A Day in the French Quarter

Most of our day today was spent drinking, shopping, and eating (in close to that order) in the French Quarter.  I am worn out and my feet, ankles, and calves are officially filing a protest.

Christi and I headed out around 9 this morning in search of breakfast...in the general direction of the French Quarter.  We found The Red Gravy Cafe.  We got the last table available, narrowly beating a senior couple that we walked across the street with.  Immediately after we were seated, the wait was 15 min.  If you end up being the people who wait....I recommend you wait.  This place was freaking awesome.  Other than my fabulous praline pancakes, I loved the handmade pottery accents on the table

Photo Credit: Christi H.

The decor was pretty cool all around and I found it amusing that

A NJ license plate had made its way onto the wall.  We were offered adult libations with our breakfast (this being The Big Easy) but we passed in favor of coffee.

After we were done, we headed the rest of the way into the Quarter and found ourselves on Bourbon St.  First stop was a Jesters, for our first adult slushy of the day.  I had a hurricane (again....in New Orleans) and had my first buzz and brain freeze before 11am. 

We then headed to Jackson Square and tried to make note of the absinthe bars we passed on the way.  Jackson Square is surrounded by a bunch of lovely shops...and a fence where local artists hang their paintings to sell to the tourists.

It's busy, colorful, fun, and (today) hot as Hell.  Jackson Square is bordered only East and West by shops, in the North side is St. Louis Cathedral.

You know how I love the cathedrals.  St. Louis is one of the oldest in the US.  We got there just as Mass was ended, so we were able to take some photos. 

The interior is lovely with an arched ceiling and a recently restored pipe organ.

This is the spectacularly painted arched ceiling over the main Aisle.

And this is St. Louis (also Louis IX of France) the namesake of the cathedral.

Let's get everything put back where it belongs after Mass is over!

We then wandered around the square again...and decided to try to find our absinthe bar.  I think we went around in circles for quite some time...detouring in some interesting shops (including Reverend Zombie's House of Voodoo) before giving up.  We stopped in a gelato shop and I had pineapple mint sorbetto instead. 

We saw the Mighty Mississippi.

Lots of cool street musicians.

Lots of lovely local architecture.

And more of it...with some whimsical decor.

We covered a LOT of territory and ended up in the French Market.  The bit where the shops were was fun, and we bought some local crafts at the artist's coop, but the actual outdoor market was a hot mess.  It was packed and you couldn't move an inch.  But, we did find the Market Cafe and sat inside. I had a tasty Louisiana Lemonade, as my buzz was fading, and a turkey po-boy.  Nothing fastastic, it was a good sandwich and filled the void..

We got out of the outdoor market area and poked about some antique shops before finding Hex, a witchcraft shop on Decatur Street.  It was a really wonderful place and I wish I had bought something like Christi did.  I think we need to go back. 

Around this time, we were starting to fade and wanted some serious air conditioning, so we decided to take the trolley to the Riverwalk Marketplace.  When I was in NOLA back in the mid-80's this was a brand new upscale mall.  It had literally JUST been renovated, updated, and re-launched as an outlet mall (the grand opening was today).  Christi and I headed immediately to the spa and got pedicures as our feet were killing us. 

We then did a bit of shopping, got another adult slushy, and headed out to dinner. Mulate's was highly recommended and right across from the mall.  

Photo Credit: Christi H.

Look! More drinks!  Mine is on the left, the house special rum punch.  We split a platter of a combination of crab dishes, which was a wise decision.  It was yummy...but way too much for one person.

We headed back with tummies full, with full intentions of refreshing ourselves and heading back out.  As soon as we had both showered off the sweat and sunscreen, we knew we were done for the day.  

Tomorrow, at least one cemetery, shopping on Magazine St., the Garden District, and more drinking.