tpatricco

Hope everybody's having a good Friday night. I'm missing Statia's post, so figured I'll start one myself this week.

It's been a rough couple weeks down in NO. Many of us spent hours glued to the TV watching the reports unfold before us of the horrible conditions in what was once and will again be a beautiful city.

My poison tonight is Bonny Doon's Ca del Solo Sangiovese. Unwinding after a week that just flew by.

I've only visited NO once, with DH for a long weekend a couple years ago. Had a great time. Fabulous restaurants, bar hopping & meeting fun folks. Soaking up the history of the area & eating my share of beignets, gumbo & muffalattas too! Looking forward to a return trip as soon as the city is ready for us!

Have you ever been to New Orleans, and what were your favorite things about the city?

viamar

I too have been glued to the TV for better or worse. I do have to say that the news media has redeemed themselves, in my eyes at least.

Yes, I've been to New Orleans. I went w/ my husband for our 1 year anniversery and fell in love. With NO that is, I was already in love w/ my husband.
I loved the beautiful buildings, the wonderful music, the awesome food and the gracious people.
We ate our way through that city! Cafe du Monde, Maspero's, Antoine's, Central Grocery, Acme Oyster House, Galatore's and more. Oh yeah and hurricanes at Pat O'brien's. I can't wait to go back.

My poison, well I need to drag myself off the couch and run to the store. Maybe something light and sweet, like Bonny Doon's Big House Pink.

crefloors

I'm looking at my two Hurricane glasses from Pat O'Briens even as we speak. I NEVER should have had the second one because the rest of the evening is a total blank, but I KNOW I had fun!!!! Ah, to be young again..well, actually I don't think I'd want to repeat it. I have to admit at that time of my life I wasn't much interested in the sites..but was VERY interested in the French Quarter. I know I went three days without sleep but managed to hit Pete Fountains, Al Hirts, and Preservation Hall, and a zillion bars along the way. Ate at Brennans and it was fabulous. Also ate at a restaurant out by Lake Ponchatrain and had Jambalaya..wonderful. My husband came to meet me there after the convention was over and we stayed a few more days and DID actually get into some of the historical places..I had to start to behave when he showed up..had my very first Strawberry Daquiri..YUM..I was hooked and then we went to Disney Land for a week before we went home..I needed to get the booze out of my system. I was thinking I'd like to move to the French Quarter for maybe 6 mos. just to get the real flavor of the place. My Poison tonight is water..I have book work to do.

llrpurch

Ah, Vin de Glacière...forget dinner.
I'm goin' straight for dessert!

The cousins are safe and sound now, out of Baton Rouge and stashed in TN. Gonna turn off the TV finally, turn on the DVD, watch "A Very Long Engagement" and get sick-drunk on thick sweet wine.

Bonny Doon's the best!

Heavens

My poison? Anything I can get my hands on. LOL. Not really. Chardonnay is always my poison, unless I have a gin tonic with lots of lime.

I was just in NO a month ago. I re-did our travel plans for our trip to Nashville so that we added on NO and a visit to see friends in AL. I am thanking the Good Lord that we did the change.

So, we took OD, and her friend and showed them the town. We had such a great time, and the girls got a real taste of NO. We saw Bourbon, early and late in the evening, we ate oysters and a variety of Creole cooking at Acme. We had cafe and bignets and bought feather masks down by the mighty Mississippi. It was a fun trip, even though a fast one. And, we met some of the nicest people.

My DH went to the Dday museum while we went to the French Market. I heard that was looted after the hurricane. That is so sad.

I have been to NO many times, during Christmas, and during the height of Mardis Gras when in college. It is a wonderful, historical, multicultural city. I was so proud to be able to show it to my daughter, and I think now that she will never forget that experience.

indytravel

Hey Trish. Nice to hear about the good times NO provided for you. I'm hoping that NO comes back soon to continue to provide fun for lots of tourists.

I've been to NO 3 times.

Once in the early 70's as an pubescent early teen. My, oh, my did my parents have to hurry me along the end of Bourbon Street not wanting to answer my questions about posters with women wearing not much more than pasties. They were willing to answer the questions later, just not having that kind of discussion while standing on a street corner.

