More Continuing NOLA Trip Again
Dec. 22nd, 2025 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ateolfTook me a while to get back to writing on the trip! Okay, let's see if I can pick back up on the thread. On Wednesday after the big tour, we took a bit of a rest for a while and then went back out and had dinner at Pêche which was quite good. Um. That's what I remember about this day.
Thursday we started off with a meal in the French Quarter. I think. Did we do something else first? I can't recall anything. Anyway, we get there and we're a little early so I have time to take a quick run to see if Arcadian Books is finally open. I should mention that, I believe it started on Tuesday night, but Mary Beth came down with a sickness. So on Tuesday night before heading home we stopped by a CVS (the only one open at any kind of barely-even-late hour being the one in the CBD) but I got her some Sudafed and it kept her going well the rest of the trip. Though first thing this Thursday I'm talking about now, she wanted to reserve her energy so she stayed in the car while I went to Arcadian by myself. There was just a little bit of time before our lunch or brunch reservation so I had to look pretty quickly. This bookstore is the ultimate of the classical piles-on-piles of old bookstore. I feel it has as many books as Beckham's (which is also of the same kind of piles-on-piles oldschool type) but in the smaller amount of space of like Crescent City Books or Dauphine Street Books. I mean, the amount of stacking and piling and cramming is insane. It's such that a lot of the books are stacked such that you have to pull out a stack to even read the spines. So I'm looking pretty quickly and fine a couple in the amount of time I have: Tales of a Long Night by Alfred Döblin and Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith. So then I grab Mary Beth and it's off to have our meal at Antoine's. This is another very old school kinda fancy place. They also had those souffle potatoes and given the uniqueness of the dish it was interesting to see how they were still different from Galatoire's, Antoine's were greasier and lighter and good in their own slightly different way. Had some good food and we ended by sharing a baked alaska. It still exists! It ends up kinda being like one of those ice cream birthday cakes. Then while we were still in the area, I wanted to go back to Arcadian to spend a little more time and by this point the food had given Mary Beth a much-needed pick-me-up and she wanted to finally check it out too. This time I got a few more books: Woodcutters by Thomas Bernhard, Texas: the Great Thief by Carmen Boullosa, and Version Control by Dexter Palmer. After that we went to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. There was a lot of interesting stuff, but it was pretty Brand Name focused (which isn't all bad, but it was kinda heavy here). You can also tell that the guy who started Popeye's gave a bunch of funding 'cuz there's a whole section just on him and Popeye's. But I enjoyed seeing some sodas like Ale-8-One for Louisiana and Grapico for Alabama. After that we had a little time to swing by some record stores. We hit NOLA Mix and I picked up a couple of things: Sonny Rollins: Alfie soundtrack and Billie Holiday: The Complete Verve Studio Master Takes (a nice six-disc box set). Then we hit Sisters in Christ and I picked up a few cds: Exploded View: Obey, XTC: Drums and Wires, and Björk: Selmasongs as well as a couple of books: The Magic Tower and Other One-Act Plays by Tennessee Williams and Amédée/The New Tenant/Victims of Duty>/u> by Eugène Ionesco (the last one look familiar? yes! I did get the same book I'd just gotten a few days before...since it's all new and hadn't been added to my librarything yet, I wasn't able to confirm as usual, and it was a different edition with a different cover...but I was pretty sure when I got it that I'd gotten a different set of his plays, and I was definitely wrong! but it was just a couple of bucks anyway, and now I'll just get to pass the duplicate along). Then at night we had dinner at Gautreau’s which was some more fancy eating and it was very delicious. We parked and walked up to it and followed a couple in who we could clearly tell were going to it. There was this other bar pretty much next door and we followed them into it (there were some younger people coming out of it all dressed up so they probably assumed that was it and then we followed them assuming, etc. etc.). Well, we were right about them so all four of us realized it was the wrong place so we backed out and went next door. It was kind of funny but probably boring to read about! It's a small room and while the food was good, it was very loud in there. The server seemed surprised by the volume even. It started with this one largeish party next to us and they were pretty loud and festive for the holiday but then there were a few other kinda largish groups that came in afterwards and with it already being loud everyone's talking volume went up exponentially to compete. My meal was some duck and there were muscadine grapes and it was so delicious. Other really good stuff. Funny enough that our first time to ever have baked alaska coincided with the second time on the same day! Though this one was a bougie-fied version (but I mean that in the very best good way...that would usually be a pejorative and maybe there's a better word for when something has quality and is very creative and is fancied-up but in a way that makes sense and tastes very very good) with persimmon ice cream and other fancy and innovative enhancements and it was really otherworldly (along with everything else in the menu). Oh! And I almost forgot an anecdote! So back up a little bit, to when we're getting ready for this dinner. We're back at the hotel and I brush my teeth to be nice and fresh for our date out. I apparently dropped a gob of toothpaste that landed on my underwear (which, by the way I'm pretty sure has never happened and I don't even know how it happened to have landed there, I mean, I'm only dressed in my underwear at this point but usually if toothpaste were to fall, it would fall on my chest or something). Anyway, so then I go to put on my suit and I'm putting on my pants when I realize the toothpaste is on my underwear. Just a little bit brushed against the inside of my pants and that's fine, whatever. But then after I have my pants on, Mary Beth notices that there's a whole bunch of toothpaste streaked across the back of the pants on the outside. I somehow must have brushed them against the toothpastey underwear as I was getting ready to put them on (another thing that I have no idea how it transpired this way, so many absurd machinations to make all this happen). At least Mary Beth had the foresight to pack me plenty of extra dress-up alternatives. So I switch outfits. Great!
