Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Moving day 2, part 2, jammed packed with flavor

Now where was I?

After getting my fortune told, Grace and I went in search of some food. We came across this cafe with its doors wide open, even though it was a little chilly. The place was fairly empty, but hey, it was a random Sunday afternoon. The menu had a good sampling of N'awlins cuisine so we decided to give it a go. Our waitress was very chatty and hospitable. While we waited for our food we watched the sparrows hop in and out of the restaurant looking for crumbs under the tables. Grace's cup of gumbo arrived first followed by her shrimp po'boy with fries. I was starving and had the sampler that started off with a bowl of gumbo, followed by a split platter of shrimp creole and red beans and rice with a side of jambalaya, finished off with a lil bowl of bread pudding. My favorite was the jambalaya and made me want to whip up a pot of my own recipe of "gumbalaya" (my yummy, hearty, and spicy combination of gumbo and jambalaya). My least favorite was the bread pudding because it wasn't regular dense bread pudding, but a spicy, almost burnt, gingerbread pudding with too many raisins and whatnots. Oh well, but overall it was all pretty good and I was happy to have food authentic to the area.

We walked off some of those Calories and stretched our legs from the long drive by walking allll over the French Quarter. I was partly in search for some shrimp boudin for mom. It's a sausage with shrimp and rice with creole seasoning. Unfortunately, the place that used to sell it in the French Market down by the water closed down a while ago. We learned this from the rather surly woman in the chocolate shop. Of course we stopped by a candy shop. Pralines are really popular there but we chose a couple chocolate covered marshmallow things instead. We also stopped by cute little galleries including this awesome Animation gallery that the "Secret Art of Dr. Seuss" as well as cells from Looney tunes, Simpsons, Peanuts, etc etc. I wished Goo and Edward were there with me; they would have loved it.

By 6pm Bourbon st was starting to get LOUD and rowdy. Actually all the drunk college kids started coming out of the woodwork at the strike of 5. But by then, the elderly and we started getting tired. We took a little break back at the Inn on Bourbon and forced ourselves to get back out around 8 or 9pm.

Once we stepped back outside it was INSANE. LIKE NO OTHER SUNDAY EVENING. Bourbon St was blocked off, people were drunk and hitting on anything that moved. There were guys trying to lure in other guys to see "Topless and Bottomless" girls. We were mostly amused by the strip club where you could "Wash the girl of your choice". Well, boy, what is better than that? If it wasn't a strip club, it was a disco with laser lights and the music blaring. Some guy was singing Sweet Home Alabama and trying to get the audience to call back. Another club had hip hop thumping and 19 year olds jumping. LOL Grace and I asked the concierge where we could find a nice little jazz club where we could just chill...cuz you know...we're old. 62...no 26? Yeah, 26. But instead we decided on going to somewhere calmer, like Harrah's casino.

We decided to walk the 9 blocks to the casino and take a cab back. On the way there we passed Cafe Beignet's which had a statue of Louis Armstrong in addition to some chick in leotard. BIZARRE. There was a jazz trio there but for the brief time we were there, they were just telling some strange story about how the lead singer used to be a vaccum salesman when he was 16. Once again, bizarre, because nobody but his bandmate seemed to care. So we left after buying a pecan tartlet and a frozen mango margarita. We kept on to Harrah's but I couldnt walk pass when we came across the Hustler shop! Yay! Two levels of porn porn topped with hardcore gonzo porn. It was a long shot but we asked one of the clerks (a very thin girl who didn't seem like...well, let's just say she isn't college material) if they carried anything with the Filipino porn star Katrina Salazar. For a few minutes it seemed like they just might have it, but to no avail. Oh well. We did get a guy standing in the gay porn section hit on us. I really don't know what to think of that.

When we had enough of all that crap we pressed on in the chilly air to Harrah's. It's no Vegas on the outside, but once inside it's pretty much the same. I pointed out WMS games, the company Edward works for. Then I pointed out how I don't understand multiline games, but we gave them a shot anyway. Then! Grace won $45 on a WMS game (I think!?!). Later on I won about $10. I spent it on a Fuddrucker's burger (instead of the $23 buffet!!!!!). Yummy with sauteed onions.


So to recap: Drove from Houston to New Orleans. Got a Tarot card reading. Walked all over the French Quarter and Market. Ate creole food. Browsed through a bunch of great shops. Went to a casino and won :). Pretty awesome sunday evening, if you ask me.

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