I visited again around 1980. It was the last "family" vacation. We'd been to Mobile visiting a relative and decided to stop by for an afternoon. Somehow my parents managed to skip Bourbon Street this time. I do remember taking a tour of the Superdome. I distinctly remember the restaurant Cast-a-Net in Slidell. We stopped there for dinner on the way out of town. It was some of the best seafood I'd ever had.

My last visit was New Years 1997. Finally I was over 21 and had a taste for fine dining. In a 3 day weekend I ate at Emeril's in the warehouse district, Commanders Palace and Brigtsen's. Was the food ever fabulous! Slightly taken aback by the drink prices at Emeril's . First time I'd ever paid $8.50 for a VO Manhattan.

Took a bus tour with a friend to Oak Alley. It was a quiet group on the way out. After the tour there were mint juleps for sale. I don't think the people really knew what a mint julep was. It was quite the happy, flushed, boisterous bus crowd on the way back. My friend knew better. She let me finish hers.

The classic recipe for a mint julep comes to mind. Fill a glass with ice, mint and a little sugar. Throw all that crap out. Fill the glass with bourbon. Drink it.

I actually have a week long vacation planned for NO in February. I've not cancelled my apartment rental yet. I'm hoping, hoping, they're ready for visitors then.

Oh, the poison. It's the end of a bottle of VO and the end of the Noilly-Prat red vermouth. (I've rationed the N-P out using the cheaper Martini&Rossi for guests.)

beachkomer

After vegas, I'm taking it easy with Coors Lite...

We honeymooned in the Big Easy! I've been there 4-5 times. My favorite memories are taking photographs in the cememtaries, garden district (Anne Rice's house!) and the French Q. I printed many photos of NO in my dark room and the timeless elements drew me back many times.

Love the gumbo, the Abita beer, Prauline Connection....the vibe.

I pray for all the people down there, that they can find their loved ones, and can find a new home.

Perhaps the good people of N.O. can spread the spirit of the Big Easy throughout the United states where ever they may be starting a new life.

I know this might be Pollyanna, but maybe this event can draw some of our country together.

Sunshinesue

I have been to NO several times but the most memorial had to be a two day field trip chaperoning 4th and 5th graders!!! My now 23 year old son was in the 5th grade. Two busloads of students, teacher, and chaperoning parents rode from Tallahassee, Fl to NO. We stayed in the French quarter-can't remember where. Visited the aquarium and the zoo. But mostly I just remember spending hours and hours on the bus!!!

I made another trip to NO years later with my daughter, her friend, and her friends mother on the train! That was even longer than the bus. Took forever!

I did manage to go to NO once by car. It was to the Sugar Bowl. Our team lost but we had a great time.

Next time I go to NO (and there will be a next time!) I will fly!!!

semperfid

I'm drinking Heinekens tonight and feeling sad.

I remember when I was 10 years old we were at NO and my parents took me to the battlefield for the Battle of New Orleans. As a 10 year old boy I loved being there and thinking about the battle which kept the British from dominating the Mississippi basin.

Now that I'm older, my memories will stretch from the noble corpses I imagined on that battlefield, who died taking care of their country, to the disgraceful real corpses which I saw scattered in New Orleans, who died because their country would not take care of them.

tpatricco

Indy, glad that N-P has lasted you this long...

Walking down memory lane with all the foodie mentions of NO. We took a "class" at New Orleans Cooking school, learning to make the staples of gumbo, jambalaya, pralines & bread pudding. We had a drink at the Carousel Bar at the Monteleone Hotel. Enjoyed dinner at Emeril''s Delmonico.

I'm dying for a trip back to kick it old school at Galatoire's & suck down oysters at Acme.

Heavens, glad you got the chance to go!

Sunshine, definitely fly next time!!

Semperfid, cheer up! Let's remember the wonderful things about this city that will live again.

I hope it won't be too long before we can all go back and let the good times roll! Trish

Statia

Howdy, Trish. Nice to know the poison thread has been missed.

