28 different stops in 4 days! Day 2 report

DAY 2 - Easter Sunday in New Orleans means Easter Parades in the French Quarter - and we saw all 3 of them.

With memories of beignets from Cafe du Monde still fresh in our minds from the previous day, we decided to try out the version from Cafe Beignet on Bourbon. With about a 1/4 lb worth of powder on 3 rather large beignets, we found these to be quite satisfying as well. Incidentally, my $8 dress shirt off the clearance rack saved the day. While securing the cover of my coffee, I splattered a great deal of it on my front. A large groan quickly turned into a gasp of glee as we realized that the water resistant nature of my shirt also happened to apply to coffee just as well. No spots. No stains. The coffee just beaded up %26amp; rolled right off. I felt like I was in one of the Billy May info-mericals. ';But wait, there%26#39;s more...';

In any case, as we waited in line w/ our backs to the street, we missed the parade! Well, all except the last two cars. Turns out the Historic French Parade should have been called ';The Don%26#39;t Blink cuz this is a Short Parade'; as it was only about 12 units long. But as luck would have it, as we walked our way to 11:00 am mass at St Louis Cathedral, we literally stumbled upon the parade further ahead. A combo of horse drawn carriages %26amp; convertibles, all carrying elegantly dressed women adorned with their lovely Easter bonnets. They handed out cute little stuffed bunnies to the kids (made me feel a bit guilty that I had rabbit jambalaya the night before). We sat on a park bench just outside the church munching on our beignets as the ladies marched into mass. Mass itself was standing-room-only, but the heat was bearable.

After mass, we delayed brunch as our tummies were still full from the beignets, so we walked back over to the French Market to watch our Chinese friend work his magic again (though I abstained from using the restroom this time around!). After doing a little shopping, we caught parade #2 - the Chris Owens version. This one was a little bit more lively with several floats %26amp; cars, all with participants pitching out beads as fast as they could. I think they must offer a class for parade participants who toss beads.

For brunch, we settled on the Old Coffee Pot on St Peters. A cute little spot w/ some good grits %26amp; omelettes. After a quick return to the hotel to change clothes, we sauntered back to the corner of Bourbon %26amp; St Ann to watch the 3rd parade of the day - the Gay Easter Parade. The crowd for this one was quite peppy %26amp; was anticipating a good time. We found a $3 Abita beer %26amp; a $3 hurricane at Fritzl%26#39;s to-go window. Let%26#39;s just say that the $3 was well spent on the beer, but on the hurricane...not so much. But at least if we needed some cough medicine while we were in town, at least we now knew were to go.

So after chucking the hurri-pain, we got another drink at the bar behind us %26amp; settled in for the parade. Lots of vehicles. And a whole lot of tremendous outfits. Everyone was smiling, dancing to the music, %26amp; having a great time. And did I say tremendous outfits?? And after seeing how many beads were passed out here, I decided to buy stock in the beads industry. I can%26#39;t imagine what Mardi Gras must be like.

Post-parade, somehow the force field known as Lafitte%26#39;s captured us %26amp; made us pop in for another of their fab Bloody Mary%26#39;s. After strolling around the streets of Royal %26amp; Chartres for a bit, we voted on Acme Oyster for din din. A 30 minute wait in line turned out to be only 5 as we volunteered to sit at the bar. This turned out to be a treat as well as we were able to watch the shuckers go to work %26amp; talk it up with them as well. Our main guy, known as Hollywood Broadway (seriously), said that in a typical day, a shucker can shuck anywhere between 800 %26amp; 2400 oysters a day. Aww, shucks! That%26#39;s a lot.

As for the food, the girlfriend was a huge, huge fan of the raw oysters. As for me, not being a fish guy (yes, too bad for being in NO), I tried the 10-Napkin Roast Beef Po-Boy. For the record, I made it in a record-setting 2 napkins, so I think they put my picture up in the bathroom or something. The Po-Boy itself was quite delicious, I must say.

From there, we walked all the way down Decatur onto Frenchmen St. After being told that the Spotted Cat wouldn%26#39;t open until 9:00 pm because that%26#39;s when the bartender was coming in, we crossed the street %26amp; went into dba, a cool place with live music on one side of the bar %26amp; pub tables on the other. We were able to listen to the Palmetto Bug Stompers while being able to watch our Brewers on ESPN at the same time.

Since we had only been to Lafitte%26#39;s during the day, it was natural that we gave it a try at night time on our way back to the hotel. I%26#39;m happy to report that their Bloody Mary%26#39;s taste just as good in the dark as they do in the daylight. We took our drinks and sat in the far back, the whole bar lit only by candles, and listened to the house piano player. All in all, a wonderful time.

The Desire Oyster Bar in the Royal Sonesta Hotel beckoned us for dessert on the walk down Bourbon. The bread pudding was okay while the chocolate pecan pie was okay-er.

Finally, Day #2 came to end up with the traditional peanut butter %26amp; jelly sammiches at Le Pavillon Hotel along with some yummy hot chocolate milk %26amp; marshmellows.

Two days down, two to go!

28 different stops in 4 days! Day 2 report

Just curious if you walked back from Frenchman area at night. I%26#39;ve read opinions both ways about doing that. Our group will be at least 8, with most of the guys looking like they just got off their Harleys, so was wondering if we%26#39;d really have any issues. Thanks. Just 29 days!!

28 different stops in 4 days! Day 2 report

sagehawk...my husband and are age 60 and 57 and we always walk to/from Frenchmen St. at night and have never had a problem (some homeless asking for change is the worst we have encountered). However, we are never out really late so that might make a difference.

Frenchmen really is only a couple of blocks from the Quarter. I think as long as you stay on Decatur the whole way, there really isn%26#39;t a problem...especially if you have a group of 8 people. There are a couple of bars right on the corners in between, so there usually are others around.