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

Castillos roll in New Orleans

 

When my daughter heard my husband and I were spending our 26th wedding anniversary in New Orleans, she asked to come along.  

We actually loved the plan. We had been when she was a little bitty thing. Now she is an adult. That's a different NOLA experience. 

 My parents went to New Orleans on their honeymoon, and my daughter spent a night there on hers. This city is in our blood.

She acted like her first mission was to make sure we got to Deanie's in the French quarter. It was one of her honeymoon stops. I have always missed this one on Iberville. 

I got barbecue shrimp because she said it was so good one of her friends had asked her to take some home on ice for him. A skillet full of hot, huge shrimp with their feelers still attached came to my table. The sauce was buttery, dark, filled with spices and wonderful. It came with crusty French bread.

Every time I picked up a shrimp I could feel the weight of it. The server said I should take the shrimp out of the skillet so they would not continue to cook in the hot sauce. Weeks later, that meal is still in my mind.

Remember that tiny cocktail fork I wrote about after purchasing it at a 

Young Life estate sale? I took it to New Orleans, and used it at every meal I could. I always made a point of pointing this out to the server, so it wouldn't look like I was stealing their utensils. The funny thing is the servers had all already noticed. That meant that they could tell I was into food, and that seemed to make them want to offer more tastes and experiences. That tiny fork was a promotion tool. And to think I brought it to remind me to slow down and take delicate bites.

I love that New Orleans is a city that loves food food.

If you post on Facebook that you are in New Orleans, people will tell you to eat at Café Du Monde. As if I would skip that. I got to sit inside, perhaps for my first time. It was a new experience to watch the staff stand in line to pick up orders.  A hipster guy with a super long dark beard enjoyed his powdered beignet without getting white sugar all over him. I can't say the same for myself.

In the book, "The House on First Street," I read that families used to have favorites of either Acme oysters, or Felix's. I don't want to have to pick a favorite. This time I tried charbroiled oysters at Felix's and chose well. I even slightly burned the corners of my mouth from the hot shells. Should have been using that tiny fork. 

darraghcastillo@icloud.com