At some point we had drinks at Arnaud's. It's possible it was this Thursday night but I feel like it was earlier. Which night I can't quite say for certain. Hopefully I can get this important information and fill you in later. I'm probably mixed up on some other bars too. Well, we'll see.
So we're up to Friday, our last full day in New Orleans! We started off by returning to the St. Charles streetcar. We went back right where we rode earlier in the week to Washington and picked it back up in the other direction. It was fun 'cuz we passed it as we were driving there but we were able to park and get out right in time to board on that stop. We took it out and back in the other direction as I said, and on the way back we got off by Audubon Park. Mary Beth had an interest in seeing the Black Pearl District and it's near that so we got out and walked around. It's really just a residential neighborhood and mostly the reason for its historical significance isn't true anymore (cough, gentrification of course), but we got to walk around a bit and see the houses. Then back on the streetcar and back to our car. We had a lunch/brunch kind of thing at Li'l Dizzy's Cafe. Wow! That was some incredible stuff. Had to wait in line to get in but it was worth it. Delicious gumbo and fried chicken and all kinds of wonderful NOLA/soul food staples. After that we went up to City Park. The main goal was to go to the museum, but we parked by it and Mary Beth spotted the pond and the swan boats and had a vision of taking a ride on a swan boat. So we did it and the weather was beautiful and it was a nice and peaceful time with the seagulls swarming about us and the turtle heads popping up and some ducks floating around here and there, so long as we moved every now and again as the current always wanted to quickly deposit us into the reeds over by one shore. But it was a pleasant way to spend an hour together in the middle of a pond! Alright, let's break it on up into another post now.
Thursday we started off with a meal in the French Quarter. I think. Did we do something else first? I can't recall anything. Anyway, we get there and we're a little early so I have time to take a quick run to see if Arcadian Books is finally open. I should mention that, I believe it started on Tuesday night, but Mary Beth came down with a sickness. So on Tuesday night before heading home we stopped by a CVS (the only one open at any kind of barely-even-late hour being the one in the CBD) but I got her some Sudafed and it kept her going well the rest of the trip. Though first thing this Thursday I'm talking about now, she wanted to reserve her energy so she stayed in the car while I went to Arcadian by myself. There was just a little bit of time before our lunch or brunch reservation so I had to look pretty quickly. This bookstore is the ultimate of the classical piles-on-piles of old bookstore. I feel it has as many books as Beckham's (which is also of the same kind of piles-on-piles oldschool type) but in the smaller amount of space of like Crescent City Books or Dauphine Street Books. I mean, the amount of stacking and piling and cramming is insane. It's such that a lot of the books are stacked such that you have to pull out a stack to even read the spines. So I'm looking pretty quickly and fine a couple in the amount of time I have: Tales of a Long Night by Alfred Döblin and Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith. So then I grab Mary Beth and it's off to have our meal at Antoine's. This is another very old school kinda fancy place. They also had those souffle potatoes and given the uniqueness of the dish it was interesting to see how they were still different from Galatoire's, Antoine's were greasier and lighter and good in their own slightly different way. Had some good food and we ended by sharing a baked alaska. It still exists! It ends up kinda being like one of those ice cream birthday cakes. Then while we were still in the area, I wanted to go back to Arcadian to spend a little more time and by this point the food had given Mary Beth a much-needed pick-me-up and she wanted to finally check it out too. This time I got a few more books: Woodcutters by Thomas Bernhard, Texas: the Great Thief by Carmen Boullosa, and Version Control by Dexter Palmer. After that we went to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. There was a lot of interesting stuff, but it was pretty Brand Name focused (which isn't all bad, but it was kinda heavy here). You can also tell that the guy who started Popeye's gave a bunch of funding 'cuz there's a whole section just on him and Popeye's. But I enjoyed seeing some sodas like Ale-8-One for Louisiana and Grapico for Alabama. After that we had a little time to swing by some record stores. We hit NOLA Mix and I picked up a couple of things: Sonny Rollins: Alfie soundtrack and Billie Holiday: The Complete Verve Studio Master Takes (a nice six-disc box set). Then we hit Sisters in Christ and I picked up a few cds: Exploded View: Obey, XTC: Drums and Wires, and Björk: Selmasongs as well as a couple of books: The Magic Tower and Other One-Act Plays by Tennessee Williams and Amédée/The New Tenant/Victims of Duty>/u> by Eugène Ionesco (the last one look familiar? yes! I did get the same book