I spent last week in New Orleans, just miles from a flood zone. I work for a company that has annual meetings, I worked 14 hour days to prove my worth. Notetaking, business cards, and a lanyard with my name and title printed on it. But all I could do was dream of food. I've become a hungry soul and I spend my time mapping out the fastest routes between happy hour and the main course.
I worked until Thursday, then found a boy waiting for me at a coffee shop a block away. We napped and ate oysters for three days. One day, we spent three hours finding the perfect place to eat; one night we wasted a hundred dollars at the casino in eight minutes. I've never been good at gambling, I take too long to make decisions.
My time in New Orleans is a tally of numbers, receipts, coupons I found online to save a dollar. Fourteen cab rides, eight glasses of a cold and cheap Pinot Grigio at the hotel bar. Eleven macarons and two scoops of almond gelato. Seven hours of sleep in a warm, warm bed and a two hour nap when I couldn't adjust to the humidity. Eighteen tarot cards I picked from a woman's deck. She told me I would be happy and never settle down. That the months of October and April are important to me. That the number 95 will change my life in some unknown way.
It's been a week since we left New Orleans and I'm not sure if I'll go back soon. But I enjoyed walking with no agenda and no pretense and no reason to hurry. I enjoyed going to bed full and sleepy and smiling. I enjoyed the traces of powdered sugar that seemed to settle in every wrinkle of my black shirts. I may not go back anytime soon, but I'm glad I stayed a few days after my conference, where I was tired of showing my worth.
Where I ate.
Lüke - Great happy hour and oysters. Didn't realize how good this place was, as I took it for granted being across from my hotel
Morning Call - As A Brown Table mentioned, this place is a nice alternative to Café du Monde and you won't feel so rushed
Café du Monde - Like I said, not worth the hype, as sad as I am to say :(
Mariza - Honestly? Probably my favorite meal. Perhaps I was craving some comfort Italian, but they really delivered on service and quality
Mr B's Bistro - One of my work dinners was here. Everyone had a great time with the BBQ shrimp
Red's Chinese - For some reason, I always crave Chinese when I'm on vacation and this was a great local place to chill for a bit
Commander's Palace - This was one of those places I felt we HAD to go to and I'm a sucker for a multi-course meal.
Willie Mae's - It really was the best fried chicken I had in town