Day 4 - Not Worth The Wait

One thing I forgot from last night (Day 3)...we stopped at Arnaud's Remoulade for a very late dinner. Arnaud's is on Bourbon St. and is one of the more famous restaurants in the French Quarter. We ate at the bar and restaurant, which is next door to the formal dining room.

The meal was OUTSTANDING. I got the Oyster Arnaud, a sampler appetizer that had 6 oysters, each prepared a different way. One was a Rockefeller, and one was a Bienville. The others I don't recall, but they were ALL good. I also had a Louisiana Taster. With it came a bowl of turtle soup. I asked if it was real turtle, or mock turtle (beef, pork or something else) and was assured it was the real McCoy. It was amazing! Even Angie thought it was awesome. Also included was a meat pie which was delicious and some crawfish etouffee. Angie got a cheeseburger, but I think she would have preferred my meal. It was really fabulous AND it was authentic.

So, back to Sunday - get away day. By now, Angie and I had done and seen everything that we wanted, save one...the beignet at Cafe du Monde. Since we were slow to get started and were up against our flight home, we took a cab to Cafe du Monde. However, it seemed like everyone in New Orleans had the same idea, and the wait was prohibitive. We decided to walk across the street to Cafe Beignet. There are a couple of them throughout the quarter and it was packed, so we thought we'd be OK. Besides, there was a line, but it wasn't too long.

So, we waited and waited and waited, and waited some more. I swear that each order took about five minutes to place, and since there was six or seven people in front of us, we must have waited 30 minutes plus to place our order. The cafe had one person who took the order and fixed the drinks, another two in the kitchen, one of which brought the food out. I ordered a breakfast sandwich, an order of beignets and an iced cafe au lait. During the process I came to the realization that the order taker was just living life to a difference cadence than my own. It was surreal.

Breakfast, however, was excellent. I prefer a Boston Cream over a beignet any day, but the breakfast really hit the spot. Afterwards, Angie and I finished up our souvenir shopping (like a Bobble Head Jesus for a friend) and proceeded to walk back to the hotel to checkout and leave for the airport. On the way, however, Angie asked to stop at some tarot card readers in Jackson Square and get her cards read. It was a fifteen minute endeavour in stupidity, but she was entertained by it, so it was worth it. The reader did mention the different pace of the south due to the heat and humidity - and it dawned on me...the service has been so bad because they all move just a little slower here. Once we had that mystery figured out, we laughed about her reading all the way home.

Thanks for traveling to NOLA with us. We had a great trip in an interesting city, but I don't see myself going back - not by choice anyway. It's one of those places that you go, you see, and you cross it off your list. That being said, if I have to go back, that's OK too. I already miss the food.

And the Hurricanes.

SL