I haven't been around on some Friday nights because I was entertaining friends who are leaving the island two weeks ago, and last week it just didn't seem "right" to post a poison thread. And, today...I dunno. All I have to say is that you found an eloquent way to put it so that we can all still contribute w/o it seeming like too much fun while others are suffeing so badly....from NOLA, as well as Mississippi and Alabama.

My very first trip to NOLA was when I was about 18. My mother had to attend a business convention there which was for our family business. So, my boyfriend and I tagged along. We rode up the river on the Steamship Natchez, had Hurricanes at Pat O'Brian's, listened to some greaet jazz, and even dined next to INXS at Hard Rock Cafe. We also sat next to Pat Paulson at a bar about 2 a.m. one morning. Boy was he a riot.

Fast forward a few years and my husband (fiance at the time), my mother and I drove three vehicles loaded with supplies I'd gotten donated at work for victims of Hurricane Andrew. We worked in a Salvation Army center sorting clothes in Morgan City for the weekend, but we did make it to NOLA at that time, too.

I began working in the oil industry at a young age and we had an office in N'awlins, yet we always called the area "NOLA" for short, so forgive me for not being able to break a bad habit.

Fast forward again to my early 20's and my husband and I decided to make a midnight run to NOLA after listening to some great jazz music in Houston. It was midnight, but we just hadn't had enough at closing time so we headed east...WAY east. (That was ONE long drive, I'll tell ya.) Young and stupid is what I like to call it.

It was a long and rainy trip, but we included the Steamship Natchez, Cafe DuMonde, The Market, Jax Brewery, Jackson Square, The Dungeon, various eateries and bars, and our last stop of the trip was, of course, Pat O'Brian's, once again. We'd stayed soaked the whole trip from rain, finally gotten an umbrella that night and lo and behold....the rain stopped minutes later.

I went to NOLA a few times in between those tripos, and won't even go into detail about some of the "trips from hell" that I had there. But, they were all great memories, nonetheless. It just seems that some "out of the ordinary freaky thing" always happened to me on road trips to NOLA.

That's why I've always sworn I will fly there from now on, and I WILL, when she is built back up again. I now have even MORE reason to go back.

My sister and BIL went to NOLA the Friday before the storm, when Katrina was headed for the Florida panhandle. I called her early that Saturday and told her she might want to think about getting out (not watching the news, she had no idea). Thank goodness they got out in time. Her husband's cousin was stranded there, however, until just this Sunday. But, but thank goodness the cousin is now safe at their home, as well.

I've enjoyed hearing everyone's stories about "Great N'Awlins." We will all make it back there again, won't we?

MHS

My first trip to NO was scheduled for mid-October. Obviously it has been canceled.

I am a senior solo woman traveler -- and was looking forward to the historic aspect of New Orleans and some nice meals, but to be very honest was getting concerned about the number of "don't walk alone after dark" postings I have read on the New Orleans board.

After a week of watching the horror unfold, of watching tonight the report and video from 2 British tourists who also endured the Superdome with its armed gangs of thugs & rapists, as well as the reports of the crime spree in the city, hearing that some hotels just abandoned their guests -- I do not plan on rescheduling my trip to New Orleans.

People have compared this event to NYC 9/11, but I certainly have no memory of roving gangs of armed thugs during the evening of 9/11 or even 9/12-15. When Charleston was hit by Hugo, a Korean war reunion we were going to attend had to be canceled. We did visit Charleston several years later -- but again although there may have been the standard American looting which seems to follow all disasters today, I do not recall hearing about armed gangs roaming Charleston's streets, nor for that matter in FL's streets after their hurricanes. And to say that NO's population is larger and/or poorer is an unacceptable excuse -- morality has nothing to do with income.

I do hope that the French Quarter and other historic areas will be restorable -- it is always sad to lose one's history, even when it is so much younger than Europe's. I do hope that NO will find a way to curb it's lawlessness -- perhaps a good place to start would be in limiting the "big easy" approach to drunkeness -- to creating a more Williamsburg / Sturbridge Village / St. Augustine atmosphere. Certainly those towns do well from their tourism and should offer a viable model for rebuilding. It's the underlying attitude, openly expressed in the cups-to-go,etc., that creates an environment in which drug addition and other ills can flourish, leading in turn to crime -- whether that crime is mugging tourists or shooting at hospital staff or raping women in the evacuation center.


