Day 57 – Start of Week Nine. Wow, where does the time go?! This morning we didn’t have to leave until 10 a.m. We watched crewing/rowing practice on the canal as they went by, back and forth, the lead boat yelling commands to the others. Caught the shuttle to the French Quarter waterfront and had a little time to kill before being at the loading zone for the planned Steamboat Natchez tour. On the way in, we’d seen the line outside Cafe du Monde was long and we knew we couldn’t get beignets there in time, so we went to Cafe Beignet, the competition, where the line was much shorter. We got beignets and coffee as a comparison and they were good, but not nearly as good as Cafe du Monde.
The Steamboat Natchez tour was 2 hours long and departed at 11:30 a.m. They were full, over 600 people aboard, and it took over ½ hour to get everyone on board and settled in – another opportunity to people watch. There were 3 levels of seating, both indoors and outdoors; we sat outside by the front railing on the middle level. Beautiful day for a boat tour since it was quite warm and sunny. The tour took place on the Mississippi River and came complete with a Jazz Band, and a buffet lunch for those who paid for and signed up for that, plus a bar. It was informative and interesting to see the City from the water.
The steamboat took us downriver for quite a few miles before turning around. We quickly moved beyond the Central Business District and French Quarter providing views of this unique river port. It was interesting to contrast this long linear port to the Ports of LA and Long Beach, which are so much more concentrated. Piers and manufacturing facilities lined the river, seemingly endlessly, once we moved away from the city. Much of the infrastructure is crumbling, with piers collapsing into the river. Next to these decrepit piers are new well maintained docks. It seems like new structures are added rather than trying to fix things that might have been there since the 1800s. A few facts about the port to help put it in perspective:
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#1 Logistics port
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#1 Importer of natural rubber
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#2 US importer of coffee
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#3 US importer of steel
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#5 US importer of plywood
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#6 US cruise port
Central Business District from the Mississippi, NOLA
Mississippi at NOLA
After the tour, we walked to Muriel’s Jackson Square Bistro. This restaurant had been recommended to us and we’d tried the Crawfish and Goat Cheese Crepes at French Quarterfest. It was hot and humid and there was a lot less activity around the Square, although still busy with some artists and street performers. The fancy restaurant was just off Jackson Square in an old, historic and well-preserved building with chandeliers and beautiful hardwood floors. It was expensive and we were underdressed. The menu described the Crepes as follows: “Goat cheese filled crepes topped with Louisiana crawfish in a buttery sauce of chardonnay, onion, tomato and bell pepper”. (I know this because we’d picked up a sample menu at Quarterfest.) Other items included Eggs Veney, “andouille and cheddar cheese biscuit, house made boudin patties and poached eggs, topped with hollandaise, served with brabant potatoes”, or Fried Green Tomato Stack, “fried green tomato topped with gulf shrimp salad, tomato-bacon jam, arugula and sauce remoulade”, or Savory Gorgonzola Cheesecake, “gorgonzola and prosciutto terrine, McIllheny Farms honeyed pecans, crispy prosciutto and slices of tart green apple”. Wow! Our choice for lunch because of previous experience was the crepes and we each ordered them, no sharing. They were fantastic, and if we come to NOLA again, we’d like to try dinner here for sure.
Called Uber and they picked us up a couple of blocks below Muriel’s near Cafe du Monde (which of course had a long line). Unfortunately laundry had piled up and we couldn’t put it off for another day. It was 3 p.m. and we had to go back and do something constructive. Later we had Taco Tuesday $5 Margarita’s and split an order of Taco Tuesday Fish & Shrimp Tacos & a Shrimp Caesar Salad. It was all very good. Carolyn was there and she promised us she would make sure that Darren would prepare the wonderful New Orleans special BBQ Shrimp for us tomorrow night. Yep, still craving it!