We wake up about 9am and Cash is still concerned that his clothes haven't dried, so he dries them the old fashioned way and makes some sort of clothes line outside. I text our host and ask her what setting she uses as there are quite a few. Meanwhile, I sit outside and have a beer and a cigarette whilst reading my book and awaiting news of back home (I am pleased with my news - thanks Ali and Doc). I always remember a motto my grandad had and that was to do on holiday what you would not normally do at home - experience and live life differently. So cheers! Cash pops out for a coffee and arrives back with a grande frappucino!
We also book our accommodation and transport to Washington, which is our stop after Florida. We airbnb our place in Orlando and it looks a-mazing! After a bit more dilly-dallying ( I love that phrase), we catch a trolley cart/street car into town to find the amazing Cafe du Monde that serves coffees and beignets all day and night long. We arrive at our stop and ask for directions - this part of New Orleans is a mix of old and new, rich and poor. We walk down Decatur street and stop off at a cigar place, where the workers are making them by hand. They work sooo quickly and it smells soooo good! We then look around and the food smells are intoxicating! Absolutely delicious with lots of seafood and creole/cajun smells emanating from the small restaurants, bistros and cafes that line the streets.
We find Cafe du Monde and have a coffee and some of the French donuts - they do not disappoint. The coffee is smooth and the beignets are coated in a generous helping of icing sugar! mmm...hmmm...mmm!
Now for sommat savoury. Cash wants a po-boy and I want sonme gumbo. We find a place a little further down the road called the Famous Gumbo Pot.
Cash - Shrimp Po-Boy (3.5/10) and a jambalaya as a side 4.5/10) - he is visible disappointed. The bread was hard and the jambalaya was overcooked and chewy. He still needs to find a good place!
Sarah - my Gumbo Yaya contains Andouille sausage, chicken and shrimp and it is tasty. I only go for a cup of it as I don't want to peak too early. The shrimp looks unusual and I'm not sure if I've just eaten frog but it tastes good so I ain't complaining - 7/10.
We both drink an Amber Abita - a locally brewed ale and it is tasty but makes me get my bloat on! I thought my dress had some give but nopes, my food baby is back!
After this, we go for a little tour around the place meeting magicians, fortune tellers and brass band players. Cash is seriously full. We want a jazz bar and ask around and a lovely lady tells us to head to Bourbon Street. We find it and there is a bar/club at the corner playing classic throw back RnB and Hip Hop. There is a live singer and she greets us in a friendly way and from this point on, we are known as 'London'. Amongst the punters are also 'Atlanta, Texas, Australia and ShyTown-Chicago'. The atmosphere is brillaint: people are drinking, smoking and dancing in the middle of the day. Cash and I have several whiskys, a gin and tonic and then I go onto shots of Baileys. After a good few hours and a boogie, we leave for the next place and it is still very early. We head over to another bar, this time much smaller and darker, more of the kind I have in my head when I think of New Orleans and we listen to a band play some jazz, soul and funk. I have another Baileys and Cash has a whisky.We get to chatting to a lovely Australian couple who are also doing a mini tour of America.
After this, we look around and I realise I am a bit hungry. I have a slice of pizza with everything on it and whilst at the time, it was very tasty, upon reflection, it was just ok. Better than the Flying Pizza pie but not as good as the one in San Francisco so a 5/10.
We see a long line of people waiting to get into a bar and when we ask, they say there is a live jazz band but it costs $15 and there isn't a bar inside. We tell the door lady, we shall be back when we've bought a drink (you can do that here - buy a drink and bring it to any establishment you want). We head over to a karaoke bar called 'New Orleans Cats Meow' and I order a coke for myself and a Hurricane for Cash, which contains what tasted like every spirit and a bit of fruit juice with some candid cherries thrown in. It tastes a bit like the Negroni in Seco Lounge that we tried last year, in other words, ugghheeeeqwwwww!!! The place is busy and everyone is having a great time. We get to chatting to a guy sat beside us and after about 30mins, he has signed me up to do a song and I say yeah, sure why not. In my head, I'm thinking there is a massive queue and so I might not even get a go, but no...after about an hour, I am up there, cacking my pants and singing Adele's 'Rolling in the deep'. I have never been so nervous in my entire life!!!
There are about 120 people in the audience and I am one of two people with an English accent. I come off the stage feeling both exhilirated and still nervous. I then realise that I have sobered up but thank you Ken for making me do it. It is definitely something I can cross off my bucket list - sing karaoke in front of an American crowd in New Orleans!
We drink some more, well I am on water as I am already getting flashbacks and alco-burps and head out about quarter to midnight. We pop into a few other bars and eventually make our way to the tram stop (not before being asked AGAIN if we'd like to go to a couple's strip show - do we have those kinda faces??!!).
There are no trams so we pop into the Ritz (I think) and ask if they can hire us a cab and they say there is a rank neary. We head outside and the bell boy whistles one for us. Cash gets to talking to him and it turns out he is from the same town as his family and so they chat away and by the time he drops us at our apartment, he has waived the fee! Thank you Mr Cab Driver! He also tells us to head to Merigny (or by water) tomorrow and that is what we are going to do! We are hoping to find the Spotted Cat, courtesy of Lina and also try some more good tasting food. I'm going to attempt a po-boy today and just plenty o' shrimp!!
Toodles!
No comments:
Post a Comment