I'd just gotten a few days before...since it's all new and hadn't been added to my librarything yet, I wasn't able to confirm as usual, and it was a different edition with a different cover...but I was pretty sure when I got it that I'd gotten a different set of his plays, and I was definitely wrong! but it was just a couple of bucks anyway, and now I'll just get to pass the duplicate along). Then at night we had dinner at Gautreau’s which was some more fancy eating and it was very delicious. We parked and walked up to it and followed a couple in who we could clearly tell were going to it. There was this other bar pretty much next door and we followed them into it (there were some younger people coming out of it all dressed up so they probably assumed that was it and then we followed them assuming, etc. etc.). Well, we were right about them so all four of us realized it was the wrong place so we backed out and went next door. It was kind of funny but probably boring to read about! It's a small room and while the food was good, it was very loud in there. The server seemed surprised by the volume even. It started with this one largeish party next to us and they were pretty loud and festive for the holiday but then there were a few other kinda largish groups that came in afterwards and with it already being loud everyone's talking volume went up exponentially to compete. My meal was some duck and there were muscadine grapes and it was so delicious. Other really good stuff. Funny enough that our first time to ever have baked alaska coincided with the second time on the same day! Though this one was a bougie-fied version (but I mean that in the very best good way...that would usually be a pejorative and maybe there's a better word for when something has quality and is very creative and is fancied-up but in a way that makes sense and tastes very very good) with persimmon ice cream and other fancy and innovative enhancements and it was really otherworldly (along with everything else in the menu). Oh! And I almost forgot an anecdote! So back up a little bit, to when we're getting ready for this dinner. We're back at the hotel and I brush my teeth to be nice and fresh for our date out. I apparently dropped a gob of toothpaste that landed on my underwear (which, by the way I'm pretty sure has never happened and I don't even know how it happened to have landed there, I mean, I'm only dressed in my underwear at this point but usually if toothpaste were to fall, it would fall on my chest or something). Anyway, so then I go to put on my suit and I'm putting on my pants when I realize the toothpaste is on my underwear. Just a little bit brushed against the inside of my pants and that's fine, whatever. But then after I have my pants on, Mary Beth notices that there's a whole bunch of toothpaste streaked across the back of the pants on the outside. I somehow must have brushed them against the toothpastey underwear as I was getting ready to put them on (another thing that I have no idea how it transpired this way, so many absurd machinations to make all this happen). At least Mary Beth had the foresight to pack me plenty of extra dress-up alternatives. So I switch outfits. Great!
At some point we had drinks at Arnaud's. It's possible it was this Thursday night but I feel like it was earlier. Which night I can't quite say for certain. Hopefully I can get this important information and fill you in later. I'm probably mixed up on some other bars too. Well, we'll see.
So we're up to Friday, our last full day in New Orleans! We started off by returning to the St. Charles streetcar. We went back right where we rode earlier in the week to Washington and picked it back up in the other direction. It was fun 'cuz we passed it as we were driving there but we were able to park and get out right in time to board on that stop. We took it out and back in the other direction as I said, and on the way back we got off by Audubon Park. Mary Beth had an interest in seeing the Black Pearl District and it's near that so we got out and walked around. It's really just a residential neighborhood and mostly the reason for its historical significance isn't true anymore (cough, gentrification of course), but we got to walk around a bit and see the houses. Then back on the streetcar and back to our car. We had a lunch/brunch kind of thing at Li'l Dizzy's Cafe. Wow! That was some incredible stuff. Had to wait in line to get in but it was worth it. Delicious gumbo and fried chicken and all kinds of wonderful NOLA/soul food staples. After that we went up to City Park. The main goal was to go to the museum, but we parked by it and Mary Beth spotted the pond and the swan boats and had a vision of taking a ride on a swan boat. So we did it and the weather was beautiful and it was a nice and peaceful time with the seagulls swarming about us and the turtle heads popping up and some ducks floating around here and there, so long as we moved every now and again as the current always wanted to quickly deposit us into the reeds over by one shore. But it was a pleasant way to spend an hour together in the middle of a pond! Alright, let's break it on up into another post now.
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Date: 2025-12-25 03:58 am (UTC)