Leg 9 - Day 2 in New Orleans

I walked 12 hours yesterday. 

I left the hotel at 9 am.  I had booked a walking food tour in old town New Orleans that started at 10 am and wanted to be early.  I am learning in my travels that “things” happen.  You get lost, you can’t find your ticket, you can’t find the location, you are in the wrong town…  So I shoot for early arrival, to give myself time to find out all those things and fix them. It took me about 30 minutes to walk to the meeting spot, so I arrived early.  It was hot already, of course.  I am learning to walk in the shade everywhere possible, something I never would have done previously, as I am a sun lover.  Here, the sun doesn’t treat people kindly.  It fries them.

The walking food tour was led by a delightful man named Nate.  He was outgoing, personable, knowledgeable of the history of New Orleans and well-spoken.  Well, except for his habit of ending almost every sentence with “and so forth.”  Someone should tell him that this isn’t good public speaking style.  Does that mean he doesn’t know how to finish a sentence?  Let the period finish it for you, Nate.

The tour was good – I got to experience food I hadn’t tried before and got a glimpse into New Orleans history.  I like hearing history lessons when they are relevant to where I am traveling.

We started off with calas.  These are deep-fried rice balls with a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.  It turns out they originated as a way to eat leftover rice.  Early inhabitants would mix the rice with an egg batter, form them into egg-sized balls, then deep fry them and put a little sweet on top.

After the calas, we went to the food market and had gator on a stick.  Nate said it was 90% gator, 10% pork.  I was nervous to try something new, but I liked it.  Honestly, it tasted like pork to me.  Our next stop was to try a shrimp Po’boy.  It was meh.  The history of it was interesting – apparently they originated during the 1929 streetcar strike.  The striking workers weren’t earning any money, so a couple of brothers who owned a restaurant started giving sandwiches made of the fresh French bread they made each day filled with the local plentiful meat – shrimp – to the “poor boys”. 

Next we had a stop that was just for cocktails.  This tour wasn’t billed as an alcohol tour, so that surprised me.  We tried a Bloody Mary with pickle juice and bacon that Nate recommended.  I didn’t want to drink (day drinking ruins me), but I couldn’t resist the pickle juice.  I love pickles.  John used to tease me and say I liked the bitters – pickles, green olives, sour candy.  I am a new fan of Bloody Marys with pickle juice. 

The next stop was for gumbo.  Nate explained how traditional gumbo starts with a roux that is stirred for over an hour, then the gumbo itself cooks for hours.  I would like to try this when I get home.  Then of course it is served over rice.  Pretty much everything in New Orleans is served over rice, with rice, or in rice.  At this same restaurant we were served charbroiled oysters.  The oysters are doused with butter, garlic, salt, and pepper, then crowned with fresh parmesan cheese and cooked in a wood-fired oven.  It sounded amazing.  In reality, meh.  A little lemon juice or tabasco might have livened it up.  It was heavy, rich, and a bit bland.  We finished the tour with pralines, a New Orleans specialty.  They were tasty, but overly sweet for me.  I could only eat a few bites.  But when in New Orleans, one must eat pralines.

It started raining as the tour was nearing the end, so Nate decided that this was a good time to end the tour.  We were in the middle of the French Quarter, so I decided to look around. As I stepped into a store, it started to pour.  I’m finding that the cloudbursts come and go fairly quickly, so I waited the storm out in the store, then wandered around the French Quarter and did some window shopping.

My next tour was a Ghost tour.  This was a bit of a misnomer-- the tour was actually just a man telling stories.  I didn’t mind that we didn’t get to go into supposedly haunted buildings, because the man was a good storyteller.  We would stop in front of a building, and he would tell the tale of someone who died or was killed there.  Then he told us to watch for the ghosts.  It wasn’t what I expected, but he wove history in with it, so I enjoyed it for the entertainment value.  He was easy to listen to.

After this tour I meant to head back to the hotel, as it was 7pm.  I am trying not to end up out in the streets after dark, being a woman alone.  But I was at one end of Bourbon Street, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see the famed Bourbon Street!  I stopped to listen to a street performer for about 30 minutes.  He had a great voice and it was an entertaining show.  People would pay good money for this, and he was doing it in the street for tips.  He called himself Big Mama and wore a dress and makeup.  He was a big man with longish hair and a beard, so it was a fun contrast.  He sang Adele, Celine Dion, then AC/DC, then some heavy metal.  Oh, and some opera.  It was quite the show!

Then I half ran, half speed-walked back to the hotel.  I was getting very nervous because it was dark by then.  I am writing this post, so didn’t get mugged or murdered.