didn't seem to be getting much business. Overall, Jackson Square was worth the time we spent there.