Tuesday, October 9, 2018

NOLA never disappoints


                       
     A 5-state road trip to a double wedding wrapped up in New Orleans, by design. A trip like that needs a big finish and we had a big, wet, sugary, spicy, emotional one.
                             We had just enough time to locate the memorial brick for my father, Burton Doiron, at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. I experienced just a small portion of this historical attraction and I’m planning a full emersion for another time. The rest of this quick stop was about eating and shopping.
                             Visiting with family in both Tennessee and Alabama, coupled with drive time, had us arriving in the French Quarter at nearly midnight. Even I was surprised by the huge amount of foot traffic on a Sunday night. We took a quick stroll and got the last table at Pat O’Brien’s by the flaming fountain. I’d never been there. It was loud when we looked at the menu and I heard our order request. Suddenly our lone beverage order arrived and I was still enjoying myself and waiting for our seafood to come out. When the gang got up to leave, they all laughed at be, because I never heard the server tell them the kitchen was closed and those oysters were not on they’re way to me.
                             But I got my favorite thing in the morning, to walk through the Quarter early when just about the only people out are street cleaners and workers on their way to or from hotels and restaurants. Then all of a sudden the place is filled with tuba players and tourists in line for Café Du Monde.
                             I got beignets and walked to St. Louis Cathedral, then went back to the restaurant and got another round. We all got super soaked and waded through puddles on the way back to the hotel, but it’s all worth it in New Orleans, and that sugar high helps.
                             You have to compromise on tastes and time on a family road trip, so that’ s how we passed around bites of barbecued shrimp, gumbo and beans and rice from Deanie’s Seafood in a parking lot. But again, all worth it.
                  I don’t care how wet I get, I’m ready to go again.
                  Darragh Doiron gets her love of New Orleans from her parents, Jeannette and Burton, who honeymooned there at the Roosevelt Hotel. Contact Doiron at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

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