Unfortunately I suspect my blunt opinion will only engender "flames" from the party-oriented who see NO only as a place of wild abandonment.
And perhaps I should couch my opinion in softer terms, but age does have its privages -- and I have decided that being sharp-tongued is one.

vcl

I'm drinking some of my Cafe du Monde coffee with chickory and wondering if I should be hoarding it. I'm down to my last three cans.
It's been our coffee of choice since we first visited New Orleans more than 15 years ago and we have it shipped to New Jersey by the case.
We love New Orleans and are hard pressed not to burst into tears when we watch the news. We wish all the people of the region bon chance and hope that the dire predictions prove unfounded and the city will get the help it needs to make a speedy recovery.

Statia

In my (way too long) NOLA trip down memory lane, I forgot to mention my poison. It's been a very long week of watching the news 24/7, being sad for so many people, feeling helpless, and a hectic work week with much overtime, so I have officially had too much Chardonnay.

I'd quote Kal and say, "Call me a cab!" However, I'm already home.

I only wish I could say the same for all those who have been displaced in this tragedy.

P_M

I usually go for merlot, but tonight it's shiraz.

I have been to NO several times. The last time was Memorial Day weekend, I think it was in 2000. It was SO friggin' hot!! I'm a Texan so I'm no stranger to heat, but this was unbearable. The good news is I had a very easy time getting DH to visit museums and old homes with me. Usually he hates these kinds of things, but he never said no when I suggested going into any place. So the heat did me some good.

I remember the great cajun food, drinking hurricanes with lunch, (yes, LUNCH) I remember the nice people, the ethnic diversity, and the overall flavor of the city. As soon as it's repaired and safe, I hope to visit again.

There are signs all over my city of Austin asking people to stop donating supplies. I'm sure they still need cash, but they are so overwhelmed with donations of supplies they just don't need any more. I'm proud to have been a part of this effort, and I love my city of Austin.

CAPH52

My poison is my usual Friday night red wine which seems to be going to my head tonight (and, to those who read FF R&R, I didn't even get to the yoga DVD)! So please forgive me if I'm even sappier than usual!

My first trip to NO was with my parents and twin brothers a couple of weeks after the three of us had all, at the same time, had our tonsils out. I think I was 8 and they turned 6 on the drive down. Suffice it to say, I don't remember a lot about that trip. But it left a strong enough impression that I always knew it was somewhere I wanted to visit again.

In June of '01 I finally got that chance. My husband and I took our kids, then 11 and 15. It was a trip I've written about many times on Fodor's. Pretty much any time someone asks about taking kids to NO!

We've been lucky enough to have taken some great trips with our kids in the past 6 years. But NO definitely stands out as one of the best. I know I don't need to tell anyone who's reading this how glad I am that we took that trip. Aside from all the aspects, and there are many, there's the fact that my kids have a much better understanding of this tragedy. This is not someplace they've read about in a book or seen on TV. They've actually been there. And I think it's given them a lot more compassion for this situation.

Austin

Having a Peirano Estates Petit Syrah. Not too bad.

Went to NOLA once, over 20 years ago. I remember I had a blast, but not a whole lot more than that. Our last stop was Pat O'Brien's and had I think 4 or 5 hurricane's....

CAPH52

Should be "aside from all the other aspects". I told you the wine was going to my head! And I even previewed it before posting!

Jocelyn_P

Hi everyone,

My poison right now is a bowl of linguine with fresh pesto. We won't have that garden basil much longer.

I have never been to NO, regrettably. I know I would enjoy the music. I hope to get a preview on Sunday...I'm working a 12 hour shift at a shelter that is still housing about 800 evacuees. A story in today's paper highlighted how dozens of jazz instruments were donated to this shelter, and impromptu jazz concerts by the evacuees are helping to feed their souls.

ARKANSASNURSE

Poison: IBC Cream Soda, watching the grandkids and grandmama must be on her toes. DH and I visited NO in MArch of this year. We went to the bayou and did an airboat ride into the swamp. I wonder how the area faired and know it is probably all gone. We visited the aquarium and went to "theme" restaurants around the French Quarter. Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company etc.