The Final Day & Final Thoughts

Sunday, October 26, 2008

I woke up early on Sunday to attend 9am mass with my parents at the St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. The outside of the cathedral is much more impressive than the inside, which tried too hard to replicate the magnificence of European cathedrals.
After the service ended I dropped my parents off at the hotel and took a solo stroll around the neighborhood. One of the buildings I wanted to take a closer look at was the Pontalba building, a row of townhouses built by Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba. Wanting to keep her fortune in the family, her father-in-law had tried to kill her for attempting to divorce his son. She survived multiple gunshots, divorced her husband and recovered her property through a court order. That sounds pretty kick-ass for a woman in the 1800s.
So why did I want to take a closer at the Pontalba buildings? Because the Baroness had the letters 'A' and 'P' subtly intertwined into the wrought iron work above each doorway and on each balcony. The narcissist in me had to check it out.

During my walk I also came across a couple of the trolley cars created as part of "A Streetcar Named Inspire" project. We spotted several of these at a distance throughout the town; it was cool to see them up close. Streetcar Art has many more photos of the streetcars and an artist list.

Cafe du Monde was crowded beyond belief! The line snaked through the dining area and out onto the street for at least a block and a half. I'm so glad we had gone earlier in the week.
On my way back to the hotel I popped into a few local boutiques and Laura's Candies. I spent more time out on my walk than I should have. I have never packed so fast in my life. We still had a few hours before we needed to check in for our flights, so we headed to Remoulade for a leisurely lunch. It was a good thing we had time to kill; service was pretty slow.
This spooky goblin hovered over my shoulder. Maybe he (she?) put a curse on our meal.
The shrimp bisque was good . . . . . when it finally came out.
My muffaletta pizza was just okay. Considering how much time had elapsed between courses, the crust should not have been underdone. And the toppings should not have been all clumped in the middle. It wasn't a horrible meal, but in light of how great all our other meals were this was a disappointment.
My battery died right after this shot, but I'm so glad I was able to get this one in. I don't think any of us ever expected to see my parents hanging out on Bourbon St.
I must admit, I had some reservations about this trip before I left. I wasn't sure how balancing time between my parents, our friends and ourselves would work out. I was worried about my parents' abilities to keep up physically. I thought that visiting a city in the U.S. would pale in comparison to our last couple of trips overseas. I was happily wrong on all counts. I loved our time in New Orleans and would go back anytime (except hurricane season!). There are still many restaurants I would love to eat at. There are also many stores I would like to shop at. Now that we have tackled the Quarter, I would love to spend some more time in the Garden District or spend a night at a B&B on a plantation.

Emcee and Fraggle are already planning for a girls' only trip for their fiftieth birthdays in 2018. ;-)