The Garden District Plus

This morning we headed out with an actual agenda.  We knew it was going to be hot, we were sure we were going to be miserable, and it was a given that our feet were going to hurt.  The plan was to make as much use of the trolley system as possible.  The problem was that we were not the only ones with that plan.

We headed out for the St. Charles Street line, which ran a couple of blocks from where we were staying. We hopped on the crowded trolley and got ourselves a day long Jazzy Pass for $3.  That let us ride the trolleys and buses all day long. However, there was construction along the line, so we had to get off the trolley and transfer to a bus pretty quickly.  We got off near the Hotel Indigo where we had breakfast.  It was fine, nothing extremely special, but the service and coffee were good.

After polishing off my New Orleans French Crepes, we headed out to our first destination, one of New Orleans famous cemeteries.  Since we were in the Garden district, there were lots of lovely old houses.

It's awesome how many different architectural styles there are in the Garden District.  Everything from Victorian, Classical, Craftsman Bungalows, to Mid-Century Modern.

I spotted this nifty stained glass window in the last house above.  We turned a corner and headed toward Magazine St. Soon we found our destination.

Lafayette Cemetery #1.  It would have been a bit more fun and creepy at night or on a very overcast day, but it was a bright, hot day that chased all ghosts away.

The cemetery was a lot smaller than I had imagined it, about a city block in all.  Some of the above ground vaults were in very good condition, while others were in ruins.  There is an ongoing effort to restore many of the vaults.  Of course, I did find a few treasures.

After leaving the Cemetery, we headed to Magazine St. where we quickly found an air conditioned coffee shop.  Not even noon, it was already uncomfortably hot and humid.  When we felt refreshed enough, we headed out to the area we ate dinner at Friday night...or so we thought.  After turning around, we found what we were looking for a did a bit of shopping.  

Found this cool mural that was a tribute to Joan Miro.

Again, hot and nasty...so we finally found an open bar (before 11am on a Sunday morning), sat down in the air conditioned darkness and had a beer with a few locals.

We decided it was back to the trolley for us.  The trolley was packed, but the driver shouted to us that ALL trolleys were packed so we just better get on.  We got off at Canal and went off to find lunch.  We ended up at Daisy Duke's where they serve mimosas with free refills.  Really.  So we had mimosas.

And I had a fried green tomato po-boy.  Five gigantic slices of fried green tomato on a French roll.  I couldn't figure out how to close the sandwich so I could eat it.  I finally ended up just eating the tomatoes, which were awesome.

We had two mimosas and the waitress tried to give us another refill...but we told her that we'd better not.  So, she offered to make us one in a to go cup for when we left, which sounded just nifty to us.  She told us that she'd doctored them up for us, which we found out meant adding peach schnapps.  So we walked down Canal St. drinking our sex on the beach, and poking around in a few shops.  I could not finish mine.

We snuck into a swanky hotel to use the bathroom and snuck out the other side into the busy part of the French Quarter.  Visited some more shops, but couldn't handle the hot and stinky for long.  Ended up in Cafe Beignet for hydration and air conditioning...but no beignet.

We got out of the stinky, over touristy part of the Quarter.  This made us feel a bit better.

It was also very pretty.  Headed back to Hex, where I picked up a few things.

Then, it was back on the Trolley.  We decided to head back to the apartment and wanted to go to a seafood place right behind the building where we were staying.  The plan was to shower, change, and walk across the street.  Alas, it was closed.  Emeril's was also nearby, but we checked online and not only is that place a bit too pricey for my budget...but they were booked solid.

We decided on a new place that is a part of the new WWII museum complex down the street and headed out.  Before we hit the end of the block, we found Warehouse Grille.  Good beer selection and a decent menu.  Exactly what we needed.

We decided on our original destination for desert.  The American Sector was fun and our bartender, Bill, was very entertaining (we had coffee and desert at the bar).

On the way back, we found a couple of young women who needed some automotive help on the side of the road, so Christi and I went back to get the jeep and gave them a jump.  Christi has her Good Karma points for the next few months now.

All packed up and ready to roll tomorrow!