The Quarter, Frog City, and elsewhere

Old Mar 30th, 2015, 08:50 AM
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The Quarter, Frog City, and elsewhere

It seems everybody in Louisiana has at least two names. Sometimes they give it to themselves, sometimes others confer it upon them, sometimes no one remembers how the extra name arose, and sometimes they earn it. At times it just a double sounding name such as grandparents maybe be Mawmaw and Pawpaw. It is not a matter of subterfuge or fraud, it is just a grand tradition.

Louisiana is the fifth fattest state, but the other four, must like to send their citizens to New Orleans for vacation. It is rare to be overweight but still be able to be called slim. The cuisine of Louisiana is well known for its muffulettas, po’ boys, Étouffée, gumbo, BBQ shrimp, and beignets, among other things. The best meal we had in NOLA was at Mr.B’s Bistro. We devoured BBQ shrimp and restaurant cured pork belly in fig preserve, crispy on the top and rich on the inside. That was a prize. There are few tourist destinations that live up to their reputation but Café du Monde’s beignets must be three of them, because that is how much is in one serving. Puffy and fried with enough powered sugar to make the neatest dinner look like a coke addict. We also tried Morning Call in City Park which was a distant second. For po’ boys we went to Johnny’s which were fine but not exceptional. We could not find an inexpensive breakfast place.

For music we went to the Maple Leaf Bar on Oak Street and heard the Rebirth Brass Band. It is an airless cavern where even when the temperature is in the low 70’s outside, the crowd sweats. The group was somewhat of a disappointment, despite their reputation as their sound varied little and the musicianship was just above average. The following evening we went to Irvin Mayfield in his bar in the Royal Sonesta. Great, great musicianship, versatile performers, amid a great sense of fun. His trombone player Michael Watson has a wry sense of humor and wry sense of music. On sax was Derek Douget who played great riffs with the cleanest of notes, sensational. No matter how much fun they had with each other, the audience, and their instruments, it was all in the service of the music. Mayfield is usually there on Wednesday nights. We stayed at the venerable Hotel Monteleone which more old than old-fashioned

We then went to Cajun Country where we stayed at Maison D'Memoire B&B Cottages in Rayne, LA. Our cottage was an old lumberyard office which was now renovated into three light and airy rooms. The owners were very cordial and my only complaint was their crosses everywhere and the breakfast menu had an inspirational message from God. The food was good but not that good. In Cajun country even the Jews and Muslims are Catholic.

The first night we were directed to some gravel back road for some crayfish boil at Hawk’s. It was $30 for four pounds. While my wife and I shared that amount, people were scarfing down the four pounds by themselves, old ladies and kids. They were fabulous, even though they dripped down my glasses and I had to shampoo later. This is the type of place that is the middle of nowhere in the middle nowhere.

The following morning we danced on the radio at Fred’s Lounge in Mamou, LA. For 60 years they have broadcasted music from Fred’s on Saturdays where you are not supposed to dance and it is OK to drink at 9 AM. It was like Garrison Keillor in Creole. The drummer of the band called the Cajun Tradition was the wife of the concertina player and her job was to hold the beat and never smile. There is an economy of effort for Cajun musicians especially the guitar players, who are not expected to move except as their fingers and wrists require. The fiddle player was the fourth generation of some other famous fiddle players and later the eighty something year old divorced wife of Fred, and herself the former owner, sang and led a Cajun Conga line. She could not sing and the line was not supposed to be straight. We danced two dances, something like a hard shell Cajun crab lindy. It was a wonderful time.

That night we went to Prejeans where there is music and is supposed to be the best food in the area. The musicians seemed bored and the food was fine. I had fried green tomatoes and boudin balls which are fried rice balls with crayfish. My wife had an Étouffée. Needless to say the portions were enormous and it looked like mostly a local crowd. We did enjoy their bread pudding which had every sweet ingredient known to man. The last night in Cajun Country we went to the wrong Frog City restaurant. There are three non-chain restaurants in Rayne and two are called Frog City. Rayne claims to be the frog capital of the world but we did not bother to count them. We intended to go to the fancier Frog City but would up at the truck stop version, which was probably more satisfying and a hell of lot cheaper. We also went on a swamp tour with Bob. There were people from all over world in our boat including two couples from four different countries in South America and Europe. Bob had a canned and corny spiel but was knowledgeable and for 20 bucks each we spent two hours navigating the bayou. We saw the obligatory huge gator stapled to a floating branch, egrets, and osprey.

Then it was off to Baton Rouge, Mandeville, Covington, and Kenner to visit relatives, a few we had never met. They were all gracious and welcoming. We stayed at a guest house in Mandeville, where I am sure the owner has many tales to tell, if he could just remember them. Mandeville by the lake is quirky suburban area just over the Ponchartrain Causeway with pastel colored houses and mansions many raised at least 8 feet above the ground in an anticipation of the next Katrina. There are some restaurants whose menus are better than their execution but you may consider the area if you do not mind driving 24 miles over the causeway back to NOLA for it makes for a very different type of stay.

We were taken to Ponchartrain Po’ Boy in Mandeville. If there is such a thing as politically incorrect restaurant this would be it, fried food, piled high. The fried chicken was particularly wonderful. The people at the next table ate one conical order of onion rings the size of a teepee. We also went to Harbor Seafood in Kenner, where I am sure we were the only ones not from the area. They are attached to a seafood market where everything was freshly prepared and most reasonably priced. We spent our last day visiting St Louis I and St Louis III paying our respects to my wife’s departed grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles, none of them Marie Leveau. Once again the familiar names we knew them by, were not the names etched on the crypts.

http://www.pontchartrainpoboys.com/
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Old Mar 30th, 2015, 09:45 AM
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Funny stuff. Thanks.
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Old Mar 30th, 2015, 10:04 AM
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You are welcome Fra.
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Old Mar 30th, 2015, 10:30 AM
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I forgot to some photos.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/1...30075450013697
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Old Mar 30th, 2015, 01:23 PM
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Thanks for posting a trip report. We've put off our southern trip for a year, so I'm glad I'll be able to reread this in a few months.

Lee Ann
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Old Apr 12th, 2015, 06:18 AM
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Great report! Glad you enjoyed your trip to Louisiana. You picked up on a lot of the idiosyncrasies that make our area so unique. Your music choices and travels outside of the typical tourist path must have made for an interesting trip. BTW, when we have crawfish (not crayfish) boils in Louisiana, the typical serving is 5 pounds per person - that's in addition to the boiled corn, potatoes, etc added! Consider returning to New Orleans in the future for the Jazz and Heritage Festival (Jazz Fest) the last weekend of April and first weekend of May for some great food and music!
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Old Apr 12th, 2015, 06:49 AM
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Thank you Italy. We have considered going to the various music festivals, the problem is that you usually must stand and we have gotten too old for that.

We will return some time in the future. I am sorry for misspelling crawfish. I get so confused over the LA pronunciation of things.

We did indeed, enjoy ourselves.
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