Here is the final chapter of the trip to New Orleans.
We met the P’s at their hotel on Sunday morning only to discover that JHP would rather go back to Petunia’s for breakfast. I readily agree to that (anything for more French Toast) and off we all go. I stuck with the French Toast (mmm mmm good), but everyone else shook things up and ordered something different. Once again it didn’t disappoint. We had the same corner table, the same fly on JHP’s hat, and the same good food at cheap prices. The only difference was having to wait in the nearly-intolerable heat of the morning. The weather up to this point had been something I could deal with – I didn’t complain once. But waiting for a table that morning was the worst. It had to be 99% humidity with 90 degree temperatures at 10:30 a.m.! That’s insane!
We then went on one last walk around the city – headed to a couple shops for some last minute items (we bought a WONDERFUL Mardi Gras mask), ducked into a bar to beat the heat, then walked around some more. If I recall correctly, this is the time that I finally got an oyster po’boy – but that may have been Saturday. To be quite honest, all our drinking and eating has run together into one massive, “Wow that was good!” and other than the two fancy restaurants I don’t remember many details.
Much too soon came the time to bid the P’s farewell, for their flight left significantly before ours. Once they left, Denis and I continued on with our shopping. We had hoped to buy a nice piece of art but the prices in the galleries were really expensive. But we found an artist in Jackson Square and bought a wonderful small painting from him instead. This way we truly support the local artists without paying gallery prices. I’ll post his link when I get home and find the card with his internet address.
The heat was so bad that I finally dragged Denis into our hotel bar where we parked ourselves for a couple hours until our cab arrived to take us to the airport. The bartender was nice enough and informed us that he paid $450 in rent for the 3rd floor of a building. Now, I know that’s a good deal and all, but this weekend proved to me that NOLA is a cockroach’s heaven (garbage + heat + humidity = cockroach heaven), so there’s no way I’d pay any amount to live there, I don’t care how much square footage I can get for my buck.
The flight home felt like it took forever compared to the flight to NOLA. I was so dead tired by the time we got home it was all I could do to greet the kitties, let the dog outside for a quick walkies and climb into bed. I think my eyes were at half-mast the entire time.
Tonight I’ll have pictures of our adventures, the hilarious video of LP, and another post talking about all the stuff I forgot to mention (I already realize that I forgot to talk about Pat O’Brien’s on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon).
Either way, I recommend New Orleans as a fun city to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. Sorry to any NOLA folks reading that, but it’s the truth.